Puglia 2023

Bari – was our first stop in Puglia. It was an easy train ride from Rome. Our first day we toured the old town with Eugenio, who was Yelenia’s guide. He was a bit slow and underwhelming. We did taste 2 types of focaccia, which are regional specialties, and got a good perspective of the city.

Matera was a day trip from Bari. We did an ape tour with Vito. We visited the city sites with the major vistas, toured a replica sasso in town, and went out to the countryside to see an original sasso that could date as far back as 2000 years. We had lunch at Bollicine, which was delicious, in a very authentic setting. We saw Massimiliano Gallo, one of the actors in the Italian television shows “Imma Tataranni” and “I Bastardi” walking in town.

Bari restaurants – Al Pescatore – Elizabeth Minchilli recommendation. Fish, Fish, and more Fish.

Giampolo – was recommended by the Dillman staff and was very nice. Best restaurant we ate at in Bari.

Cecchina -another hotel recommendation.

Aperativo place was La Biglietteria – we were there twice.

Dillman Hotel – perfect location, breakfast next door was excellent, and very helpful staff.

Polignano a Mare – We drove from Bari in about 40 minutes and checked into the beautiful San Michele Suite, a lovely boutique hotel that overlooks the famous Polignano beach. The staff were incredible – Monica at the front desk and the lovely Serena who provided the best breakfast in all of Italy.

Polignano a Mare is the birthplace of Domenico Modugno who wrote and sang the popular song “Volare.” The town is full of poetry and his words appear everywhere in town. We stayed 4 nights and unfortunately had rain for 3 days, but that did not hold us back. We did a quick tour of the town with 29-year-old Antonio, who was a little lackluster. He then drove us to Monopoli, where we walked all over the city and spent some time admiring the harbor.

We went to an olive oil tasting at Masseria Il Frantoio which was outside of Ostuni. We learned how to properly taste olive oil, and we were impressed with the overall quality and their marketing spin to adopt a tree for a year. The Masseria was beautiful with countless numbers of olive trees. We then went to Ostuni for lunch before our ape tour of the town. We ate at Porta Nova and probably had one of our best meals of the trip there. After lunch we meet our young energetic ape driver, Antonio.. He was a bit reckless; when it started to rain we were a bit nervous with his ability to stop the ape. This tour was no comparison the ape tour we did in Mattera. Very few memorable sights, which is disappointing because I had heard good things about Ostuni.

We toured Alberobello in the pouring rain and it our worst day weather-wise. We had a nice guide named Anna, but for some reason her husband, Carlo, decided to walk with us. He did not have an umbrella and was soaked. We are still scratching our heads as to why he came. We visited the Trulli village and stopped in one store and a church, but the weather got the better of us.

Restaurants in the Polignano a Mare area:

Antiche Mura – Seafood in Polignano. Lovely setting, we ate there twice.

Osteria Dei Pellegrini – our favorite lunch spot in Polignano. Battered baccala (better than jewish ghetto in Rome), spaghettone with clams and muscles.

L’Archibugio – Polignano – small cramped restaurant but good food and had plenty of meat options. We ate there twice.

Ristorante Porta Nova – in Ostuni. One of our best meals.

Morus – Polignano – all seafood. Entertaining head waiter.

Lecce – We left Polignano a Mare and traveled 75 minutes to get to Lecce. We stayed at the Palazzo De Noha. It’s a boutique hotel with 8 or 9 rooms and the service was incredible. Raffaella at the front desk was incredibly helpful, and would make an excellent tour guide.

We did a rickshaw tour with Anna to get acquainted with Lecce. She brought us to the Il Fornaio bakery, and we had the local treat called rustico. We also meet Yelenia, our trip planner, at the Strada del Vino and enjoyed some food and wine with her.

Our second day we toured with Francesco and made a number of stops along the coast. First stop was Acaya – a miniature, perfectly geometric fort which was inhabited by about 800 people. Then it was on to Roca where there is a picturesque swimming hole. Crystal clear water with the backdrop of the Adriatic Sea. Next we went to Otranto, which has an amazing castle and beautiful basilica, Cattedrale di Santa Maria Annunziata, with the most impressive mosaics on the floor of the church. The scenes include episodes from the Old Testament including a giant tree of life. We finished the tour with a visit to the lighthouse which is the most eastern part of Italy.

We did a day trip to Gallipoli, which is the western part of the heel. It was a lovely town to walk in and we had a nice lunch close to the sea. We also hired a boat one day from Marina di Leuca, the southernmost point of Puglia. This is where the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea meet. Our boat capitan, Selvario, took us up and down the coast of both seas with great viewings of impressive caves, crystal clear waters, and schools of fish. We had a lovely lunch at Ristorante Fedele.