A Journey through Puglia

A very varied holiday so difficult to pick out any one highlight but we much enjoyed the Torre Guaceto walk by the sea - but then the weather was very good!

Highlights:

The walk along the coast to Torre Guaceto, one little cove after another.

Matera was amazing and is one of the locations for the new James Bond movie. We recommend staying out of town - the Masseria San Francesco was good, breakfast in a cave, infinity pool but only B&B.

Ostuni was lovely, make sure you see the exhibition in the museum relating to the woman who died in childbirth 24,000 years ago. She is wearing a wonderful hat made of seashells.

The Horace Walpole exhibition in the"Castle of Otranto".

INNTRAVEL NOTE: We offer an extension to Matera, with options to stay in the city (Locanda di San Martino) or just outside (L'Orto di Lucania, near Montescaglioso)

All the accommodation exceeded our expectations, but especially the Palazzo Rollo in Lecce (see above). The information pack (routes, guides, walks etc) were all extremely helpful.

We thought this was an excellent holiday. The choice of Masserias was good and we enjoyed the restaurants suggested. Interesting area with friendly and obliging hotels.

A varied and interesting trip round Puglia including both the masserias and places visited plus Matera [optional add-on] which is unique - watch out for it in the next James Bond film as filming was taking place much to the interest (and irritation) of the locals! We particularly enjoyed visits to Gallipoli, Monopoli and Lecce and just driving through the countryside between venues. An overnight stay in Bari was also enjoyable and could happily have stayed another day.

Good local restaurants: l’Approdo Di Enea - Porto Badisco beach, Osteria del Porto - Savelletri no Egnazia, La Scalleta d’Oro  - Mattinata, Borgo Antico - Peschici (Gargano).
Archaeological site at Egnazia really worth a visit. Alberobello very touristy. Matera was the highlight of the cities / towns despite James Bond being filmed there! We found 30’ too hot to walk in unshaded areas. Gargano peninsula a gem. Better to focus on Foresta Umbra and the suggested routes from the visitor centre in middle of park than walk from hotel.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers extended their Journey through Puglia with add-ons in Mattina and Matera.

The standard of and sites of all 3 agriturismos were very good indeed. Lovely places to stay - friendly, comfortable and good food. We really enjoyed them all. Great to have swimming pools on site too. We did at times find the “signage” for roads poor in this area. Quite tricky when driving into towns and negotiating their one-way systems!! We were caught out a few times visiting small towns after noon to find restaurants, shops etc closed but I presume this is still part of tradition there. On the whole, a good holiday and thank you Inntravel for your excellent organisation.

We have enjoyed a number of typically active walking holidays and city breaks with Inntravel over the years, both in Italy and elsewhere. With its reliably sunny climate, excellent food and wine, delightful accommodation options and attractively balanced range of things to do and see, the Puglia / Basilicata package seemed to promise the slow(er) holiday that we are now generally looking for and it certainly succeeded. We enjoyed ourselves enormously.

Amazing places to visit. Great service from Inntravel from the start of our booking journey to the end of the trip. The hotels they chose for us were all different and really interesting places to stay.

Wonderful countyside and weather. Food and wine were a great experience. Driving was easy except in some of the towns with complicated and narrow one way systems. The Masseria’s were a delight and hard to leave. At Masseria Il Frantoio we dined out one night at the Masseria Le Carrube some 2 Km away which was a most interesting dining experience, an entirely Puglia Vegetarian menu as eaten by the local people. You might wish to investigate this Masseria which had a wonderful postion and facilities.

All the accommodation was great. They all had their own strengths. Il Frantoio gave us a great welcome - and you can choose 4, 6 or 8 course meals. We had a 4 course meal with others doing the same and that was fun. Though after that, we went to their favourite restaurant in Ostuni. Chicco Rizzio was also a great welcome and the food was delicious. Lots of highlights! We were glad to have some walks between the sight seeing. Many thanks.

Matera should feature as a destination, perhaps instead of an alternative. It was the stand-out visit.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: We offer accommodation in the old town of Matera as an add-on to our Journey Through Puglia holiday

Wild flowers are superb at the end of April.

Always accompanied by a cat or dog. We started our Inntravel holiday three nights after arriving in Puglia having stayed in an Air BnB trulli outside of Noci. Whilst there we explored Trulli country including Alberobello, which is very touristy but has some pretty views if you cross the main road into the less touristy area near the visitors centre. We also went on a recommended hike to the Bosco delle Pianelle. This was good but be aware that the toilets lock up for the day at 1pm. 

We weren’t great fans of the Masseria Panareo although their meals were out of this world. We were expecting a more immersive farm experience due to the hotel being on a working farm, but this is not utilised by the hotel. The view from the hotel is lovely and we really enjoyed the Inntravel walk along the coastline; it was spectacular. The restaurants in the village on this walk were all shut so luckily we had brought a picnic. We recommend packing extra food if like us you can’t seem to get your timing right with La Pausa.

Next we went to Lecce and stayed at the Palazzo Rollo. It’s a surreal experience staying in a Palace and we were in and amongst all the things a palace has. The rooftop garden is SO amazing! Eat your breakfast up there whenever possible and probably your dinners as well! The city is beautiful and there are things to look at everywhere. Driving in to the hotel nearly broke my husband but he did it with encouragement - the roads are very narrow and full of people. Staying right in Lecce town centre was great though as everything was just there. We had a hard time selecting restaurants and we found it to be pricey to eat over the course of the trip. It was hard not to compare the quality of food to the restaurant at Panareo and it made us wonder if it would have been easier to find good food if the dinners were included in the package, although we dont know how you’d do that as the hotel in Lecce did not provide dinner. 

On to Masseria Montenapoleone which was the most amazing place we have ever stayed. This was equally due to the service as staff were so friendly and kind, but also due to the environment as it was a proper working farm with so many cats and dogs that would cuddle up with us anytime they had the chance. The grounds are huge and we spent more than one day just exploring all the nooks and crannies always accompanied by a cat or dog. Make sure you take space in your luggage to bring home some of their olive oil - we most enjoyed the pink label. We tried to have an olive oil lesson but staff were so busy that this didn’t end up happening. It would be a great addition to the itinerary though. We really didn’t want to leave this hotel. Ever. They even put us in their Grotto des Anges to help us celebrate our honeymoon; staying in a proper cave room was such an amazing experience.

Matera was our next stop; the drive in was stressful for my husband due to the narrow roads but the driving instructions were really good. The hotel was nice but as we had just stayed at our dream hotel it was difficult to live up to Montenapoleone. However, Matera was fascinating, and we went to the Casa Noha to learn about the social justice history of the city which really added depth to our understanding of the hotel we stayed in. We did the self guided walk of Matera which was good. Again we struggled to decide on restaurants to eat at, the best one we found was just past the steps to the hotel and open all the time, which was unusual for restaurants in Italy. We had a delicious meal and I really enjoyed the pureed bean dish that is specific to the region. We had two nights in Matera which is spectacularly built out the side of a cliff face.

This is definitely a new and different experience of Italy, the food was inspiring and the restaurants excited to introduce & explain their local specialities. There is so much variety in the landscape and architecture and cultural heritage and the itnerary helped us to sample them all.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: Mrs Hollands combined our Journey Through Puglia with an add-on at the Orto di Lucania in Matera.

A good way of exploring Puglia.

A journey through Puglia is an excellent introduction to this part of Italy and Inntravel did a superb job of putting together this well thought out itinerary.  The Masserias that we stayed in were all to a high standard - each having their own unique charm and all, were in fantastic locations in the countryside (away from the touristy locations) amongst olive groves.  Every place we stayed had beautiful large swimming pools which was an added bonus, given the hot weather we had (30C+ in September).  If I had to pick my favourite masseria it would have to be between L'orte Luciana for it's wonderful home cooking, location and friendly hospitality and Masseria Panereo which has a stunning location set in the countryside with a view to the sea and an amazing state of the art sunken pool. This is our third holiday with you and thank you once again for a really superb and memorable trip.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers extended their holiday with an optional add-on stay of two nights at the L'Orto di Lucania in Montescaglioso near Matera.

Loved the area, swimming in sea, different towns. Masseria Montenapoleone was a great place to chill - it might have been good at end of trip but the beach and swimming at Mattinata was fun. The walk to Monte Sacro was very enjoyable and well signed.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our Discovery Journey through Puglia - Baroque Treasures & Ancient Trulli with our add-ons in Matera and Mattinata

We enjoyed the historic cities we visited and in May it was not very busy anywhere. Note that most things close from midday until 3 pm except where the tourists are catered for. The holiday was enjoyed by us all with Il Frantoio being a highlight in quality of food and accommodation.

Of the three masserias we stayed in, the only one which really lived up to our expectations was Masseria Il Frantoio. We naively expected them all to be working farms, with home grown or locally grown ingredients used in all the meals. We discovered that "masseria" has a more casual meaning than we realised - really just a hotel in the countryside. We enjoyed the locality of three different areas, albeit only a short distance between each. However, we found the lack of road signs extremely wearing, and we got lost on more occasions than we've ever got lost anywhere before!!!

A special holiday in an incredible place. The weather for April was outstanding, no rain in two weeks. Very friendly people and superb food and wine. A relaxing and enjoyable trip.

Our personal highlights included the walk from Masseria Panareo to Porto Badisco with a lazy lunch in the village to unwind on our first day and visits in particular to the historic centres of Gallipoli and Lecce, together with the archaeological site and museum at Egnazia where there is enough information in English to give a good overview, and walking in the forest at Bosco delle Pianelle. We did brave the tourist hotspot that is Alberobello or 'Trulli Town' and were glad we did, especially when we realised it was easy to wander off the main tourist trail and see the houses with no-one else around. The best Trulli experience though was simply spotting them as we drove around in the quiet countryside. The excellent dinners at Masseria Il Frantoio were good value (we had the 4-course option including wine at €40pp). The late start, with the restaurant not opening until 20.30 was a negative for us, however.

Not spectacularly beautiful like Tuscany but the Trulli village and Mattera definitely worthwhile. The food is to die for!

Puglia: Puglia is a very slow holiday. More for relaxing than sightseeing. The olive trees, many of which are over a thousand years old, are gorgeous. A visit to Santa Caterina d'Alessandria in Galatina, for its frescos, is well worth the effort. Dinners at Masseria il Frantoio, near Ostuni, can be ordered in four or six courses, and are not as overwhelming as the wine-accompanied eight-course dinner that is suggested by Inntravel. They're equally delicious, but with less wine and food.

Matera: Matera was part of the backdrop in the new Wonderwoman movie; it's where the Amazon women lived. The cave area (the "sassi") is amazing, and magical. Inntravel's suggested city walk through the Sassi covered all the important sites in the town. We especially liked San Pietro Caveoso church, because it was old and serene.

Naples: Naples is very vibrant, morning till night. The neighborhood that the Inntravel hotel, Palazzo Alabardieri, is located in has great shops and restaurants. The hotel has good recommendations for the restaurants, including Umberto, just down the block. There is an upscale grocery store just across the street from the hotel, where we bought a few things. Fun to just look through. If Naples is your extension after the Amalfi Coast and Villages holiday, a taxi from Positano to the Naples hotel is part of the package, and provided by the Positano hotel; ask the hotel in Positano to taxi you to Pompeii and take the bags further on to the Naples hotel. You can tour ancient Pompeii and then easily catch the Circumvesuviana train (right near the Pompeii ruins) to Herculaneum and then on to the train station in Naples, and the 151 bus to Piazza Vittoria, near the hotel. Trains run late, or otherwise irregularly, and you may have to stand, but hang on to your passport and wallet and you'll be fine. Well worth it.

Amalfi Coast and Villages: Plan for your walk from Bomerano to Positano be on a weekday; the Italians are all out on the weekends, our walk along the Sentieri degli Dei was very crowded. Hotel Buca di Bacco in Positano is a beautiful hotel right at the beach--upgrade to seaview. The most romantic place we've stayed, maybe ever. Their restaurant is fabulous.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our 'A Journey through Puglia' holiday followed by 2 nights at the Locanda di San Martino in Matera then 2 nights in Naples at the Palazzo Alabardieri before, and after, our 'Amalfi Coast & Villages' walking holiday.

We very much enjoyed our Journey through Puglia.  The mix of coast, city and countryside was great.  We ate at all the hotels and the food was superb.  This holiday gave us a chance to explore Puglia and its history and architecture at a leisurely pace.