726 Anyone been to Puglia?

A nice restaurant in Alberobello is [url]www.casanovailristorante.it[/url] use tourist menu only e20 per person including wine. You will come out stuffed!

Caves at Grotte di Castellana

have fun

We have just arrived back from 2 lovely weeks in Puglia . We rented a Trullo just outside Cisternino not too far from Fasano. Most of the little towns in the area are worth visiting at some stage, we loved the atmosphere in the piazza's in the evenings you can just sit at a outside table and enjoy people watching. Belle Italia in Cisternino is a lovely restaurant, great food and service and it is just off the central piazza. If you want a good beach for a few hours try Lido Bizzaro which is very close to Fasano and Torre Canne, it has a superb little restaurant right on the beach. Alberobello is a must, it's a little touristy of course, lots of gift shops, but the sight of all those little streets full of Trulli is unforgettable. We also took a train from Cisternino to Lecce for the day, Lecce is lovely and the train journey in itself is an experience. We loved Puglia and want to see even more of it in the near future.

Certainly you have to visit the Gargano area. The most amazing sea, beatches... there is a train that uns through the area. Amazing food too!

Paola

That's really helpful, we will certainly go there. Are there any other places of must see value. We'd be really interested to hear from anyone that has stopped in the Masseria Salamina before and if there are others in this region that people would highly recommend.

Have only seen this masseria from outside, but it looks stunning - Fasano is nice small town, tourist info office in main square. At weekends,there are often religious outdoor ceremonies and other events in this square. It's fun to drive about the little roads through the olive plantations and the small villages and towns. There are the remains of ancient ruined city at Egnazia north up the coast, and lots of small beaches. Zoo Safari is up on the hill above Fasano, haven't been there so far. We have yet to find anywhere good (there's a pizzeria which is ok) to eat out in Fasano itself. :cool:

Kathy, Thanks for the reply, I take it you now live in Puglia or at least have a apartment there.

Could you tell us where else you would recommend as good places to visit or eat at. We haven't had a holiday in 5 years so this is quite special to us, so the more places we can visit and eat at that are recommended the better.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

We've just come back from Ostuni after signing for our villa in San Vitto. You must go to Ostuni. Its called the White City and is like a rabbit warren of little streets and is wonderfull. Make your way up into the main area, towards the church at the top, from the square. Down one of the first little streets to the right of the main street you will see a sign for a resteraunt called Locanda dei 7. Framco is the owner and the food is fab and Framco is entertaining in himself. He speaks excellent english and will you feel very welcome. If you go tell him Paula and Neal sent you and we'll see him for three weeks in Ocober. He also has apartments he rents out, which are newly refurbished and he charges 25euro per person, per night, if the info is of any use to anybody.

Have a good time and I'm envious. October is much too long a wait.

Paula

Ristorante Da Nicola, in Torre a Mare is well worth a visit, on the water, great seafood, cant remember the price, but I have been there now about 5 or 6 times and its always good, I normally have what the waiter reckons is good, well worth it, OK wine list too,

The places I like in Puglia tend to be in the south, Lecce is wonderful, but I also like Oria, francavilla fontana, and the waterfront at Taranto is also quite nice. Nothing special about the later towns, just pretty,
\
cheers
Sean

Well, we don't eat out very much...the other posts have given me some ideas though! Cisternino is a nearby small town, with a little church and a bar nearby. Monopoli is a good place to be on a Saturday evening in the main square, everybody out and about. Gallipoli and the Taranto coast are interesting..When visiting many years ago can remember liking Otranto further south down the coast, and I stayed for a while in Matera - further inland, an interesting town with cave houses.

I quite like the idea myself to take a trip across the Adriatic to Dubrovnik or Albania...but maybe its cheaper to fly there!! :D
We have a local property in need of some repair, so visiting for now.

Has anyone stopped in the Masseria's in the Fasano area, I would really like to know peoples thoughts on them. We are staying here [url]www.masseriasalamina.it[/url] for 2 weeks.

Thank you so much to everyone who has posted, we have written them all down and are planning on one very busy holiday...of course broken up with copious amounts of great food eating.

Have a great time :) . We loved it so much we are going back again next year with friends. Just one problem couldn't open your link.

Try Bari, It's a city, not a village, but the old part of it "Bari Vecchia", is very nice full of restaurants, bars etc and very krowded.
Very beautiful Giovinazzo, Molfetta, and most of all Trani (30 min north of Bari): it has an amazing cathedral next to the sea, a beautiful harbour and a very nice old city, with white stones houses, many restaurants (good fish), bars, shops.
Have a look at Castel del Monte, north of Bari.
It's a castle with a peculiar octagonal structure, it's said built not for defensive, but for esotherical reasons.
South of Bari there's Polignano a Mare, biult on cliffs by the sea. There you can try the restaurant Grotta Palazzese, quite expensive, but you can eat in grotto just on the sea: good and unique experience.

Hi
Can anyone give me some information on the above area, we are thinking of buying a property just about to be built. I really need a good local lawyer, and some feedback on the area/buying. :
Marie

sorry the link didn't work try this, hopefully it will work. We are still really interested to hear from anyone that has been there:

[url]http://www.masseriasalamina.it[/url]

Or even if anyone has stopped in any of the masserias in the area.

Robur, where did you stop in Puglia? Was it what you expected?

We stayed in a Trullo just outside Cisternino. It was our first visit to Puglia and we knew no one that had visited the region at all so it was all completely new to us. We absolutely loved it and fingers crossed will be returning next year. The weather was as expected, hot and clear blue skies everyday, the food and restaurants were exceptional and the people there are very warm and welcoming, i will be surprised if you are dissapointed. It was fairly quiet when we were there towards the end of June so i imagine it may be a little busier when you are there. I really hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Let us know how you found it when you return :) .

Thank you for taking the time to respond Robur, I must say we are really excited about our holiday, and its great to chat with so many people of a like minded disposition. We will post a review of our stay when we return in the middle of september.

Hi

We are looking for somewhere to stay for a few nights in Ostuni at the beginning of September. Do you have any more details for Framco's apartments?

Thanks