Southern Italy (Oct 2018)
I have always loved Italy – the culture, the food, the architecture and the history. When a business trip to London came up in October 2018, I convinced hubby, Steve, to join me so we could take a side trip to Italy for 5 nights afterwards.
We started our trip flying into Rimini from London Stansted. We chose Rimini because Steve had an opportunity to spend a day there doing some business of his own. While he worked I planned to pass time wandering around sightseeing on my own.
You can read about our 2 night stay in Rimini’s old town here.
After spending 2 nights in Rimini, we drove our rental car down the east coast to Puglia, where we were to spend the next 3 nights and four days driving around the heel of the boot.
Roadtrip from Rimini to Puglia
The morning we left Rimini I was pleased to see some blue sky as I walked up the road after breakfast to the rental car place near the train station. I collected our Fiat Panda, not exactly the cleanest car I’ve ever seen but at least the lady at the desk spoke English so was able to answer my questions about how to use tolls. Somehow managing to drive the manual left hand drive through the narrow lanes I went back to our hotel to pick up our bags and Steve who was checking out. Then we used my iPhone GPS to navigate our way out of Rimini to the freeway heading south towards Puglia. It was challenging at first being on the right (wrong) side of the road – Aussies are used to driving on the left. It also took a few moments to work out how the freeway entry worked. Once at the tollgates you collect a ticket for later, which notes the point where you entered the toll road, then calculates the fee at your exit point.
Taking off down the freeway heading towards Bari we started our 6 hour drive. Most of our drive was freeway but pleasingly it was still picturesque. I settled into an easy, driving rhythm, in 5th gear. The poor Fiat Panda didn’t have much guts but I managed to accelerate up to 130 kmph for most of the time. The Italian drivers were crazy though, changing lanes without using indicators and drifting across lanes, sometimes straddling two at once. And if I didn’t keep to the right I soon knew about it, when a car appeared in my rear view mirror, sitting on my tail – they terrified the living daylights out of me on more than one occasion. Also along the way we saw a major car accident – a wheel had come off one car while the other car was completely flipped on its side with a man on a stretcher about to be lifted into an ambulance.
At around midday we exited the freeway at Silvi to check out the coast line and find some lunch. It was a desolate area with no signs of people around and although the sea was clear and a lovely colour, on the waters edge it was black and there was rubbish everywhere.
I felt sad that such a beautiful country wasn’t being cared for. We found a small cafe nearby and each ate a panini of sorts with coffee – both of us fed for less than 10 Euros! Then we got back on the freeway for a while before deviating through empty country roads towards Matera. For the next couple of hours the views changed as we saw gorgeous olive groves and vines everywhere – and did I mention hardly any cars? I was beginning to realise this is an advantage of travelling off season – lack of crowds and quiet roads.
Matera
Matera was beautiful! We hit the outskirts of the pale coloured hillside town at about 4pm and easily found the address in the town centre where we were to check into our accommodation (thanks to my iPhone GPS again). Parking is restricted in the town centre and you can’t park near your room. I had read the reviews and recommendations about travelling light therefore we left our big bags hidden in the boot of the car and only took out our overnight bags. You need to either find a car park further away or get your car valet parked in a private car park about a kilometer outside the town centre. We opted for the latter – we thought it well worthwhile for 15 Euros. The 150m uphill walk from the check-in place to our room (felt like 350m) wasn’t easy across slippery cobbled stones and stairs. It would have been terribly slippery when wet. Even when dry, I lost my footing once or twice. I had booked a cave room, which Matera is famous for, and upon entering, the first thing we noticed was the musty smell. But what an experience! No windows, rounded ceilings and walls, a tiny ensuite bathroom and rustic decor, plus a selection of breakfast items laid out in the little kitchenette for the next morning.
As dusk was approaching we decided to go exploring before the light faded. Not long after we set off down hill with our map we realised there were lots of mosquitos about. We had already been bitten a lot in Rimini because we’d left the window open at night (there doesn’t seem to be any fly screens in Italy). Even wearing insect repellent the mosquitoes were persistent and we continuously swatted them away as we walked around the outside ring road.
We admired the sky turning a pale pink across the surrounding hills before deciding to set back to our room to escape the mosquitos. Although we got a little lost along the way, it was the best kind of lost as we found ourselves outside the duomo with its bells ringing – lots of people were congregating and film cameras were interviewing bystanders. We don’t know what was going on -some type of event or ceremony perhaps?
At dinner time we went out to look for a restaurant recommended on TripAdviser but the one we chose turned us away saying it was fully booked. We had doubts as the restaurant was empty and wondered if perhaps we were under dressed but then again they may have been booked out later. We ended up finding a little place nearby. There was only one family inside and an old man on his own waited on us and then cooked our food. We realised he was completely running the place on his own with no help – he was doing a splendid job too! The table of 5 next to us turned out to be Aussies too (their accents gave them away) and a bit later a German couple came in. We had soft cheese and antipasto for starters. For mains I had pasta and Steve had veal. All with the obligatory red wine. The food and wine was very nice but more impressive was how this one man served us all. Although he seemed to lose interest in serving us after our mains and didn’t offer any dessert. When we asked for the bill we were told cash only – lucky we had enough on us or we may have been helping him do the dishes. Perhaps that was his plan ! In any case we went to bed completely full after walking back slowly to our room admiring the town all lit up.
Our cave hotel in Matera certainly was unique. Our breakfast was included – a little table stocked with fresh fruit, cereal, bread, jams, eggs, in a tiny kitchenette containing a small stove, fridge and coffee maker with coffee pods. I set about making coffee the next morning after waking around 8am. Check out was 10am and I wanted to go for a short walk around the village first. After a quick shower I discovered we’d had a visitor bringing us bottles of water. We had also been given an information sheet, all in Italian. I tried to use my iPhone translater lens and it looked like they’d discovered problems in the town water – the word bacteria came up. We made tea (with boiled water), ate some breakfast then I ventured out with my camera. After getting lost during my exploration I was beginning to think I shouldn’t have left without a map! Fortunately I worked out roughly where I was and got back to our room around 9:50am just in time to finish packing and walk back down the cobbled stairs with our bags – they seemed much further than the night before, even though it was down hill.
We checked out and waited ages for our valet driver to bring the rental car – while I was waiting I chatted to one of the receptionists at the check out and learnt they’d discovered bacteria in the water in the next town which is used by Matera and they had closed the schools. They were advising people to wash hands with bottled water (too late for me). I was getting a bit nervous about the time it was taking for our car to appear but then finally the valet driver turned up, car undamaged and ready for us to set off again.
Tips for Matera
- Do stay in a cave house. While there are no windows and it can smell a bit musty, you won’t regret it.
- Travel light if you are staying in the old town where you can’t park your car as you need to carry everything to your accommodation.
- Consider booking for dinner if you want a nice meal (remember they tend to eat later in Italy).
- Flat shoes are a must. All the cobbled steps would be impossible in heels, especially if there’s any rain.
Alberobella
At 10:30am on Friday morning we left Matera heading to Alberobella to see its historic Trulli houses I had been reading about. It was about an hour’s drive and along the way as we got closer we saw a few old Trulli houses in the countryside, dotted in fields.
Once again the country roads were quiet with hardly any traffic. This really is the best time of year to travel. My GPS brought us right into the town centre and we found a place to park on the street guided by a helpful policeman who pointed out where to buy a ticket from across the road. I walked across the road and tried to use the ticket machine. The “English” button wasn’t working and a nice man came and helped me, showing me how to enter the car’s number plate and insert coins.
We browsed in some nearby souvenir stores and walked up one of the cobbled hill side streets among the white Trulli houses with their brown pointed roofs. Some were used as shops now so you could look inside and see how small they are. It’s hard to believe people live in them.
After an hour or so of browsing shops and wandering the streets we looked for somewhere to have lunch, deciding on a restaurant in the square. Everyone was sat outside as it was a lovely sunny day, and I was tempted too but Steve preferred to sit inside away from smokers and dogs. We opted for a spot just inside an open window so at least I could feel like I was almost outside – a fair compromise for both of us! We both ate delicious pizzas and had sparkling water rather than wine since I was driving.
Tips for Alberobella
- You must stop here. You will not regret it, even if you just stay for a few hours.
- As it’s a small village and very popular with tourists, it would be advisable to visit during the week or outside the summer season.
Polignano di Mare
After lunch at around 2pm we left Alberobella and drove towards Polignano di Mare which was where we would be staying for the next two nights. After passing more olive groves, the odd trulli and more quiet country roads we hit the freeway heading north towards Bari, arriving at our destination (Polignano) around 3pm.
I worked out where we needed to go for our pre-booked accommodation, found a parking spot then went to the restaurant in the piazzo where we needed to check in. At check-in I was advised to move the car to a street a bit further away where you could park for longer, then a young guy on a bicycle tuk tuk would help us with our luggage back to the piazza. That was an experience being crammed in the tuk tuk with all our luggage, but we made it. We were shown to our apartment just off the square. What a shock. I was very disappointed, it wasn’t at all like I had imagined. Although on reflection, it was my imagination that had got it wrong. To be fair, it was exactly how it was described. It was a terrace apartment on multiple levels, but it was tiny floor space, with a tiny bathroom on the same level as the kitchen and the stairs to access the bedrooms up and down were tiny narrow with no rails. I didn’t feel safe and was concerned about needing the loo in the middle of the night and needing to navigate those stairs in the dark. There were ocean views as described but this was after climbing several flights of stairs to the roof top (which was a small terrace) and they were glimpses at best, across many other roof tops. I had imagined a terrace balcony overlooking the sea and had completely underestimated how small the place would be. We left our bags in the entry foyer by the kitchen, the only place with space – no way were we going to try to carry them down or up the narrow stairs. We then decided to go out to explore.
It was a lovely piazza with lots of twisty narrow lanes leading off to various viewing spots over the cliffs, looking north, east and south. Exploring a bit further outside of the piazza we found a bridge which led down to the little cove with its pebbled beach and acqua coloured water which the town is so famous for.
Venturing down to the water I discovered it wasn’t too cold and there were a few brave people swimming. While I may have been tempted to join them, we didn’t have our swimmers so we sat on a wall nearby, enjoying the view and people watching as the sun faded.
The piazza where we were staying had several options of places to eat and drink but as we were wandering around we discovered a little outdoor terrace cocktail bar overlooking the cove, called Aquamarea. It wasn’t busy and had some cool music playing so we decided to stop there for a glass of wine while watching the sunset. We enjoyed the views and atmosphere so much that one glass turned into a couple of bottles. As we were getting a little drunk we asked if they did food. Did they ever! They brought out an amazing platter of antipasto and bruschetta which was presented beautifully and absolutely delicious.
Getting a little cold we headed back to the piazza for dinner and decided on Neuro Restaurant, sitting outside looking at the piazza. The service was a little slow but the setting was nice. After a two course meal with wine we were completely stuffed by the time the night was over.
Tips for Polignano
- There are lots of places to stay – I recommend the area around Piazza Dell’orologio if you are travelling light (cars can’t access this area).
- Do your research about your accommodation. Beware when it says sea views, as you might get fooled like me and find it’s from the roof top across many other rooftops. If you can afford it, splurge and stay overlooking the water.
Ostuni
On Saturday, after stopping for a quick coffee in a little cafe opposite the piazza, we jumped in the car and drove south, inland, to Ostuni. I regret not stopping for photos of the town as we approached from a distance – it looked so pretty, perched on the hill, all white, with the sun shining on it.
We found the old town, exploring on foot, past the duomo and piazza. Wandering up the small hilly streets in the touristy area we admired all the white washed lanes and buildings. The museums and churches were worth visiting. At Church of San Vito Matire inside Ostuni historic centre we learnt about the Lady of Ostuni – an ancient mother found in a grave in a cave dating 25000 years ago. She was estimated to be 20 years old and 8 months pregnant at the time of her death.
There were three wheeled Ape’s everywhere and we enjoyed wandering around the laneways, taking lots of photos before finding somewhere for a light lunch.
Tips for Ostuni
- Stop for a photo outside the town so you can capture it in its glory perched on the hilltop.
- Do visit the museums, there is lots of history to learn about this area.
Lecce
At 1pm after lunch we left Ostuni and drove south east for an hour to Lecce.
When we arrived it was a ghost town as everything was shut for siesta. As this is a larger town compared to the others we had visited, we had to drive around at first, looking for something interesting to see and somewhere to park. Setting off on foot we found the old town and castle. Only the courtyard was open with some old ruins so we decided to head across the road to a cafe for coffee and gelato while waiting for the town to re-open.
Thanks to a quick search on TripAdvisor while sitting in the cafe, I worked out where the interesting places to see were. We learnt there was an historic ampitheatre and piazza near us. After a 5 minute walk we found the large Piazza Sant’Oronzo with its ampitheatre ruins in the middle, noticing it was now getting busier with more people about, which created a bit more atmosphere. We stayed there a while looking around the ruins of the ampitheatre and admiring nearby architecture around the piazza.
Then as we walked back to the car we stumbled upon another beautiful historic looking building, an old theatre ‘Teatro Apollo’.
We thought overall that Lecce was a bit disappointing. There were beautiful historic buildings in the old town but I realised I hadn’t done my research well enough. The town seemed much larger and spread out than then other towns we had visited and I would have benefited from a guide book. TripAdvisor ‘Things to do’ didn’t seem to offer too many options of historic sites and directions weren’t very clear. Being a ghost town when we arrived put a downer on the atmosphere. We didn’t have much fun exploring on foot as we had in the other towns we had visited. Maybe also it was a case of trying to cram in too much for one day.
Tips for Lecce
- Avoid the siesta time of day (consistent with most of southern Europe) as everything is closed and the atmosphere completely changes
Back to Polignano & Bari
Driving back north to Polignano we took a brief detour via a beach road to see some of the coast. There were abandoned stone houses and buildings dotted everywhere. I also noticed rubbish littered about all over. I’m not sure if the Italians are suffering from an economic downturn causing them to abandon buildings so frequently, or if they just don’t care about preserving their property and environment. Judging by the rubbish left everywhere, they don’t seem to appreciate their beautiful countryside.
On our last night in Polignano, we had another delicious dinner. We were considering trying the Ristorante Grotta Palazzese because the pictures looked so good (it’s in an open cave set within the cliffs overlooking the coast) but after reading so many bad reviews about the poor service and cost we decided on a little restaurant around the corner called Ristorante Pizzeria iL Grottino. This was a great choice as the food was delicious, with great service and reasonable prices including set menu options.
We ended our evening with a final stroll around the town, over the bridge past the cove and along the clifftops to walk off our full stomachs.
The next morning we left by 8am to drive 35 minutes north to Bari, where we would be catching our flight home. We had just enough time to drive around the port area and stop to watch the local fishermen with their buckets full of octopus freshly caught that morning. Then on our way to the airport we took a detour drive around the outside of the castle before returning our car and catching our mid morning flight back to London. We both agreed Bari deserved more time and made a pact to come back one day.
We thoroughly enjoyed our road trip around Southern Italy and Puglia. Autumn was a great time to visit as there weren’t any crowds and the weather was just right. As always, the food, coffee and wine was consistently delicious and prices were fairly reasonable everywhere. If you enjoy great meals, scenery and history, this is definitely a region to visit.