Beth Denny

This Easter Holiday, I went to Puglia. First stop was Lecce. To be honest, I felt like I didn’t spend enough time exploring as I was only in Italy for four days. Also, being April, some things were closed or only open for a limited time, for example, the Roman Amphitheater which was temporarily closed 😦

On a positive note, this 100% gives me an excuse to come back! I found the people to be so kind and friendly. Everywhere I went, the locals were helping tourists, showing them how to buy train tickets, giving directions and making conversation in restaurants and shops.

We stayed in a beautiful B&B: Il Giardino Di Benedetta. It was tranquil and actually looked exactly the same as the pictures. So many times when you arrive at the accommodation, the property looks more tired or feels smaller than the pictures suggest. The host was amazing. He took the time to talk to us about Lecce, travelling around Puglia and recommend places to eat.

The food was delicious and with the weather being mild, about 18-20C during the day, we could have breakfast in the garden of the B&B and lunch or dinner seated outside restaurants.

We spent two nights in Lecce and then one night in Bari. Day one we explored Lecce. The second day we took the train to Monopoli and the third day we walked around Bari.

These are my pointers and main takeaways from this trip:

• If you can, Puglia is so much easier to get around by car. But, if like me you are too scared to drive in a different country, I would recommend downloading the Trenitalia app. We used trains to travel around Puglia and some stations don’t have any staff to help you purchase tickets. If they do, for example in Bari, the station was so busy that if we queued, we would have missed our train. If we had missed our train, the next one would either be twice the price or a two hour wait! Using the app also means you don’t need to validate your tickets.
• Be prepared for things to take longer than you planned for. On Day two, we wanted to go to Polignano a Mare via Monopoli on the train. The lady at the station said we could spend up to four hours in Monopoli, which although it sounds like plenty of time, in reality it’s not. Firstly, the train station can be at least 15 minutes from the main areas. Finding somewhere to eat is not always easy as not everything was open in the day, even at lunch time. Waiting to order and getting the food took a while even in quieter restaurants as it is freshly made. We didn’t make it to Polignano a Mare in the end but I would love to go there and to Alberobello next time.
• Due to the cost, I booked 20kg luggage allowance for the flights and had one midsized suitcase. This was a nightmare to get up and down the flights of stairs at the train station, to drag along the cobbled Italian streets and to get on busy trains and buses. I probably should’ve gone for two 10kg bags but even then, I’m not sure if backpacks would have been the best option overall. Maybe if it was slightly warmer, it would’ve meant we could pack lighter.

I will write another couple of posts about my time in Monopoli and Bari where I will also share a couple of things I found stressful prior to arrival in Italy. I hope you found this post useful. Bx