I have had a house in Puglia for 3 years now and as I go there frequently would be very happy to give any views and advice on the region to those thinking of travelling there. It's a fascinating part of the world and well worth a visit.

Hello John, and welcome to slow travel.

I was reading a few days ago that Amanda Lamb the TV presenter(of house in the sun etc) had bought an apartment in Nardo? in the south of Italy. I thought that if she chose to buy there out of all the places she has been it must have a great deal going for it! Do you know this area?

I hope you enjoy visiting ST in the future.

Hi John,

I have not had a chance to visit this region of Italy yet, but would love to learn more about it! Welcome to Slow Trav!

All the Best,

Hi John,

How fortunate for me that you have just joined our group!!

I will be in Puglia in about 3 weeks and most definitely have some questions that no one here has yet been able to answer. I really welcome any help from you. And here they are :

1) My first stop will be Trani for 3 nights. I had a reservation at Albergo Lucy but had to cancel. So now I am scrambling to find something else. I have a tentative reservation in Ai Carrittieri B&B which is a small place with only 3 rooms but looks nice on their web site (as they all do), has a/c, includes breakfast, is in the center, etc.

But there is also a choice of a place called Hotel Riviera which is actually a small hotel with 28 rooms and service which the B&B would not really have.

My main concern when trying to decide about a place that has nothing written up about it, like a review, etc. would be cleanliness. Any thoughts or ideas about this?

Where abouts do you have your house in Puglia? We will also spend several nights in Conversano and finish up in Lecce before returning home.

Would really like to hear from you.
Grazie mille

Hi John, welcome to the board. I love Puglia. My first visit was in May.
It is a big region. Where is your house?

Puglia is the subject of tonight's "House in the Sun" hosted by Amanda Lamb. I will be watching.

Oops, sorry everyone, been away for a day or two and didn't realise I'd had replies. Let me try to answer a few of the points brought up.

Poet123, yes I was aware that Amanda lamb had just purchased in Nardo. Oddly enough although I know Puglia pretty well now and it's only an hour away from me I haven't been there yet but intend to go and have a nose around when I'm back in Puglia in a couple of weeks. I don't suppose she will be pushing Nardo on this evening's Place in the Sun....she'll want to keep the proles away from where she's chosen I suspect. Be interesting to watch though.

Leslie, I'd be delighted to let you know anything you are interested in. In the meantme you might like to have a look at the website for my house

www.villapuglia.com

which as well as promoting the house has quite a lot of interesting info on it.

Dorit, I'm assuming you want to stay in Trani, which again is a bit of a distance from me. Also I'm not sure what level of accomodation you are looking for. If you let me know I might be able to offer some suggestions. My place is near Martina Franca and Ostuni and I'll be there for a couple of weeks from the 24th April. Have a look at the website mentioned above. Deborah this answers your question too.

Thanks all of you for welcoming me to the forum, I look forward to much positive chat!

John - yes indeed I would like to stay in Trani. I will spend other days further south, also near martina franca, etc. but for the first three nights I want to be in Trani. As for level of comfort and accomodation, my most important concern is cleanliness and private toilet/shower. Any knowledge or ideas about the two places I wrote about? Or anything else?

Dorit, I don't know either of these 2 places at all. Ai Carrittieri appears to be well situated in the centre of town near the interesting bits and the port, though like any central town B&B could be a bit noisy. Also it is a 4* establishment and looks genuine. I expect you'll be fine there.

Do you want me to make suggestions for somewhere near Martina Franca and for Lecce? I have rather more ideas for these areas. Are you interested in some of the more expensive Masserias? They're not cheap but some a pretty amazing.

Thanks. I am leaning a bit more towards the Hotel Riviera, just because it will be more staffed than this very small B&B. Any ideas about this hotel?

As for the other places, I have some very nice places lined up already, Trani was the only one I had a problem with. Thanks for the offer.

Hi John,

I'm going to be visiting the Puglia area in November and am looking for sites of intersted to see. I'm leaning toward staying near Ostuni but will not have a car. Any ideas? Thanks.

Lisa