Customer Blog: Our discovery of authentic Italy by train...
So, with Lucy`s track record proven at home we embarked on planning a trip to Puglia Italy, this year in May. I had travelled around Sorrento, Amalfi, Positano and Capri and also based myself in Tuscany, visiting Sienna, Florence, Pisa and the beautiful surrounding villages and in Tuscany a car was necessary if you wanted to explore more rural areas.
My husband however, had never visited Italy before and Puglia was a region we were both keen to explore but without the hassle of driving ourselves. I know Lucy was a little sceptical at first that we`d be able to do all we wanted without a car but we wanted to try out the legendary train service that is ITALYs.
To ease us in on our first day, Lucy booked us into a Bari hotel which was very close to the train station in Bari. Bari is a beautiful seaside city with lovely architecture and an old part that is narrow cobbled streets. We ate fresh fish and spaghetti Vongole...superb start to the holiday! The next morning we caught the train,( Lucy had arranged tickets for us in advance) and 35 minutes later we were In Polignano a Mare. Although the train runs alongside the coast, you rarely caught a glimpse of the sea but instead, fields of vines and arid landscape. After arriving in the town, it was an easy flat 10 minute walk to the hotel, pass a supermarket enroute. The hotel to be fair was a little tricky to find as it was down a winding cobbled street, but it was definitely worth the effort.
Our room was on the top floor which I think was the largest! It had a Juliet balcony which had sea views right across the roof tops. Up one further short flight of stairs was the breakfast terrace, where they served a continental style breakfast, with lots of fresh fruit. Sadly, one downside of this property was that this was the only outside seating area, which was closed after breakfast. Polignano is a very pretty town with cobbled street lined with bars, restaurants, independent shops and much more. Its right on the cliffs but has a beach which is narrow and pebbly. Of the 6 nights we were in Polignano, our stay went a bit like this:
Day1, familiarisation of the town and amenities. Book through a local tourist shop a day trip to Matera and Alberobello as there are no transport links to those towns due to their location up in the hills.
Day2, caught a train to Lecce ( the Florence of the South). Train took 1hour, it was clean and on time and the toilets and seating areas catered for disabled wheel chair users and pushchairs. For a return ticket it was £9 each!!! We arranged a 2 hour walking food and wine tour which was brilliant and cost only about 20 euros. We decided as it was enroute and easy to get a connecting train, that we would stop at Ostuni, which again was a beautiful, a pretty, whitewashed town in the hills but was very busy with tourists. You had to get a bus from the train station into the town but this was easy.
Day3, Trip to Matera and Alberobello with English speaking guide, which paid dividends because we got to the front of the queues when going into the Sassi caves and Trulli houses. It is fair to say, that a good pair of walking shoes and being fairly able bodied was a must as these two towns are high up in the hills and as such, there is a lot of walking up and down the narrow streets but you do get the views and a visit to Puglia would not be same if you missed these out.
Day4, Caught the train to Monopoly which was one stop away from Polignano and is a destination stop too. Very pretty harbour and town square. We took a little land train around the town which was great and followed this with a boat ride around the harbour, well worth the visit.
Day5, We went off just after lunch on the boat ride around Polignano and had a thoroughly enjoyable time. All the boats are relatively small, which enables them to get inside the caves and thus there was only 6 guests, the skipper and the guide onboard, which made for a better experience.
Day6, We returned to Bari late morning and had plenty of time to see a bit more of the city and enjoy our last lunch in Italy before catching a train to the airport and flight home.
So, our impressions of Puglia, probably best described by a friend who has travelled all over Italy.... the people and food are amazing as is the scenery and architecture but compared to the north and more wealthier parts of Italy, it is a little rough around the edges. That said, and this is in my experience having visited previously, Puglia is authentic and you can see they are investing in Promenades and buildings. But unlike those other parts of Italy, what you also get is very reasonable prices, which if you leave it too late to visit, won`t stay like that for long especially if other airlines start doing direct flights to Bari and Brindisi. We had the most wonderful time and didn`t feel that we missed out by not having a car.... our own transport companies back in the UK could certainly learn a lesson or two from the Italians !!!!
