Our Guide To Puglia
Hey there sea lovers,
My sister Emma and I, along with our parents and families, have just returned from a month abroad in Italy. It was the trip of a lifetime really, to have 13 of us trotting around living our best European Summer lives. In saying that, planning a trip with guests aged 1 to 70 was no easy feat! Shout out to my parents for going with the flow and re-entering the world of life with toddlers, babies etc. etc. Also, shout out to TripIt for a great group travel app (not sponsored). It was great as I didn't have to be the information person, everyone could refer to and make their travel notes in TripIt, and away we went...
Anyway, onto the fun stuff. I am so happy to be typing away at my computer to share about our dreamy days in Puglia, Italy. I had heard of this magical southern/eastern side of Italy for a decade, so it was a dream come true to leave the busy Amalfi coast and head over there. You can also fly from Rome, but with 7 kids, the 3-4 hour drive seemed a little more appealing.
I had researched our trip endlessly and asked anyone and everyone where they had been and what they enjoyed. In the months leading up to our trip, the tips for Puglia came rolling in more than any other location in Italy. It seems to be quite the TikTok hot spot, and with good reason. The anticipation was peaking! We had 5 nights and 4 full days in the region, and we could have spent a month.
So here it is, where we stayed, what we did, what we ate and all the little tips for Puglia for you.
We based our Airbnb search around Ostuni. We wanted to attempt going north, south and even inland, so we thought Ostuni or nearby was a great base. We found a beautiful little Trulli residence about 40 minutes out of Ostuni that suited all 13 of us as it was like three residences spread across a heritage-listed farm, with a communal kitchen to host the private cooking class, a pool for the kids and an outdoor pizza oven we were happy! It was 20 mins to the beach, 20 mins to Alberobello 1 hour to Matera and 40 mins to Ostuni, so it was close to all the places we wanted to go. In saying that, if we didn't have small children, we would have swapped places every 2-3 nights instead of checking into one place and driving back and forward, does that make sense? If you have children (or are in a group of adults) who can carry their own bags and settle into a place themselves, I would recommend booking places in each town we went to and driving in between rather than the long commutes every day from a central base. I would also say to make sure you stay in a Masseria or a Trulli house at least once, google them and then book. Ok!
Day 1.
We woke up and had breakfast with pancetta, zucchini, and tomatoes lightly drizzled with olive oil and salt on sourdough...hello! Then drove a short drive to Arberobello, a stunning town built entirely out of Trullo buildings. We explored the town after what we called a standing-up espresso-and-cornetto (it costs to sit down, and with 13 of us, it adds up). The history, the vistas and the shopping were just so fun. It was easy to park on the outside of the town and walk in. It had a central Piazza and not a crazy amount of steps. You only need a morning to visit and see it all. It was a really easy and fun trip for the kids. Eating in the Piazza meant they could get out of the restaurant easily and play safely where we could see them. Mum hack (we packed skipping ropes for when they had finished their meals here, giving us another 30 minutes to rest our legs and finish our carafe of wine). Yes, wine is served by the litre in glass jars, and gosh I am going to miss that so much that I shall recreate it from home.
From here, we drove to the beach for the afternoon only to find it was raining and looked quite dreary. We came back here and had an incredible time in the sunshine. I will share in full, standby.
Most afternoons, we would come home to our Airbnb and relax poolside with a cocktail and wine. We'd let the kids play and tell stories about the day, re-live moments and cook a meal from home. You can buy incredible pizza dough at the supermarkets everywhere, so it was homemade pizzas for the win this first night, including a Burrata Pizza, which we will share the process/how to shortly.
Day 2.
We spent the day roaming the ancient town of Matera, which was the highlight of my trip. We parked as close to town as we could and walked in (no cars allowed here). Every blog I read said not to take a pram, but I totally could have and wish I did, as the Yo-Yo is made for these locations. People have been living here for over 6000 years, so the history is breathtaking. Here are some things we did.
- We started with a short tour of a Sassi home (the tour was called Casa Noha) with videos and audio guides. It gave you Matera's 6000-year-old history in 30 minutes and was great for the kids (and adults) to appreciate the town before we started walking around.
- From there, we walked to "Church of Santa Maria de Idris", which looks like a pile of rocks from a distance but is a church carved out of stone. Matera has 200 churches or so; this was our pick and well worth the short walk and few euro to enter. You can also walk around the outside to view the valley over to where the caves are on the other side.
- We entered an ancient Sassi to see how people lived up until the 1950s with 11 in one room; Vico Solitario is a good one to visit.
- We had the most incredible Gelato here at I Vizi deli Angeli - Gelateria Artigianale burnt fig and hazelnut was my favourite. Emma had her first brioche stuffed with ice cream and lives with no regrets.
Here's what I wish I could have done but didn't get to do. Stay till night as the whole city is covered in these crazy three-story high lights. It would be magical at night! I could have walked around another day just exploring and visiting the caves across the canyon to see how people lived in them 4000-6000 years ago.
In the afternoon, we drove the long way home passing a town called Altamura. Trust me, it's worth the drive just to go to this 3x3m cheese shop called Vito Dicecca! The hospitality! The cheese! I want to go back… hold the baby; I'll be back in 74 hours. This place is famous for Buratta, and we ate a whole one while discussing our cheese options in-store. It was incredible. Apparently, they have a cheese bar in a forest, and yes, you just read that. A. Cheese. Bar. In. A. Forest! However, we didn't quite get to it, but we hope that you do.
That evening we went home and ate as much cheese as possible.
Day 3.
We visited Ostuni and started the day outside the old town at the food markets. So fun! Great for a stroll and to pick up some beautiful produce. There were also some clothes markets there, some vintage and young designers were there, it was super fun. A bit crazy with kids, but we picked up a few pieces.
We then went into the old town and visited that restaurant on Instagram that everyone goes to, Borgo Antico Bistrot. The food was delicious. Just know when you see a restaurant online, that's on the side of a cliff, it means you have to walk up a cliff to get to it. It was exposed to full sun, our tables were on a lean, the wind was so strong it blew my wine over, and my sisters' pancetta flicked up into my face. My 70-year-old mother said, "Instagramable but also Instadifficult". Don't say I didn't warn you. Maybe with a good hat, a few door wedges for the leaning table and not on a sunny and windy day, it would be a good time. Oh also, get an Ape to get there. It's a small car-type oversized go-cart thing that can drop you at the door. There's nothing quite like a hike down a cliff with children after a delicious meal. Just saying.
When we got home, we went for a girls' night out at the most beautiful restaurant in Noci, L'Antica Locanda. It was perfection, no effort, no worries and no children. Mum hack, take a grandparent on all family holidays.
Day 4.
We (being The Beach People) really needed some time underwater after all this city dwelling, so we re-attempted a beach day. I had swimming in ancient ruins on my bucket list. So with reef shoes, snorkels (which will be released soon), and flippers packed off, we set. If you google Calette di Torre Cintola, you will find it. It's great that it doesn't have much online presence. It was stunning; we sipped wine, snacked on cheese and olives seaside, and splashed around all day.
We headed home for our last evening and had the most memorable meal with a private cooking class with Puglia Classics at our accommodation. We spent the afternoon with Romo preparing the pasta and learning from him. Then we shared a lengthy meal over many hours, finished with Limoncello and Panna Cotta. The kids had gone to bed hours before, and it was a delight as a Mumma not to have to clean and just to be able to walk three steps into bed. Highly recommend this experience.
We left Puglia the next day, and we didn't make it to Polignano Al Mare as after Amalfi, we wanted to avoid any more crowds. I didn't have any FOMO as I had learnt my lesson for things that looked good on Insta… Also, we heard from friends that the Lecce region has incredible beaches and would have loved to have spent a day at a beach club down south… but alas, another time!
From there, we drove to Sicily and spent the night in Tropea, which is halfway. I'll share more on Tropea soon, as it's well worth a mention and a stop if you are driving south.
Feel free to DM us with any questions… much love and grazie for reading this far (yes, I have become that person that throws random Italian words into sentences, hopeless, I know).
Victoria.
Emma wears our Recycled Bag in Medium, Black
Snorkel is coming soon
Baby Carrier is from Artipoppe
Victorias set is from Zulu and Zephyr
Victorias sunglasses Lu Goldie
Pram is from Babyzen
Thank you to Puglia Classics for our cooking class
