One of the unique features of Puglia is the possibility of staying in Trulli, or a Masseria, the traditional buildings of Puglia, and which are not really found to any extent anywhere else.
The Trulli (singular (Trullo) are old buildings with a conical roof piled on top of each other and without mortar holding them together. In times long gone by, there would be a rent paid to a landlord for homes, but a house without a roof would not count as a home.
So the enterprising inhabitants built their homes with a roof they could quickly dissemble when they saw a rent collector coming, and then restack once the collector has his back turned on his way out.
But before we look at Trulli in more detail, let us first consider how and why one would go to Puglia.
New Travel Trends
We are told that we should be travelling out of season and to less popular destinations, partly to get a better travel experience, partly because travel costs may be lower, and partly to try and avoid some of the effects of over-tourism.
With this in mind, I decided to travel to Bari and Puglia as a solo traveller. I had been invited to stay in a trulli in Puglia during the October school half term, hence choosing the week at the end of October, but otherwise I was ticking most of the sustainable travel boxes.
I flew from Stansted with Ryan Air to Bari. I did look at the possibility of flying with a different airline to another Italian city, and taking the train, but the long travel time dissuaded me. So I was not completely sustainable in my travel choices.
Why Bari?
Bari is the 3rd largest city in South Italy, with an attractive old town, harbour and fishing port
It is also the final resting place for at least most of St Nicholas of Myra, otherwise known as Santa Claus. His bones were rescued from Myra in 1087 when Myra was overcome by the Muslim Turks, and brought to his home town of Bari.
Most of his bones now rest in the Basilica of St Nicolas, a large and imposing church overlooking the harbour, perhaps a fitting place for a saint whose patronage includes sailors as well as merchants, archers and repentant thieves
It seemed a good starting point to my stay in Puglia.
Bari Airport, or Bari Karol Wojtyla Airport to give it’s official name is a relatively small airport. Getting through passport control and collecting cases is relatively straightforward. I take the train from the Airport to Bari Centrale a ride of about 15 minutes.
I want to stay close to the train station as I don’t want to lug a heavy suitcase through some of Bari’s pedestrianised streets. Hotel options in the centre of town are a little limited. The perhaps unfortunately named Bra Hotel is someway out of my Budget. JR Hotels Oriente, a 4 Star hotel is more within that budget, but I decide to stay at an apartment, the Train Suites pretty much immediately opposite the station.
A day in Bari
The most attractive part of Bari to visit is the Old Town and around the harbour. It atkes about 15 minutes to walk from Train Station to the Old Town through the up market shopping /fashion district known as Murat. To my admittedly untrained eye and window shopping only, Italian fashion looks good and well priced.
But I was not here for fashion shopping and continued tthough to the old town, veering slightly right to take in the Petruzzelli Theatre.
Old Town
If you were coming to Bari on a city break, you will come for the Old Town. Narrow streets, largely pedestrianised, allow access to small shops and boutiques, coffee shops and restaurants, squares and churches.
There are a fair number of tourists, it’s busy but not overcrowded.
Tourists will gather around the ladies making little ears of pasta, Orecchiette. I read that it was the grandmothers, the nonnas, who sat outside fashioning these little ears into which local sauces would flow, but the ladies I saw were far too young to be grandmothers.
Bari really started to develop during the time of the Emperor Trajan, but there are now just a few pockets of Roman ruins left.
Day 2 Polignano a Mare
Polignano lies about 50 minutes train ride south of Bari. It is a popular destination, and makes a good secondary destination if you are coming to Bari on a short city break.
Like Bari, it has an attractive old town, popular with tourists and in particular coach parties on tours of Puglia.
Again, like Bari, its development can be traced back to the Emperor Trajan and a viaduct still remains across the bay.
It is perched across two sides of a cliff, and the cliffs themselves are used by Red Bull as part of their series of Cliff Diving competitions. The diving boards are placed at 27 and 21 metres above the sea and will be an impressive sight for those watching, possibly a slightly nervous one for those taking part.
You might think that the old town of Polignano a Mare is too similar to that of Bari, and therefore it is not worth a visit, but I would disagree.
The impression I got (which could be completely wrong) is that most of the people in the bars and restaurants of Bari were locals, while in Polignano it really did feel that they were tourists, albeit mostly Italian tourists, apart from a few groups of American tourists who were on a tight schedule.
So there is a very different feel between Bari and Polignano, perhaps more relaxed as people generally have more time to linger when they are tourists. The cliff top setting of the latter is impressive and is worth travelling to Polignano just to see that.
You do believe me that the cats here can write in English, don’t you?
If you would like to see more photos of Polignano a Mare please head over to my instagram page https://www.instagram.com/travellerstales61/. I have to head back to Bari, because tomorrow I am off to Locorondo and the Leonardo Trulli Resort, where I shall finally be staying in a Trulli in Puglia, which is what this post is about.
Leonardo Trulli Resort
I am staying at the Leonardo Trulli Resort for four nights. I get there by taking the train from Bari Centrale to Fasano, and am then picked up by car and taken to the resort.
If you are coming to Puglia and intend travelling around some of the villages, it is definitely worth hiring a car. It is perhaps possible to cycle, if you are quite fit, but public transport is quite difficult.
There are a number of villages and towns that you will want to visit, including Alberobello, the village of the trulli, and Ostuni, the White City, Martina Franca, and one of my favourites Locorotondo.
I will write a separate post to review the Leonardo Trulli resort, but for now, suffice it to say that the estate was restored by its owner Rosalba Cardone about 12 years ago. She has been continually improving the resort and is now able to offer 14 rooms in 6 trulli and 8 Masseria.
Each room has very thick walls which makes it cool in the summer. I would love to stay here when the weather is cold. I think it would feel so cosy to whack the heating up and feel cocooned in your trulli or masseria.
If youwant to stay in a Trulli in Puglia, you may naturally gravitate towards Alberobello, but you should bear in mind that Alberobello is popular with tourists, and that means less avalability and higher prices, not just for the accomodation but also anything that you may want to buy, either food wise or as a souvenir.
Many of the Trulli in Puglia will be self catering, but the Leonardo Trulli has a restaurant, the Artecibo, or perhaps more Food Experience than restaurant. Much of the food in the resort is grown on site. They produce their own red wine (red only for now), which is very good. The chef is excellent and you will eat very well, if perhaps a little too much.
The resort also has a pool with heated seawater and added magnesium. The bottom of the pool is black so the water in the pool appears black, which reflects the main building very well.
Locorotondo
One of the most attractive villages in Puglia, if not Italy is built around a round hill, hence the “round place.” The huge Mother Church of St George, built between 1785 and 1820, dominates the scene.
The houses are built in a Commerse style, with pointed roofs, similar to the Trulli but older, going back to the 1300s. They are regularly whitewashed with lime to keep them looking pristine. The village has a regular best balcony and wall pot competition which helps to keep the village looking attractive.
Nearby there is another very attractive church, perhaps more chapel than Church and also much older, the Church of St Nicholas of Myra, built in or around 1690. You can read a little more about this charming chapel here.
In the corner of the church was a charming Nativity Scene painted on stones
