Customer Reviews

Lonely Planet Puglia & Basilicata (Regional Travel Guide)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book in preparation for a month-long business trip to the region.

1) I found the background information on general region to be extremely interesting if not terribly useful. Many of the generalizations are not quite as true as the book would have them seem. Others seem to be missing entirely

2) Having used the book, the most fun/interesting local attractions, while mentioned are often not highlighted in such a way to really make them stand out enough. While they are sometimes broken out in their own boxes (like the Putignano Carnival Festival), those boxes are left in with smaller towns and often not mentioned at the header paragraphs about the sub-region, and thus often not found until after the fact.

3)I the town maps to be a bit small (I parked just a couple very short blocks out of the heart of mapped part of Lecce by accident, which in the very indistinct and poorly signed sprawl of the residential area near the heart of Lecce, made for a fun scavenger hunt for my car).

Overall the book is a great planning tool if you read thoroughly, but is somewhat lacking as a quick reference guide.

We got this new Lonely Planet guide just in time for our 2 week vacation last May and I can assure you : we extensively visited the Salento region, the beautiful Valle d'Ittre with the fairytale-like 'trulli' and Basilicata Matera with its 'sassi'
and always we had full and correct information about what to see, where to eat, visiting hours, etc. This guide together with Michelin map n°564 is all you need to make your visit to this part of Italy an unforgettable experience as it was for us !

We bought this book before our vacation last summer, since it seemed to be the only book specifically on Puglia and Basilicata. We were very disappointed.

This book led us in so many circles last summer. It discussed quaint little towns, and made you want to visit them. However, there were no maps provided of most of the little towns mentioned. And, more frustrating, no places to park in these towns. So, we spent many hours driving around these towns and not stopping, because of a lack of parking.

Also, they didn't bother to tell you that restaurant reservations are essential in Lecce on a weekend night, so we wandered from place to place, until a restaurant mercifully allowed us to wait for a table. We were seated around 10:45! We started our search for dinner around 8 pm.

Get it for basic information, but don't rely too much on the specifics.

This book is not perfect--a lot of the information was out of date, but that is probably to be expected of any travel guide--but it is the best available for this region, and also not expensive.

Beyond being the only generally available guide to this area, we enjoyed delving into it. On a bicycle tour of Puglia, we had little time to read. This guide enhanced our visits to several towns and sites: Matera, Lecce, Ostuni, Otranto.

I propose to you our itinerary built on the reading of Lonely Planet Puglia.
1st 2 days looking for quietness, strangeness and culture, we visited Matera, Massafra. We had a great experience anywhere LP has reviewed and somewherelse. Massafra (we wouldnt have considered without) but we prefered to avoid the restaurant (too formal for us) and we choose il Maestrale of Rossella.
Day 3 and 4: Otranto. We decided to go and ask for new Hotels (4 and 5 stars) which were not into the guide seeking for Lastminute offers and we found 99 euro in a 5 star right behind the Romansque cathedral! The church visit with the concierge of our Hotel was a discover of local culture, world vision and oriental contamination. In the same block of the Hotel, we found a small shop called Animamundi world music store(also in Lonely Planet) were to invest into local music, stories and tastes (as thay also invite us at a musical dinner). The scenary of the panoramic road south of Otranto are amazing even after Matera.
Day 5 and 6: from Otranto we also visited Gallipoli and Lecce. Nice tips specially for restaurants in the old town of Gallipoli (Le Puritate) and Lecce (Le Zie). Incredible passeggiate at the sunset or by night.
We cant stand to next trip in Salento!