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Jeffrey & Deborah, MASSERIA Le Tavernette - April 7 - April 9, 2006

Thank you very much for your assistance last week.

Today is Sunday and we have returned safely to our home. We enjoyed our 2 nights in Puglia very much. The “Masseria Le Tavernette” was beautiful. We were very pleased. The accommodations, the breakfast, especially the coffee was exactly what we needed. The owners, Anna & Lucino were very, very hospitable. We are delighted to have met them. We speak very little Italian and they were patient with us and did their best to communicate with us and made us very comfortable. They gave us a tour of their property which is magnificent. We had such a wonderful time we look forward to visiting their property again in the very near future.

We will refer many of our friends to you.

John from Sheffield, UK from the 26th july '05 to the 9th of august'05

Ostuni itself is not only a most attractive place in itself, with lots of atmosphere, restaurants, bars etc., but probably the best base for this part of Puglia, a short drive from the sea, and within easy distance not only of the main tourist locations but numerous small towns, many not mentioned in guide-books, but all worth a visit. We had an excellent time here and would recommend Casa Marina, and Ostuni, and Puglia to anyone."

Lynne & John: in Ostuni from 21st june '05 to 26th june '05

John and I had a fantastic time in Ostuni. The people were very friendly, the town pretty, and the beach at Villanova clean and easily accessible. We also thought that the cost of accommodation, food and transport in the area is very reasonable. All the accommodation we booked with www.puglia-rental.com website were very clean and convenient. As far as tourist information offices are concerned it would be a problem if visitors had no knowledge of Italian. We will definitely be returning to Ostuni in the near future.

Nikki and Rick, July 05.

We stayed in casa marina in ostuni for one week in july it was lovely and hot. Casa marina is in an ideal location in ostuni, literally around the corner from all the best restaurants (far enough not to here any noise). We went to puglia because our family have bought a property out there and it wasn't ready to stay in but we wanted to see the area. Puglia is lovely its un touched not like most and the holiday destinations i've been to. I will be spending alot of time in italy in the future, and i've been t a few places already but i can already see why our family have bought a property out there, its just want you need to relax. The food is fantantic and its also cheap. Would highly recommend Puglia.

Hassan & Anne from Macclesfield, Cheshire: in Ostuni from 7th june '05 to 14th june '05

"This was our first holiday to Puglia, flying in to Brindisi courtesy of RYANAIR.COM and very reasonable flight prices. Added to this we were also able to find the kind of accommodation we were seeking on the www.puglia-rental.com website midweek-to-midweek. This apartment "CASA MARINA" or "MARINA HOME" was in Ostuni, cosy and adequately furnished and only a minute’s walk from the Piazza St. Oronzo, the Main Square, and three minutes from the Old City where you can not only experience the beauty of the old streets and buildings but also have access to a great variety of shops and restaurants. A small bakery made getting fresh ciabatta rolls for breakfast, very welcoming.

A brief word about Ostuni. This has to be your base for a holiday in Puglia. Firstly, because it is such a beautiful city – and you must be there on a Saturday to go to the market near the hospital. The old city is very peaceful and as I mentioned earlier it has all the shops and restaurants you would want. I recommend Bottega d’Atre on Via Cattedrale (www.bottegadrtsisinni.com) and paintings by Crocifisso Valente on the same street. Plenty of shops selling locally produced Olive Oil too. The baker, green grocer and bar are also nearby. We had a lovely meal at Pizzosteria La Vispa Terra, near the Cathedral.

My wife and I had decided that we wanted to do this trip without the use of a car, using public transport for all our travels - we only used a taxi once and this was on our arrival at Brindisi airport as it was late in the evening ("MARINA HOME" it was 75 euro). One of the benefit of using public transport was that we were forced to speak Italian in our very limited way, enabling us to improve very quickly. We got by very well - didn't get lost once and had some interesting experiences; and I have to say that the autobuses and trains were always on time.

So what did we learn - very quickly? Well, you do not plan to go anywhere between 12:00 and 5:00pm as everywhere is shut. This was only a problem for us when we went to Lecce as we arrived at 11:30 and had to catch our return train at 5:00pm. Never mind we enjoyed what we did there anyway.

Lesson two. There is only one train line, which is good, and takes you through most of the large towns and cities along the Adriatic coastline. The train stations for the smaller villages/towns are situated a few kilometres from them so you have to get an autobus to get to the town (AUTOBUS LINE ONLINE). Good news is that the timetables are matching so there is usually an autobus there when you arrive at the station. So what was the lesson? Well, it seems that Puglia is regional so you cannot get an autobus to places like Alberobello or Castellana directly from Ostuni. Not sure how you get to Alberobello but to get to Castellana Grotto we had to take a train to Monopoli first. So for travellers like us an improvement of autobus network would be very useful.

We did get to Castellana Grottos and were amazed by these underground caverns – a two hour walk underground and with the support of a very enthusiastic guide, Barbara (Italian). Do remember to take sufficient cash with you (13 euros per ticket) as there are no Banks or Cash Machines near the Grottos and you can only pay by cash.

The beach, well we went to Villanova, 15 minutes on the autobus from Ostuni, and to a small beach in the centre of Monopoli. We much preferred Monopoli.

With regard to Tourist Information offices, you need to speak or understand some Italian as English was only spoken in Lecce and the leaflets are mainly in Italian.

Needless to say, we had a wonderful holiday and an experience made interesting by the challenges we set for ourselves – I would seriously recommend the ‘no car approach and using Ostuni as your base, especially if you have an apartment near the Old City.”

Andrea & Scott from Preston: in Ostuni from 3rd may '05 to 10th may '05

"We loved our stay in Ostuni. It was fantastic and much nicer than we expected.

The only thing I can think of to fault Puglia was the beaches and the amount of rubbish on them ("at the moment, the citizens are used to utilise the beaches from the beginning of june, so the beaches are cleaned up on the starting of june"). Other than that, everyone we met was really friendly. Infact, we made friends with Oronzo from Cafe Centrale in the Piazza in Ostuni. The food and restaurants in Ostuni were exceptional! We visited, Martina Franca, Cisternino, Locorotondo and Alberobello - all were very friendly.
We tried to visit Lecce but it was too busy. Next time we'll have to find out if there any trains that go to the bigger cities.(TRENITALIA)"

Mark and girlfriend: in Ostuni from 31st march '05 to 7th april '05

We had a fanstastic time in Puglia thank you, I only wish I had of had more time there!
It was my first time in southern Italy and wasn't sure what to expect. Driving was a little scary compared to the UK, you need to be aggressive! You just need to get used to your driving style.
There was a wonderful variety of things to do and see in Puglia. You have castles, beautiful beaches, world heritage sites (Alberobello, Matera), outstanding archirecture at Lecce, quaint fishing towns (Gallipoli / Monopoli), areas of natural beauty (Gargano Peninsula) & much more.
My Favourite things were The Trullis at Alberobello The Sassi at Matera The stunning Garganto Penisula with its fabulous beaches and cliffs.
Ostuni, what a lovely place to stay, very romantic.
The lack of high rise hotels, hope this doesn't change! The weather - it was only March yet was warm enough to sunbathe on the beach, with no one else there !
Least favourite things
We travelled down the coastline from near ostuni towards Monopoli and were surprised by the amount of rubbish and litter on the beaches, there really is no excuse for it. You have fantastic beaches and your local councils should do more to clean them up, and the local people should respect them and take their rubbish home.
Tourist Office - This appeared to be always closed in Ostuni, this could have been because we were out of season?
Food & Wine - Very good, though was difficult for my parter as she's vegetarian. Also many of the menus are only in Italian and use regional dialects which makes it a little difficult when knowing what is on the menu. Your ice cream is probably the best in world, the best Ive ever tasted anyway.
People - Very friendly and accomodating. Before we came we were told they could be problems with crime etc as Puglia is poorer than other parts of Italy but we never experienced any problems.
Puglia is a fabulous place and I think will become much more popular especially due to the cheap flights coming into Bari and Brindisi. The new Tuscany ?

Thanks!

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