Last summer, we spent five days road tripping around Puglia, Italy and it was as magical as we expected it to be. If sightseeing, history, food, and wine are things you enjoy, don’t miss the heel of Italy’s boot on your Italian vacation! Over the next few posts, we’re recapping how we spent our days in Puglia. Here’s a look at days 1 & 2:
5 Day Puglia Itinerary: Days 1 & 2
Disembarking the Ferry
If you follow our adventures, you know I love a good travel plan. After an exciting week sailing the Greek Ionian Islands with our friends, we boarded the Grimaldi Lines ferry in Igoumenitsa, Greece bound for Brindisi, Italy. I had a thorough Puglia itinerary planned for our five days and we needed a good night’s rest. The overnight ferry worked out perfectly: we went to bed in our private room and woke up the next morning in Italy. But that’s where our plans took a bit of a turn. I wanted to share this, though, so you can see even the best laid plans can go awry!
The start of our Puglia road trip was a complete bust. We disembarked the ferry around 9:00 am expecting to grab a taxi to the rental car facility at the airport, but there weren’t any taxis at the ferry port. The passengers filtered out quickly to cars in the parking lot and before we knew it, it was nearly empty. It was also raining and we had luggage so walking any distance was out of the question. Fortunately, we found one person who spoke English and called a taxi for us. About 20 minutes later we were in a car on our way to Avis (though we’re pretty sure the taxi was just a friend of the man we met at the port). At least he was friendly and a good driver, though!
1st Stop: Cave of Poetry
After picking up our car and getting on the road, we set the GPS for Grotta della Poesia (Cave of Poetry), the first stop on our Puglia itinerary. It was pouring and the ETA was a little over an hour. A few minutes into the drive, we realized our rental car was not going to be a lot of fun. The transmission was super jerky and making me car sick! This did not improve during our five days in Italy but eventually it just became a part of the experience.
If you’ve researched Puglia, you’ve probably seen the Cave of Poetry on a lot of must-see lists. Spoiler alert: we did not think it was worth the hour drive out of the way. Of course, judge for yourself before you set your Puglia itinerary! It might appeal to you, and it might be better on a sunny, less windy day. We probably spent less than fifteen minutes there total.
2nd Stop: Lecce… sort of!
The next stop on our Puglia itinerary was the city of Lecce. We planned to check out the Roman amphitheater, wander through town, have lunch, and try a famous caffè leccese. However…. it was was still storming when we arrived. We circled town several times trying to find a parking space and eventually gave up. Our second bust of the morning! I redirected the GPS toward our final stop of the day, Emera Wine Resort, and we headed out of town.
3rd Stop: Lunch in Librari
Needless to say, after two miscues and about three hours in the car, we were hungry and tired. A Google search brought up a lot of restaurants along our route but since it was siesta time, there wasn’t much to choose from. We finally found an open bistro, Due Mari Pescheria, so we detoured a bit and headed to the coastal town of Librari.
This turned out to be all we needed to turn around our first day in Italy. A bottle of cold white wine and a bowl of fresh seafood scialatielli later, and we were reinvigorated!
4th Stop: Emera Wine Resort
From Librari, it was just over 10 minutes to our home for the next two days, Emera Wine Resort. And as if by magic, the skies cleared and the sun made its debut. We shared all the Emera highlights in a recent post but want to reiterate this as a must-do in Puglia.
That first late afternoon and throughout the next day, we basked in the sun in our private rooftop pool, savored Italian wines made from the vineyards below, and lingered over frothy cappuccinos. Oh, and we can’t forget the delicious Apulian food. It was a heavenly way to spend our first and second day in Puglia.
When we woke on our third morning in Puglia, Italy, we didn’t want to leave! But alas we were also excited for the next stop of our road trip: Matera. In the next post, we’ll share all the highlights from the city of caves!
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