In short. Where you sleep in Puglia changes the holiday more than in most places, because the buildings themselves are the attraction: a trullo, a fortified farm, a cave house, a palazzo in a baroque old town. This is how to choose, and where each kind is.
Puglia has very few large resorts and a great many small, strange, beautiful places to sleep. That is the whole point of the region, and it is worth spending an evening on the decision rather than booking the first thing near the sea.
The four you will actually choose between
- The masseria — a fortified farmhouse, usually eighteenth century, usually with its own olive grove and often its own oil. Many are now hotels. This is the characteristic Apulian stay.
- The trullo — a dry-stone cone with a conical roof, in and around the Valle d’Itria. Cool in August, small inside, unforgettable.
- The town flat — a floor of a palazzo in Lecce, Ostuni or Martina Franca. Best if you want to walk out into an old town at nine in the evening.
- The seaside apartment or campsite — along both coasts, and busy in August. Cheapest, and the closest to the water.
Where each kind is
The choice is really a choice of area, because the buildings follow the geography.
The Valle d’Itria — trulli and masserie, and the best base if you want to drive to a different town every day. Alberobello is the famous one; Locorotondo and Cisternino are quieter.
The Salento — the southern tip, two seas within half an hour of each other, and Lecce as the town to sleep in if you want baroque and restaurants rather than a beach.
The Gargano — the spur, with pine forest running down to the sea. Different from the rest of Puglia, and the right choice if you want cliffs and shade.
The Adriatic coast and the Ionian coast — the two seaside options, with towns like Polignano a Mare built on the rock itself.
When to come, which decides the price
August is the Italian holiday month: everything is full, and everything costs roughly twice what it costs in June. The sea is still warm well into October. There is a whole argument for coming in the ninth month rather than the eighth, and we have made it: why September is the best month.
One practical thing. Puglia is long — something like four hours from the Gargano to Santa Maria di Leuca — and the train does not go where you will want to go. Assume a hire car, and pick one base rather than three. Getting to Puglia covers the ways in.
If you are thinking about something more permanent than a fortnight, the prices province by province are in buying a house in Puglia.
