Puglia Summer Guide: Beaches, Towns and Our Three-Week Trip

In this episode we’re recapping our summer road trip from the Netherlands to Puglia and back. We spent three weeks in Puglia enjoying the beaches, towns and food while making stops along the way there and back. In this episode we’re sharing our favorite moments, a few surprises and what we’d plan differently next time.

If you’re thinking about visiting Puglia or just want to hear about our summer travels this one’s for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hello and welcome back. I'm Lisa. And I'm Erin. And this is the Getaways Podcast.

unknown 0:10

Bye.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hello. Last last moments of summer. Today we're going to talk about our Italian summer, which we believe everybody should have an Italian summer.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

At least once in your life, right?

SPEAKER_00 0:20

So we'll talk about ours this year. Just a little summer recap.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

All right. So we should start off by saying that because we are in the Netherlands and we were going to Pulia.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

And we have a dog. It was a very long trip. A long drive. We won't be doing that drive again.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Yeah. So we left. So it took we took what three days getting three nights spending.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Yes, but really two nights because our third night was in our actual location.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Right. Okay. So the first night we went from or the first day we went from Rotterdam to Nuremberg. Nuremberg.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

That was a long ass drive.

SPEAKER_01 0:57

It was. It's a super cute town. We stayed a little, we've been there before, but we stayed a little bit outside in the we were in a McCure.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Yeah. You know. It was very family friendly.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

It was uh like way too many children for my own, for my own taste, but but perfectly fine. And we were really just like eating and sleeping there. So it was fine. And then the next day we went from Nuremberg to Bologna.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Another long drive.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

Another long drive and another very kid heavy.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Yeah, we we booked this hotel. I don't even, I think we booked it because it was cheap. We did our Italian summer at the cheap version.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

We've we've we like to call it the budget.

SPEAKER_00 1:42

Yeah. We've decided maybe our splurge vacations aren't working for us anymore. So this hotel was like 80 euros a night, which is great. It's right outside Bologna. We had stayed near that before and we really liked the hotel. It had a giant Olympic-sized pool. Like giant. And so we were like, what could go wrong?

SPEAKER_01 2:03

Well, and tons of facilities. It also had like tennis courts and volleyball courts and and right next to a mall, which sounds weird, but it was like you wouldn't know it was there unless you walked around to the back. But you could like walk to everything. Yeah. Yeah, but the uh the service not so hot at the restaurant.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

The service was just bizarrely bad.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:27

But inexpensive.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

You know.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

And we didn't go in the pool because there were a lot of like I think people like families, this was their destination.

SPEAKER_01 2:35

Right. Right. Which is all good. And if that's what you're looking for, sign up.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Yeah, we didn't even have Dylan was in Sardinia with his friends, so we weren't looking for the family-friendly. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 2:46

And I had calls that night too. So it was like I also kind of needed all I cared about was good internet, eating, and being relatively quiet so I could do the call. Yeah. It was quiet. It was quiet, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

And it was clean. The beds were weird, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

And then from Bologna, we went to Astuni. Astony.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

Another long drive.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

But so worth it. So my niece was flying in the next morning, and so we stayed in a masseria. Yeah, like just at the base of like the famous part of Astonia. Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

And it was old farm, I guess, that had how many units do you think there were? Like six?

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Yeah, I'm pretty sure there were six because there was three on the bottom and three on the top.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

So there were like six units. They all had outdoor space. We had this giant.

SPEAKER_01 3:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:34

The places underneath this all had like these fenced in, like little yards with a gazebo to eat. They had a pool there.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

They had this beautiful garden that with like fruit trees and and like a little kind of labyrinth-y vibe.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

It was phenomenal. And each unit had a kitchen and a dining table. It was so nice that I want to go back.

SPEAKER_01 3:56

And very like so much character.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Like it felt like you were stepping back in time, but like in the coolest of ways. I mean, it had air conditioning, it had all the modern conveniences, but the actual structure was the original, and which is not that unusual in Italy, but this in particular, like there was a fireplace in the little dining area where there was like a rack where you could cook your food. Like it was crazy.

SPEAKER_00 4:19

I think Maserias are the way I want to go next time we go to Puglia because you get that vibe, but you also get like really kind of almost luxurious staying for not a very expensive price tag.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

But a SUNY in general is called the White City, right?

SPEAKER_00 4:37

For a reason. And it is literally it should also be called the slippery city. Well, but I mean, if you looked at your cars up a pool and being slippery.

SPEAKER_01 4:48

Yeah. But if you look at your car after we loaded the luggage.

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Yes. All the fur all the interior was white.

SPEAKER_01 4:56

Yeah, I mean, it's crazy, but it is so beautiful and so stunning. And we had been there before, both to the beach and to the city. We did not go to the beach this time. We were just like really large, expanse of sand, beautiful water. But we were just in the actual city this time. And we did, we had dinner up there and did like a walk around. I got the best dresses for 15 euro. Like great shopping, great food. And the city is just beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

The city's beautiful. But I'm not kidding when I say it's slippery, like wear tennis shoes because I was wearing like flip-flops. No, I was wearing slides, like, and I was slipping all over the place. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:41

Yeah. And so then the next morning, Aaron went and picked up my niece from the airport, and then we did a tuk-tuc tour.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Tuk tuk tour.

SPEAKER_01 5:49

Yeah. But it is I love a tuk-tuc tour.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

I love a tuk-tuc tour. Lisa does not love a tuk-tuc tour.

SPEAKER_01 5:55

Well, okay, so here's the here's here's the good and the bad of a tuk-tuc tour. You get to get information that you wouldn't have had before. Our particular guy did not really speak English and did not talk loud enough for you guys to hear. And I was squeezed up next to him. And so and it's hot.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Yes, but we got to see parts of a stunning.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

We never would have seen, like when he took us back to I know, and I'm glad we did it. But did I say it was hot? Because it was hot, and I was squeezed in next to a man that I don't know. And I was hot and squished. Who was talking French Italian? Oh, yeah, no, he was hilarious because he was like, It's it easier for me to speak French. And I was like, Oh, whatever, you know, whatever, I'll figure it out. And so then he would go half French and half Italian. And then at one point you go, Are you speaking French or Italian? And he goes, Both. We we talk in both. And they said that was like the only thing he said in English. But but no, it was definitely good. And you know, and it's kind of a nice thing to, especially because we were only there for a very limited amount of time to see things quickly and comprehensively.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Yeah. He also gave us the tip of where to have lunch, yeah, which was so good.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

Yeah, we had a and so off the beaten past. Yeah, it was like kind of in a cave. Yeah. And really reasonable. Super reasonable for like three courses. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:12

Including wine.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

Yeah. Yeah. Including one.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

And I think it was like 20 euro or a piece. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

It was so it was so good. Yeah. Plus we got a morrow.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Yeah. We had a great lunch and walk around.

SPEAKER_00 7:25

And then we headed to our our residence for the the week with her niece. And that was in Otranto, which we had never been that far south. Right. And we had never been to Otranto. Right. I love Otronto. Yeah. I love everything about Otranto.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

I think it's also like just a great base because you can definitely spend a week there, as we did, but you could also like do total day shoots if the weather was better. We had a little bit of a weather issue when we were there.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Yeah. Because you could get to Ostoony if you wanted to in about an hour and a half. Uh Lecce is super close, which Leche is like 30 minutes, right? For 40 minutes. Yeah. Lecce is I love Lecce. It's not on the sea, but it is a beautiful town. Yeah, it's cute. And we'd been there before. Yeah. But the I don't know. Do you have anything to say about the beaches of Otranto?

SPEAKER_01 8:20

Well, Otranto a lot of it's on a cliff. So it's just kind of climbing down into the water. Like there's not a beach beach per se. And then there was there's a little bit of beach on the opposite side. But no, I mean, I don't I wouldn't go there to like sunbathe and lie on the beach. No. But it's not, it's you know, there's a few beach clubs in O Toronto, but for the most part, you get in the water. Yeah. And then when you're done, you're done. Yeah. You know, it's not really a hangout on the sand kind of place. Which is totally fine for me. Which is we never do unless we have pay for beds. Yeah. But the water's beautiful. The town is so charming and cute and great food. There's also a castle, which Megan and I took a tour of, which had a like a bunch of art in it, a bunch of history. It's also just stunning. And then, you know, a lot of things, a lot of times in these little villages and in these little cities, it's all cement and beach, right? There's no sort of like grassy area or like big place for the four-legged to run around. And this was perfect because there was a whole the whole like moat area around the castle was green and grassy and a big trail going through. And so it was like the best of all worlds because there was a nice place for us to walk. It was also a place on the beach where he could swim. And then, you know, the City City, which was slippery and beautiful. Slippery. Okay, people are gonna think that like they have to wear body.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

We would at that at Otranto Vecchio, is that what it was called? The restaurant? Yeah. Yeah. We would sit there and watch people come around that corner and slip. Nobody, we didn't see anybody fall, but it's definitely one of those you lose your phone. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, for sure. So so we rented this uh amazing location, Airbnb in Otranto. I mean, the location you couldn't beat it. We were right on the cliff, overlooking the sea. I think it used to be part of the castle or something. It used to be part of something. And it was freaking weird. Like there, there is some weird stuff that went on in that place at one point.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Yes, and we are gonna save the the craziest of stories about that place for October when we were doing our Halloween haunted stuff. Yeah, but but there's gonna plant that seed for you. That there's there was some absolutely crazy things in that place.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

But on top of that, the location was great, the space was great, huge, but everything else is a big old fail. And about the about the house. The kitchen wasn't it wasn't clean, so it didn't feel cookable, so we ate out every meal, which we usually don't do. It was like it was a beautiful building that was not maintained. Right, right. And we were right on the the seawall, but there was like a walkway between us that you really, other than to get the view, and a couple restaurants, there was no reason for people to be there, but people walked by all the time and the door was just glass, and like it's like we were a zoo or something, like people would like put their face up and look in and take selfies into our apartment, we'd just be sitting at the table waving and well.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

I think a lot of people were curious because they thought it was gonna be like this fantastic mansion-y place, and then they would see Rex and they would freak out about Rex, like so many people were taking pictures of Rex, and like and you know, he barked at a lot of them.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Yeah. The place was weird.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

The place was weird.

SPEAKER_00 12:08

It was weird. It didn't, it didn't take away from being there.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

No, no, it was a story, which you're gonna hear a lot more about that.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

And the lady, I will say, the person that we rented from was a bit chaotic getting in. So it kind of set the vibe as a little chaotic getting into the place. Yeah. But we got in and it was great. The town is great, the food is great.

SPEAKER_01 12:28

Yeah, we had really, really, really good food. And I'm sure we'll have a list on the website of like some of our favorite places there. But but I will say that usually I don't like eating out a ton because I mean, I like it every once in a while, but I like to sort of know exactly what's going into things, even in Italy when I know it's all clean. But it was so fun to like try so many places and to have so much seafood and different expensive. Yeah. No, I mean, no meal for like one person was more than like 20, 25 euro.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

And being in the Netherlands, I forgot what good pizza was. And we had a beast of a pizza there. Yeah. Yeah. It was so good that was like a dollar. No, it wasn't a dollar, but it was like 10 euro.

SPEAKER_01 13:09

So then we also did we did a wine tasting there.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Yes, which was so good. And I wish we would have known how much food we were gonna get and we wouldn't have had much.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

Right. But really like nice, obviously family-owned vineyard with like an agro-tourism. And they had donkeys thing. They had donkeys.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Rex went with us.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Yeah. And then we did an olive mill.

SPEAKER_00 13:32

Yeah, olive mill tour tasting. It was great. Megan found that one, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

She did. And it was it was interesting because I didn't know really what that was gonna mean. And I from working, like knowing people that work on vineyards and do and make olive oil, I was like, oh, I'm not sure what they're gonna add to that. Well, a lot is the answer to that. Because they showed us the she took us into the ground of where they it was like the 1400s, yeah. When they were, you know, doing the mills down below. So if they were invaded, nobody would see them. And like the process of the grinding and the spinning, and I mean, it was super interesting. And we also learned a lot about the trees.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

We did. I'm I'm gonna I'm gonna write a whole post about it, I think, because I want to list there's some disease going around just in this region of Puya. I've got it all written down, but olives were the main producing fruit in this region. Yeah, that's where a lot of their money came from. And in this particular region, I don't, it's olive cilento, right? Yeah. Some bacteria or diseases and started infecting their olive trees, and they're they've lost like the majority of all their old olive trees, and so they've had to replant and they've had they lost a lot of their income because of this. Right. And it's weird because you go up to the next re like region in Pulia and it's not there.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

Well, and you can see it. I mean, once you like are aware of it, you can see how many dead trees and groves there are when you're in this area.

SPEAKER_00 15:10

Because these trees are hundreds of years old.

SPEAKER_01 15:12

Right. And then when we were in, like thinking back to being in a STUNI, remember when we were up and we were over like looking down, like it was just all beautiful green olive trees. And it's only an hour and a half separate. So it's weird.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

There, I think there's probably a whole bunch of conspiracy theories about what happened, but something happened. And so they're they've all had to replant, and the first year you don't really get olives, and then it's every other year for a while. So they're really struggling in this region of Puya. And so I want to list all the producers where you can order to America because the olive oil is fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

Well, and I think what I was struck by the most about our guide was that she got tears in her eyes when she was talking about it. I mean, this isn't like a job, this is the history of this area. And and these families all got their livelihood from these trees that are now dead. Yeah. And it's it's it's a big deal. Yeah. You know.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

So they're rebuilding, but I am gonna put up a list of like local producers that will ship to America because I think it's important to support people that are in need and some of the best olive oil. Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

I mean, it's not like you're you're given charity, like you're getting a really good product.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Yeah. Okay, so that was our Astoni. So then we drove from Astuni to a little village called Sava, and we were staying in an Airbnb right outside Sava, which was on a vineyard.

SPEAKER_01 16:41

Yeah. I mean a farm, like a more than just a vineyard. I mean, there was olive groves, there was uh probably five or six different areas of food.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Yeah, like extensive gardens. Yeah, and then like I would have thought for a restaurant, yeah, but it wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

And then a huge chicken coop with what, like ten chickens?

SPEAKER_00 17:04

Yeah, galena. Which I don't know what the difference is between chickens and galena, but because they're skinnier. But you know, I love to feed a chicken. Well, and they were very social, and their eggs are much smaller.

SPEAKER_01 17:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

No, we got a couple big ones. We got a couple big ones.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

But it was the the property was absolutely enormous. It was a little remote. It was a little remote. It was buggy because it was a little remote, but it was it was nice. I mean, it was it was a nice change of pace from people peeking in every five seconds into or see what we were doing to not seeing anyone.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

Yeah. Every morning the farmer would come to the house and and groom the the gardens, and he would leave figs and whatever vegetables of the day. So we had we never bought produce at the grocery store.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

We only had to buy meat and pasta. They also left us some wine that they make and some olive oil from their trees.

SPEAKER_00 18:04

And we were we brought the wine home and we hadn't opened it yet. And so we opened it for dinner one night, and it was it was we were very surprised because we thought it was gonna be like a red wine from Puya.

SPEAKER_01 18:17

It was not, but it's delicious, but it was a sweet wine. Sweet wine, yeah. It's definitely dessert wine.

SPEAKER_00 18:22

So good though. And and the olive oil is fantastic, and it was made from the trees right outside our window, which was really cool. I mean, we we found some good stuff around there. We did, the most beautiful beaches, yeah. That side, I think, has better beaches than the Otranto side. Yeah. I like those beaches that they're very much more Maldivy.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Well, that is where so Rex's dog walker is from that area, and she was like, Oh, you have to go to this beach that's like that we call it the Maldives of Puglia. And it was pretty close. I mean it was really beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

It was Paulsano and we Marina di Paul. Yeah. We ended up going back a lot.

SPEAKER_01 19:04

A lot. And then on our very last day, we got a cabana there, which was so nice because then you could just lie around and go in the water as much as you want. And yeah, their beach clip's fantastic. Their restaurant there was great. So good. They have like a hot food section and then like a sandwichy area, but no, it was great and very well run. Yeah. And yeah, the beach was beautiful. And there's a rocky area where I would go out and snorkel every day, which was really nice. And I think I have some underwater stuff that maybe came out or maybe didn't that maybe you guys could see. One of my favorite things about that house and that area and that part of the vacation was our wine night. It was our first night there, yeah. So it was like a celebration of wine. I think it was called Five Stars.

SPEAKER_00 19:48

Uh huh. Cinquistella.

SPEAKER_01 19:50

And then you go in, and it was, I think, 10 euro for glass, a necklace to hang your glass in, and then three tastings. And then there was Just all sorts of distributors and vineyards giving tastings of their wine. There was a whole section where it was like food trucks isn't the right thing because it was more like homemade food for offering. We bought some cheeses from a fresh dairy farm that was right there. There was people selling arts and crafts. Yeah. And like kids' toys, and it was really cute and quaint. And again, like I feel like every single person in that town was there. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

It was cute. And then we ate at the pizza, the the town pizza poet place. Yeah, which was good. It was really good.

SPEAKER_01 20:36

We went there twice. We ate there twice, yeah. But yeah, no, I love I love that kind of because it also feels just so Italian summer to have these events outside where everybody's out and happy and you know, engaging and and eating on the streets. And, you know, it's just is so because like even when we stayed the first time we were in Puglia at San Giovanni, Torre San Giovanni, like that's how that big piazza was where all the restaurants are. Everybody's just like there's the kids are all playing and running around and everybody's you know, eating drinking and having a good time.

SPEAKER_00 21:11

Beach towns in Italy in the summer are just they're very special. It's a special vibe, it's just it's just good. Yeah. That's why everybody needs an Italian summer. Yep. Yeah, so that was our trip. And then we drove back and we decided to make it a little shorter and not do eight-hour days because that just our bodies don't work being in the car for eight to ten hours a day. They just they just don't. Maybe we're old, but they don't work. So we split it up a little, a little shorter to like five to six hours. Yeah, where did we go? Oh, we went to Bologna. We went to Bologna first, and that was about a six and a half hour because we kind of moved up a little bit. Yeah, and we found we had no idea, but we were looking at rooms and and we were looking at stuff that was like under a hundred euros, and and Lisa said, Oh, this one looks good. It kind of looks like a little castle, little villa. And so we booked it. It was like, what was 65 euros?

SPEAKER_01 22:07

Yeah, I mean, it was stupid.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

And it it was a villa, and it had 23 rooms and a huge restaurant and a beautiful pool. And the grounds were stunning. And the grounds were stunning, and the rooms were great. Yeah. Like amazing. Like we will stay there every time we go to Bologna. And then we drove from Bologna to Munich, and you found really good hiking around, or like walks around. Yeah, yeah. This Munich, it it it was Munich, but it was definitely the suburbs. It is so green. Like the Netherlands is green, and there's parks everywhere. Munich has a park on every corner, like a giant park.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Well, and I was laughing because one of our walks, one of the walks I took Rex on, you said, Oh, did you find anything? And I go, Well, I couldn't stay out of a park because literally you would walk 10 feet and there'd be the entrance to another one, and then you would like it was bananas.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

We had the best like Bavarian dinner that night at like an off like a real just German Bavarian restaurant. Yeah. And they were so kind.

SPEAKER_01 23:07

Yeah, they were really, really nice. And it was, I mean, it very much felt like the locals were hanging out there, but yeah, no, it was very traditional and very delicious. So good.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

And then we got up and we headed to Frankfurt and we stay at the same hotel by the Frankfurt Airport. It's another Mercure, which we tend to stay at a lot. It was like 70 euros, but we love this hotel.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Yeah, and again, has great walking around it. So, because you know, like when you're driving and when you're in the car, even if you were using that hotel as a base for the airport, like travel requires a lot of sitting, right? So you want to move either before or after. And both of those places were like such great places to get out and get fresh air and stretch your legs and and just sort of you know have that release, which I think is an important thing because a lot of hotels, like it's just all cement around. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

And both hotels, you're within 30 minutes of the center by public transportation, less by car.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

So anyway, that's just sort of what's worked for us. And it's also just quicker, quicker to get on and off the freeway and like keep sort of moving. But but the point of all of that is there are great places to be found just outside of the city, too. If you want to save a little bit of money, you want to be in a little bit of a greener place and have different options.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

So then the next day we drove home and we made it home, and now we're done. Summer's over. And now we plan for our fall break.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Yes. It's a lot going on. It's gonna be a busy fall, but we'll keep you updated on everything. And we'll be back every Monday. We will, and let us know if there's anything you want to hear, any comments. We'd love any reviews as long as they're all good.

SPEAKER_00 24:40

Check out the website www.thetaways.com with a Z. And uh, we'll we'll see you next week. Thanks, guys. Bye. Bye.