Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Avoiding the Scams
Puglia is a great contradiction. It's extremely friendly and inviting by day, but can
be disturbingly unwelcoming at night outside the tiny villages and medieval
piazze.
And just pause some evening on the southern beaches and you'll see hel-
icopters patrolling the seas for traffickers of everything from clandestine humans
to illegal arms and contraband cigarettes.
Puglia is also known for a couple of scams:
u
Mopeds:
In Brindisi, young thugs may bump your car with their mopeds and
plead injury, but the minute you get out, you become vulnerable. Drive,
instead, to a busy street or gas station and ask for help. Chances are, once
you drive away, they will move on to the next victim.
u
10-euro bills:
An otherwise innocent-looking person will ask change for a
10; you kindly hand them legitimate coins and bills and you end up with a
famously counterfeit tenner.
LAY OF THE LAND
You'll need your own transportation in Puglia. Trains and buses connect the major
towns, but the local services to some of the smaller villages, which really hold the
most appeal, are so sporadic you can waste an entire day getting to a sight that is
really worth only an hour. This is especially true in summer when schedules are
particularly sporadic.
Anyway, it's easy to drive here. The highways are not as traffic-laden as those
in the north, and getting around cities like Foggia, Lucera, and Lecce is much
simpler than, say, Rome or Milan.
Navigating the region
isn't difficult, either (but be sure to buy a detailed map
like Touring Club Italia's “Puglia”). Highway numbers are not always well marked
but the towns are all amply signposted (though some road signs are stacked so
high you will have to stop at the various forks in the road to read them). Keep in
mind that
blue signs
point you to towns and villages, while
brown signs
indicate
heritage sites. But be warned that many inventive entrepreneurs use the same style
of brown signs to try to lure unknowing travelers.
Puglia bus and train schedules change frequently. Check
www.trenitalia.it
for
the most updated
train schedules.
To navigate around the smaller towns, check
schedules on the
www.ferroviedellostato.it
. For the
Gargano area,
check sched-
ules with
www.ferroviedelgargano.com
. Perhaps most important of all is the
calendar of scheduled strikes
(transport and other), found on one of the most
consulted websites in the country:
www.commissionegaranziasciopero.it
.
For updated information on
bus lines
and timetables, consult
www.sitabus.it
or call
%
0881-773117.
Puglia is quite large (400km/248 miles long), so you'll have to plan your time
wisely to see the best it has to offer. If you've got 4 or 5 days, split the province
into north and south of Bari, and explore both areas separately. If you have only
