Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
circular stone-built houses dotting the countryside, their roofs tapering up to a stubby and
endearing point. These are
trulli,
Puglia's unique rural architecture. It's unclear why the
architecture developed in this way; one popular story says that it was so the dry-stone con-
structions could be quickly dismantled, to avoid payment of building taxes.
The rolling green valley is criss-crossed by dry-stone walls, vineyards, almond and
olive groves, and winding country lanes. This is the part of Puglia most visited by foreign
tourists and is the best served for hotels and luxury
masserias
(working farms) or manor
farms. Around here are also many of Puglia's self-catering villas; to find them, try web-
sites such as
www.tuscanynow.com
,
www.ownersdirect.co.uk
,
Grotte di Castellana
Don't miss these spectacular limestone
caves
( 080 499 82 11/21;
www.grottedicastellana.it
;
Piazzale Anelli; admission €15; 9am-6pm)
, 40km southeast of Bari and Italy's longest natural
subterranean network. The interlinked galleries, first discovered in 1938, contain an in-
credible range of underground landscapes, with extraordinary stalactite and stalagmite
formations - look out for the jellyfish, the bacon and the stocking. The highlight is the
Grotta Bianca (White Grotto), an eerie white alabaster cavern hung with stiletto-thin
stalactites.
There are two tours in English: a 1km, 50-minute tour that doesn't include the Grotta
Bianca (€10, on the half-hour) and a 3km, two-hour tour (€15, on the hour) that does in-
clude it. The temperature inside the cave averages 18°C so take a light jacket. Visit, too,
the
Museo Speleologico Franco Anelli
( 080 499 82 30; 9.30am-1pm & 3.30-6.30pm mid-
Mar-Oct, 10am-1pm Nov-mid-Mar)
or the
Osservatorio Astronomico Sirio
( 080 499 82
13; admission €4)
, with its telescope and solar filters allowing for maximum solar-system
visibility. Guided visits only with advance notification.
The grotto can be reached by rail from Bari on the FSE Bari-Taranto train line but not
all trains stop at Grotte di Castellana. However, all services stop at Castellana Grotte
(€2.90, 50 minutes, roughly hourly), 2km before the grotto, from where you can catch a
local bus (€1.10) to the caves.
