Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
Boats for the Isole Tremiti depart from several points on the Italian mainland: Manfredo-
nia, Vieste and Peschici in summer, and Termoli in nearby Molise year-round.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Valle d'Itria
Between the Ionian and Adriatic coasts rises the great limestone plateau of the Murgia
(473m). It has a strange karst geology: the landscape is riddled with holes and ravines
through which small streams and rivers gurgle, creating what is, in effect, a giant sponge.
At the heart of the Murgia lies the idyllic Valle d'Itria. Here you will begin to spot curious
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 subter-
ranean network. The interlinked galleries, first discovered in 1938, contain an incredible
range of underground landscapes, with extraordinary stalactite and stalagmite forma-
tions - 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,
