Charming Puglia with Kids: Italy’s Hidden Gem

When your holiday destination is the top pick for Italians – including the hard to please Milanese – and Hollywood celebs get married there – you know you are onto something good. The region of Puglia in Italy is a hidden gem but its secret is slowly getting out. We visited Puglia with our toddler daughter for a holiday with a group of friends with their children.

Charming Puglia

Sitting within the heel of Italy’s boot, Puglia’s quiet, rustic charm sucks you into its traditional world. Returning there three years after our last visit, it still felt as magical and its credentials had only grown, playing host to numerous celebs, including the wedding between Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel.

The good news is you don’t need an A-list bank account to enjoy Puglia. Unlike the overpacked, overpriced tourist trap of the Almafi coast, this peaceful, quaint region is reasonably priced with delicious local food and wine and beautiful golden beaches.

For our week-long family holiday to Puglia with five other couples and their children we hired a villa, a few miles from Ostuni, one of many historic white-washed cities in the area.

Ostuni

Finding the location for the villa was a little tricky. Travelling from Bari airport in a procession of hired Fiat Puntos, we followed instructions from a couple who’d previously stayed at the property. Turning off the motorway we were faced with a landscape of olive groves, as far as the eye could see, and narrow dusty tracks backed with dry stone walls.

Despite a hazy knowledge of the area, we still got a bit lost. Houses are hidden from view behind the rows of olive trees with the occasional cow roaming the fields in this agricultural heartland. It feels like you are very far away from life back home, allowing you to settle into holiday mode very quickly.

It felt just as remote staying there – and so peaceful – aside from the constant buzzing of cicadas – oh, and the 12 adults and seven children who had taken over the house. We were though very close to Ostuni – just a 10/15 minute drive.

Ostuni is a beautiful cathedral city with enough hip bars and hearty local restaurants to keep us happy. I keeping with any respectable Italian city, it had a lovely piazza with bars, restaurants and ice cream parlours all of which were showing the World Cup football games. It’s a place were families converge and there’s plenty to keep children amused.

What distinguishes this part of Puglia from the rest of Italy is its unique houses, Trulli. Native to the region, these stone dry buildings with conical roofs are dotted around the landscape – transporting you back to days of old. The theory is that due to high taxes on property, the people of Puglia created these so they could easily be dismantled when inspectors were in the area.

Alberobello

A large collection of Trulli lie in the town Alberobello – a UNESCO world heritage site, around half an hour from Ostuni. Although a bit on the touristy side it was definitely worth seeing and we found an excellent restaurant. It was topped off by Mrs T’s lemon sorbert served in a champagne flute. The Italians know how to do class!

You can wonder around Alberobello, admiring the unique houses. Many have been turned into shops selling local wares. Our toddler enjoyed looking at the unusual Trulli and Alberobello is somewhere that will fascinate kids.

Alberobello is just one of a number of beautiful towns to explore in the area. Others include Cisternino, Gallipolli, Lecce, Polignano a Mare to name a few. Just try to avoid wandering around them during the hot midday sun when the heat saps the energy out of you. Seeing children running around the piazzas when it cools at around 9pm is not unusual.

Where to stay in Puglia?

If you want fancy hotels and michelin starred meals – Puglia has it. JT and Jessica got wed at the Borgo Egnazia. On our last trip to Puglia, we stayed at the beautiful Masseria Torre Coccaro – an old farmhouse come luxury hotel which has retained its family run vibe (and has an awesome beach club with child care facilities to boot).

But if you want something a bit more affordable, you can have that too. Our seven-bed villa was a real bargain, working out at around £500 per couple for one week. Find your perfect accommodation in Puglia.

We made the most of the local food, taking advantage of Ostuni’s fishmongers and cooking it up on the BBQ at the villa. We also tried out the local restaurants serving delicious, homely cuisine at reasonable prices. As is the case with most of Italy, children are very much welcomed – even late in the evening.

With Easyjet and Ryanair flying to Bari (and Brindisi) as well as British Airways, Puglia is becoming more accessible (our villa was around an hour’s drive from Bari airport) without the prices many A-list destinations demand.

Puglia has something for everybody – whatever your budget. Just go there. You can’t go too far wrong.

If you’d like more suggestions on Puglia’s hidden gems, My Life Long Holiday has written about her pick of 10 Things to do in Puglia. Wondering how we survived a group holiday with kids? Read my post for tips for going on holiday with friends.