Lonely Planet Puglia and Basilicata (Regional Travel Guide)

 (7 customer reviews)

I bought this book in preparation for a month-long business trip to the region.

1) I found the background information on general region to be extremely interesting if not terribly useful. Many of the generalizations are not quite as true as the book would have them seem. Others seem to be missing entirely

2) Having used the book, the most fun/interesting local attractions, while mentioned are often not highlighted in such a way to really make them stand out enough. While they are sometimes broken out in their own boxes (like the Putignano Carnival Festival), those boxes are left in with smaller towns and often not mentioned at the header paragraphs about the sub-region, and thus often not found until after the fact.

3)I the town maps to be a bit small (I parked just a couple very short blocks out of the heart of mapped part of Lecce by accident, which in the very indistinct and poorly signed sprawl of the residential area near the heart of Lecce,...Read more

We got this new Lonely Planet guide just in time for our 2 week vacation last May and I can assure you : we extensively visited the Salento region, the beautiful Valle d'Ittre with the fairytale-like 'trulli' and Basilicata Matera with its 'sassi'
and always we had full and correct information about what to see, where to eat, visiting hours, etc. This guide together with Michelin map n°564 is all you need to make your visit to this part of Italy an unforgettable experience as it was for us !

Just got this book for our upcoming trip to the Puglia area. I was reluctant to buy it because, honestly of all the major travel book publishers I've always thought Lonely Planet was and still is the least user friendly. Well, sadly LP's Puglia book is no different than past ones. The print size is so incredibly small that the book is almost useless and the way the information is laid out is boring and I don't think travel friendly. The maps are an absolute joke, the print is crazy small and various shades of gray, making it hard to locate tourist sites quickly. The only reason I bought this book, is because there are no others that highlight this area. :( If anyone has recommendations for other info sources, I greatly appreciate it!