pugliauncovered

I totally agree with the excellent review by i Gallesi on Puglia Uncovered of the newest guide to Puglia, from Thomas Cook, by Zoe Ross, and the Editor's comments. It's better than some, but it was still a disappointment. So many guides and articles covering Puglia that are written in English give you the impression that the author has not spent much time in Puglia (or indeed, visited some of the places at all!) Instead, they've done a lightning tour of the well-known places. You often get the impression that the journalist / author has been invited on an expenses paid jaunt by a new and expensive masseria, has done some research by  reading the other guides to find out where to go, and hence you only ever see the same old restaurant recommendations, and no information about the many delightful towns and places outside Ostuni, Alberobello and Bari. et al. Alternatively they are completely hooked on Toscana and seem to delight in comparing Puglia unfavourably. ("Scruffy"; "flat as a pancake"; "little of interest" are some of the kinder things I've seen written.)
 

To be fair to this guide, it is much better than that. It has some nice illustrations and (some) information on opening hours, and covers a few more towns. The coverage of the towns they have included is reasonable,  but they could have done so much more. Although they are of course limited by the size of the guide, there are too many pages of waffle.  I'd also agree with i Gallesi's  review, you certainly don't get the feeling it has been written by someone who knows Puglia well (at all times of year), and who loves it.. None of the guides I've seen cover the coast in any depth, and this is no exception.

	I still think the best material in 2007 in English is the section on Puglia in the Blue Guide of Southern Italy - though, of course, because it is Southern Italy as a whole, it is limited. But more informative than the Thomas Cook guide. There are about 100 pages on Puglia, and they pack a lot in.
	However, the best guide in print that I've seen so far, the Mondadori Puglia guide, is unfortunately only in Italian, in spite of my writing to the publisher, bol.it. If you can cope with that, it's definitely worth getting. On sale occasionally at Bari airport.Don't think you can get it through Amazon.23.50¬
	I see from their web site that bol.it also now have another guide by Nana Nenzel (described as brossura rather than libro, so may not be very big, but is 15¬). The first thing it mentions in the blurb is hotels, so it may just be a sales tool for hotels. However, it also says it contains "information on monuments, museums and times of opening; shopping advice and especially town plans, quarter for quarter. Everything useful to help you get to know Puglia: its coasts, but also the interior, its history and its culture" (my translation from the Italian).15¬

Advice welcome from anyone who knows this last publication, but I'll probably get one to take a look unless advised otherwise, and will report back.

The bol.it guides can be bought on-line but assume an Italian format address, so I had to fudge my address to fit to get one sent to the UK - it did work, though took a fair time to arrive.

In terms of other guides, there is also a chapter in the Rough Guide which isn't bad, but as this covers the whole of Italy, it is not very detailed - and not as good in my view as the Blue Guide. Another book which covers just Southern Italy is the Insight guide, which is fine if you want to explore more of Southern Italy, but It isn't very strong on Puglia, dismissing some delightful places to an extent that you doubt the author has actually visited them except perhaps with a bad hangover.

So our guidebook alternatives in August 2007 would seem to be:

• get the Thomas Cook guide (Amazon £6.99) and use it in conjunction with the Blue Guide
• wait and see what the 2008 Lonely Planet guide is like (their all-Italy guide has 30 pages on the whole of Puglia, and 5 on the area between Bari and Brindisi, so it's hard to judge)
• either brush up our Italian or pester bol.it to do English versions of their guides (maybe if everyone complains they'll get the message).

Or - should there be a Puglia Uncovered guidebook??? I'd be happy to contribute!

While we're at it, here are a few more useful publications..

Maps

Phrase books:

If you want a phrase book, we have made good use of the first of these over the years. Amazon recently had an offer on buying the two, both from Collins:. .

These Lonely Planet ones are also good:

Hope this is some help.

Last update : 05-08-2007 23:42

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