Staying in a traditional trullo home in Alberobello, Italy

Trulli (singular trullo) are the iconic conical-roofed homes and shelters of the Puglia region located in the southern “heel” of Italy. I’d wanted to stay in a trullo for a while and explore the area, and finally that was happening! I’ve already outlined how this trip came together and how I chose Alberobello in an earlier post, so I’ll just mention again that beautiful Alberobello is home to the largest concentration of trulli in Puglia.

Well, maybe before I get to Alberobello, I should say we arrived in Bari via a Frecciarossa high-speed train from Bologna (booked directly with Trenitalia). The trip takes 5h45m and our first class seats were comfortable and the trip smooth with only a minor delay. The delay may have had something to do with the pouring rain that pelted the train starting only a short distance out of Bologna. It was six days later before we learned we’d left Bologna the day before massive flooding hit the city. Ignorance is bliss! Happily the rain had mostly subsided by the time we arrived at Bari Centrale and collected our fire engine red Locauto rental car. In a little over an hour, we were in the town of Alberobello.

Trullo Susumaniello, our home for the next four nights, was one of a line of connected white homes with conical stone roofs that lined a narrow road in a pretty residential neighborhood. Trulli residences date at least to 1704 when an early drawing depicts a group of these dry stone structures in a woods (hence the name Alberobello or “beautiful tree”). Originally temporary field structures dating back as much as a thousand years, trulli were constructed in a unique dry stone method, using no mortar. Before the official recognition of Alberobello as a city in 1797 by King Ferdinand IV of Naples, the local counts prohibited their vassals from constructing mortared buildings, reserving that privilege (and resulting multi-storied buildings) for themselves.

Most of the trulli in Alberobello were built from the 18th-20th centuries. Our trullo felt brand new, having been recently renovated, and was tastefully decorated and surprisingly spacious. We had a large bedroom, a dining room with a high conical roof, a separate living room with a sleeper sofa, a shower room, a cozy kitchen and a mudroom that opened onto a pretty back patio. Although the neighborhood is a charming maze of trulli, it is blessedly removed from the touristy center of Alberobello where swarms of daytrippers from Bari, cruise ships and other towns in the region appeared each day. We were an easy 10-minute walk through picturesque streets to that area, though, so took full advantage of mornings and evenings when the city emptied of crowds and took on a special charm.

Trullo Susumaniello

Our path passed the 17th century Basilica of Saints Cosmas and Damiano to the broad Largo Martellotta, a mostly-pedestrian stretch that is more like a long, paved plaza than a road. Trulli cover the hill on one side of Largo Martellotta, while a mixture of buildings dot the opposite side in the direction of the town hall and the basilica. Restaurants and shops abound in this area along with daytime groups of tourists following flag-wielding guides as well as couples, families and small groups of friends exploring on their own.

Along with more souvenir shops hawking the usual types of mementos, cloth shops with gorgeous local table linens, kitchen towels and more offer items of real quality. Another popular apulian creation is the pumo (plural pumi), ceramic creations meant to represent Acanthus buds, but looking something like eggs with wings to the untrained eye. Symbols of Puglia, pumi of various sizes appear everywhere in the region: on balconies and cornices, in windows, on shelves in homes and shops. I think I counted seven of them in our trullo. Pumi date back to Greek and Roman times and are good luck and protective charms of varying colors, each color related to a specific trait: blue for peace and harmony, yellow for joy and vitality, green for health and fertility, etc.

On a morning walk in Alberobello

For me, the charm of Alberobello is just basking in the ambiance, strolling the streets, letting curiosity draw you from sight to sight, not rushing, stopping to people watch or eat. All those tour guides do have an itinerary, but it’s easy to check off the “highlights” on foot with a local map. Nothing is more than a 10-minute walk: In addition to Largo Martellotta, there’s the pretty little church at the top of via Santo Michele (where it becomes via Pertica), Chiesa Parrocchiale di Sant’Antonio da Padova. There’s the piazza del Popolo in front of Town Hall and the nearby Casa d’Amore (only open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-8pm). After the king recognized Alberobello as a city, Francesco D’Amore was the first citizen to build a (two-story) house with mortar. There’s a local history museum, the Casa Pezzola, which we admired from outside but weren’t tempted to visit. There are pretty overlooks to admire the trulli: the terrace or steps by the Church of Saint Lucia and the Belvedere Park.

Alberobello slows down to a peaceful, uncrowded pace at night.

Strolling the relatively empty streets of Alberobello in the evening, we tried several restaurants finding we didn’t need reservations on October evenings. Our trullo host left us a list of his favorites, and we tried one of these which we enjoyed. We had equally good luck just ducking into appealing spots. Maybe we were just lucky, but we found Alberobello restaurants to be uniformly good and service friendly. Orecchiette, ear-shaped pasta, are the iconic pasta of Puglia so appear on virtually every menu. We tried excellent burrata cheese, several versions of a crispy, pretzel-like local snack called taralli, and pasticciotto, a sweet pastry filled with almond cream. Tuna proved to be popular locally as well and I indulged in several raw and seared versions. We became fans of white wine made from minutolo grapes, a varietal indigenous to Puglia dating to around 1200 and rescued from extinction in 2000 by determined local vintners.

All in all, we loved staying in Alberobello and using it as a base to explore the region. A car is necessary, but for us, basing in Alberobello made so much more sense than basing in a city like Bari where traffic and parking would be a hassle and expensive. Besides, the experience and charm of staying in a trullo couldn’t compete with a regular hotel. From Alberobello, we drove through olive fields to the nearby apulian towns of Martina Franco, Cisternino and Ostuni one day, spent another day in wonderful Matera in the Basilicata region adjacent to Puglia. When we left Alberobello for a final night in Bari before our flight home, we had plenty of time to visit Monopoli and Polignano a Mare on the coast en route. I’ll post more about daytrips later.

Practical info:

I booked Trullo Susumaniello on Booking.com via my fave Topcashback.com shopping portal. Trullo Susumaniello was also available on AirBnB and other sites, but Booking.com had the best price (even prior to cashback) at the time I booked. As of today, it doesn’t look like Trullo Susumaniello is bookable on Booking.com, but that may be temporary. Shopping around is always a good idea, though. There is no parking directly in front of this trullo although we could drive right up to it to unload luggage. Street parking is free about a 5-minute walk away. There were always spots open when we were there. The owner was helpful, met us promptly, and was always responsive. I’d be happy to stay there again.

Some favorite restaurants we tried include:

100 Metricubi, with a cosy interior and outdoor seating, offers good food at fair prices. Friendly service and a great location right on Largo Martellotta add to its charm. We enjoyed orecchiette with burrata and colorful fresh tomatoes, enormous tuna steaks topped with almonds and our first taste of crisp, fruity minutolo wine.

Tuna tartare and pasta with fresh cepe mushrooms were highlights at Corte dei Trulli.

A little removed from Largo Martellotta and near the Church of Saints Cosmas and Damiano, Vino e Amore‘s little Alimentari next to its full restaurant makes for a great place for lunch. Dried hams hang from the ceiling, fresh pasta is on offer (of course), and a long display cabinet is filled with tempting treats to be eaten at tables on site or as take-out.

And for something completely different: I know this may sound sacrilegious, but I did reach a point where I desperately wanted a break from pasta and needed something simpler and lighter. A very aptly named “Grilled Chicken” caught my eye on Google Maps. David had his doubts, but humored me and we really enjoyed a take-out meal of tasty grilled chicken, fried potatoes, and a cold vegetable salad. It’s located on the far west end of Largo Martellotta.

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