Martina Franca holiday house: San Paolo, Martina Franca

We had a very good holiday in Puglia at the end of July this year. The villa is quite close to Martina Franca, which is a lovely town with very friendly people.The area has a fantastic number of museums with outstanding Greek and Roman artifacts, which will leave you speechless. There was certainly plenty to see in the two weeks we were there. The great thing about Italy in the summer is the amazing number of outdoor concerts there are.

Staying in a tulli is very unusual but the owners of this villa have combind the original tulli with their own up-to-date extension which is very much in the style of the original tulli but bigger. The owners look after the property very well. There was an Englishman who dealt with the maintainance and checked that things were all right; a cleaner came once a week, and the pool was cleaned regularly.

My daughters loved the bathroom and thought it was beautifully designed. The living space was also great and very well furnished with some some lovely personal touches that made it feel like a home. The only downsides were; the small third bedroom, which really should only have one set of bunk beds in it, and if you are over six foot, as is my fourteen year old, the doorways are low in the old part and can get irritating.

Outside the garden could do with more plants, particularly trees i.e. olives to provide naturally cool shade. There were enough chairs and tables to eat outside. The pool was cold, much colder than expected, I think that this was due to the wind that blew across the garden. However, the Ionian and the Adriatic Seas are not far away, and particularly the Ionian is very warm.

The villiage is reasonably good and you could buy bread, meat, fruit and wine in the local shops. There are two pizza restaurants. The one we used, near the church, was very good. It was also close enough to walk to.

The owners state that it is a tranquel setting, unfortunately we live in the country and found the house rather noisy in the daytime, with the neighbours driving large lorries down the lane right beside the house. I did wake one morning thinking that a helicopter was landing.

Overall we had a very good holiday here and the children thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was always pleasant returning to the house after a day out.

This is a beautifully restored Trulli, extremly tastfull in a very nice part of Puglia.
It is in a lovely rural village which has a few shops & 2 restaurents plus a butchers which serves cooked meats at the weekend.
The pool is great with a divng board for the kids, also a surprise a top grade astro pitch (footy) at a cost of 5 euros per person in the village.
You need a car but it is perfectly situated for all the attractions. Excellent, highly reccomended.

Great holiday, the Trulli has been superbly renovated and is really comfortable. We were lucky in having the last hot week in the year. The trulli was cool indoors but was great sitting out in the sun with the pool to cool off in.

A car is needed to visit the attractive towns in the area and we found it easy to get out and about.

There are good, cheap restaurants in the village and we found everybody helpful and friendly.

A great holiday