Martina Franca : (total travel time 15 minutes)

Martina Franca, our local town, is just a 15 minute drive through from the Trulli. It is described in the LOCAL AREA section of the website, so this blog is just to provide a few tips to help you explore it easily.

Parking in the old town area is a little tricky, so we tend to park at the base of the town and walk up which takes just 5 – 8 minutes. Where we park is close to the Hospital. There is some street parking but we recommend a small car park. Take some Euro coins (€4 per day in 2020)

Put ” Parcheggio Viale Europa” into your Sat. Nav.

Exit the car park and walk uphill towards the old town centre.

There is essentially two different sections to the town : The Piazza XX Septembre bridges the two. The oldest part of the town is through the Porta di Santo Stefano into the lovely pedestrianised area, with the Ducal Palace. There is a maze of little alleyways, beautiful old town houses, and small bars, restaurants and icecream shops. We have recommended several restaurants and cafes in the blogs.

On returning to the Piazza XX Septembre in th other direction, and down the Via Taranto is the 19th Century town , including one of our favourite restaurants “Sagittario”

In the evenings, the PIazza XX Septembre often has little stalls for the children, and live music in the summer months.