This is the perfect base to explore the lower end of Puglia. Gioia is a gorgeous town with such a lovely feel to it. We loved this apartment. We stayed 6 nights and could have stayed longer. The historic centre is just gorgeous and not touristy which means within a very short walking distance you can buy all your essentials, as well as a little longer walk (10 min) takes you to the Penny Market which is a great supermarket with really good prices and lots of variety. We found this an excellent base to visit Matera Sassi (about 39km and a gorgeous country drive- make sure you take the tour with ‘Discover Matera with a group’ find them on Viator, they were fabulous). Easy drive to Alberobello, Locorotondo etc and we took a day drip to Craco, Irsina and another day to Ortrando. Parking was a little challenging on some days but there were festivals in town, you just need to know that a good alternative parking spot is Via Eugenia Montale. Pasquale is a fabulous host, he helped us prioritise our day trips, and supplied eggs, milk, jam and cracker/ toasts for breakfast. The apartment was very spacious which made travelling very easy. We could hear beautiful church bells and the resident pigeons cooed us to sleep. Best shower in our Italian travels so far (that is after 6 weeks). Definitely a great idea to stay here rather than in Matera or the other tourist hot spots, you can easily access all the sites and you have flexibility and a gorgeous Italian experience. If you don’t want to cook there are excellent restaurants within a 2 minute walk.