Puglia
3
Day Itinerary •
Italy
Puglia is the most rapidly discovered hidden gem in Italy. The heel of the Italian boot has extraordinary whitewashed cities, prehistoric cone-shaped trulli houses, a Baroque city that rivals Rome, some of the finest seafood in the Mediterranean and a coastline of extraordinary clarity. It is also, for now at least, far less crowded than Tuscany or the Amalfi Coast. This 3-day route covers the extraordinary sweep of Puglia. Lecce, the Florence of the South, whose Baroque architecture is so exuberant it has its own name. The extraordinary trulli village of Alberobello and the Itria valley's whitewashed hilltop towns. The dramatic clifftop city of Polignano a Mare. And Matera, just over the border in Basilicata, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Best Time To Visit
April to June or September to October
Getting There
Fly into Bari (BRI) or Brindisi (BDS)
Getting Around
Rental car essential throughout
Budget Per Day
Approx 75 to 120 euros per person per day
Difficulity
Easy, walking and driving
DAY 1
LECCE
MORNING
LECCE, THE FLORENCE OF THE SOUTH
Lecce has the most extraordinary Baroque architecture in Italy, so distinctive in its exuberance that it is called Barocco Leccese. The golden limestone of the local pietra leccese carves with extraordinary ease and the builders took full advantage, covering the facades of churches, palaces and even ordinary houses with an explosion of saints, cherubs, animals and flowers. The Basilica di Santa Croce is the finest example, its facade taking 150 years to complete. The Piazza del Duomo is one of the finest enclosed squares in southern Italy, entirely surrounded by Baroque buildings. Drive: 15 min walk to hidden Lecce
MIDDAY
HIDDEN LECCE AND THE ROMAN AMPHITHEATRE
The old centre of Lecce conceals extraordinary layers beneath the Baroque surface. A Roman amphitheatre from the 2nd century BC sits in the main square, the Piazza Sant'Oronzo, partially excavated and free to view from above. The Castello di Carlo V is a 16th-century Aragonese castle in the centre of the city. Find the extraordinary hidden courtyards of the Baroque palaces behind their carved street facades, most are open and free to enter. Drive: 10 min walk to market
AFTERNOON
THE LECCE MARKET AND SEA URCHIN CULTURE
Lecce's daily market near the Porta Rudiae is one of the finest food markets in southern Italy. In Puglia, eating raw sea urchin (ricci di mare) scooped directly from the shell with a piece of bread is a local tradition unlike anything in northern Italy. The market vendors sell them fresh throughout the morning. End the afternoon on the rooftops of the old town, where several bars have opened extraordinary terrace views over the Baroque skyline.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The pasticciotto is a small oval pastry filled with custard cream that was invented in Lecce in 1745 and is the defining food of Salento. Every bar and pasticceria in Lecce serves them and the finest are eaten warm from the oven first thing in the morning. Caffe Alvino and Pasticceria Natale make the best in the city.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Caffe Alvino, Lecce The most beloved traditional cafe in Lecce, on the Piazza Sant'Oronzo since 1950. The pasticciotto pastry was invented here. | Lunch: Trattoria Le Zie, Lecce The finest traditional trattoria in Lecce. Orecchiette with cime di rapa, horsemeat ragu and local Primitivo wine. | Dinner: Osteria degli Spiriti, Lecce Outstanding wine bar and restaurant in a medieval cellar. Local produce and the finest Puglian wine selection.
DAY 2
TRULLI AND ITRIA VALLEY
MORNING
ALBEROBELLO, THE UNESCO TRULLI VILLAGE
The trulli of Alberobello are extraordinary cone-shaped stone houses unique to this corner of Puglia, built from grey limestone without mortar using a technique that allowed them to be quickly dismantled to avoid taxation. The Rione Monti district contains over 1,500 trulli on a single hillside, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most extraordinary vernacular architecture landscapes in Europe. Arrive before 9am for the empty whitewashed streets before the tour buses arrive. Drive: 20 min drive to Locorotondo
MIDDAY
LOCOROTONDO AND CISTERNINO, THE HIDDEN ITRIA VALLEY
While Alberobello gets the visitors, the hilltop towns of the Itria valley are extraordinary and largely unknown. Locorotondo is a perfectly circular hilltop town of whitewashed houses and extraordinary views over the trulli-covered plain below. Cisternino is another circular hilltop town with a beautifully preserved medieval centre and the extraordinary local butcher-restaurants (macellerie con cucina) where you choose raw meat from the butcher counter and it is cooked immediately on the wood-fired grill. Drive: 25 min drive to Ostuni
AFTERNOON
OSTUNI, THE WHITE CITY
Ostuni is the most dramatic of the Puglian whitewashed hill towns, rising from the olive-covered plain on a steep hill with its entirely white medieval city on top. The view approaching Ostuni from the coast road, with the white city rising above the olive groves with the sea visible behind, is one of the most extraordinary in Puglia. The old town is a labyrinth of whitewashed alleys, hidden squares and extraordinary viewpoints over the Adriatic.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Grotte di Castellana near Alberobello are the most spectacular stalactite caves in Italy, 3km of extraordinary underground chambers including the Grotta Bianca, a pure white cave of extraordinary crystalline formations. Entry approx 15 euros for the full tour. One of the finest cave systems in Europe and relatively unknown internationally.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Alberobello before 9am Coffee in the village before the trulli streets fill with visitors. The morning light on the cones is extraordinary. | Lunch: Macelleria con cucina, Cisternino Choose your meat from the butcher, sit outside and it arrives grilled on the wood fire. The finest lunch in Puglia. | Dinner: Osteria del Tempo Perso, Ostuni Outstanding traditional restaurant in a cave cellar. Local lamb, burrata and the finest Puglia wines.
DAY 3
POLIGNANO A MARE AND MATERA
MORNING
POLIGNANO A MARE, THE CLIFFTOP CITY ABOVE THE SEA
Polignano a Mare is one of the most dramatically sited small cities in Italy. The medieval old town sits on a cliff directly above the Adriatic, with extraordinary views from the cliff-edge streets down to the transparent turquoise water below. The extraordinary Lama Monachile, a small cove between the cliffs below the town, is reached by a 200-step staircase. Domenico Modugno, who wrote Volare, was born here and a statue stands on the clifftop. Drive: 1 hour drive to Matera
MIDDAY
MATERA, THE CITY IN THE CAVE, ONE OF THE WORLD'S OLDEST
Matera is one of the most extraordinary cities in the world. The Sassi di Matera are two ancient cave city districts carved into the walls of a ravine, inhabited continuously for 9,000 years. For centuries considered a national disgrace (residents were forcibly evacuated in the 1950s), the Sassi are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and European Capital of Culture. Walk through the cave churches, the prehistoric cisterns and the extraordinary inhabited caves to understand a city unlike anything else on earth. Drive: 30 min walk around ravine
AFTERNOON
THE MURGIA PLATEAU AND THE CAVE CHURCHES
Walk across the ravine to the Murgia Timone plateau opposite Matera for the finest view of the entire Sassi cityscape. The plateau contains dozens of extraordinary rupestrian (rock-cut) churches with Byzantine frescoes dating from the 8th to the 13th centuries, entirely free to find and enter. The Madonna delle Virtu and San Nicola dei Greci are the finest and together form one of the most extraordinary fresco cycles in southern Italy.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario in the Sassi is a perfectly preserved cave dwelling showing how a family of 11 people plus their animals lived in a single room carved into the tufa as recently as 1956. The extraordinary intimacy of the space and the ingenuity of its organisation is profoundly moving. Entry approx 3 euros.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Polignano a Mare Coffee on the cliff-edge terrace above the sea before the day-trippers arrive from Bari. | Lunch: Ristorante Il Cantinone, Polignano Outstanding seafood restaurant below the clifftop. Fresh catch, sea urchin pasta and local white wine. | Dinner: Ristorante Baccanti, Matera The finest restaurant in Matera, in a cave cellar carved into the tufa. Local lamb, Lucanian sausage and Aglianico wine.
DAY 4
MORNING
MIDDAY
AFTERNOON
💎 HIDDEN GEM
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
DAY 5
MORNING
MIDDAY
AFTERNOON
💎 HIDDEN GEM
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Where To Stay
Lecce, Night 1 Patria Palace Hotel, an 18th-century palazzo overlooking Santa Croce. Approx 120 to 190 euros per night. Trulli or Matera, Night 2 Stay in a trullo in Alberobello or a cave hotel in Matera. Approx 100 to 200 euros per night. Budget Option Lecce: B and B Centro Storico from approx 55 euros. Matera: Le Monacelle from approx 70 euros.
Top Tips
1. Arrive in Alberobello before 9am. The trulli streets are overwhelmed by tour groups from 10am.
2. The pasticciotto pastry must be eaten warm from the oven. Order it at Caffe Alvino first thing.
3. Cisternino macellerie open from around 12:30pm. Choose your cut, sit outside and it arrives grilled.
4. Matera is best explored over a full afternoon into evening. The Sassi at dusk are extraordinary.
5. Sea urchin (ricci di mare) must be eaten fresh from the shell with bread. Avoid processed versions.
6. Puglia's Primitivo red wine is underrated worldwide. Buy bottles directly from local producers.
Total Budget
85 to 140 euros/day