Puglia
5
Day Itinerary •
Italy
Five days in Puglia lets you explore the full extraordinary range of Italy's most exciting emerging destination. From the wild Salento peninsula at the very tip of the heel to the ancient pilgrimage city of Monte Sant'Angelo on the Gargano promontory, this is a region of extraordinary diversity barely scratched by most visitors who come only for the trulli. This route covers the complete hidden Puglia. Lecce's exuberant Baroque and the wild Salento coastline. The Itria valley trulli and whitewashed hilltop towns. Bari's extraordinary old town and the finest sea urchin in Italy. Matera's 9,000-year cave city. And the Gargano peninsula, Puglia's forgotten wild north, with ancient pilgrimage routes and the finest beaches in the Adriatic.
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 AND SALENTO COAST
MORNING
LECCE, THE FLORENCE OF THE SOUTH
The Basilica di Santa Croce is the finest example of Barocco Leccese, its facade taking 150 years to complete. The Piazza del Duomo is one of the finest enclosed squares in southern Italy. Find the extraordinary hidden courtyards of the Baroque palaces. The Roman amphitheatre in the Piazza Sant'Oronzo is free to view. Eat the pasticciotto pastry warm from the oven at Caffe Alvino. Drive: 1 hour drive to Otranto
MIDDAY
OTRANTO, THE GATEWAY TO THE EAST
Otranto is the easternmost city in Italy, a fortified port from which crusaders embarked and Ottomans invaded. The Cathedral of Otranto contains the most extraordinary medieval mosaic floor in Italy, a 12th-century Tree of Life carpet mosaic covering the entire nave floor with an extraordinary programme of history, mythology and biblical scenes. The Aragonese castle above the harbour is the finest in southern Puglia. Entry to the cathedral is free. Drive: 30 min drive to south coast
AFTERNOON
THE WILD SALENTO COAST, SEA CAVES AND HIDDEN BEACHES
The southern tip of the Salento peninsula has some of the finest and wildest coastline in Puglia. The Grotta della Poesia near Roca Vecchia contains over 3,000 inscriptions scratched into the cave walls by visitors from across the ancient Mediterranean between 1500 and 200 BC, one of the most important epigraphic sites in the ancient world. The Baia dei Turchi, where Ottoman troops landed in 1480, is a beautiful hidden cove accessible only on foot.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Santuario di Santa Maria di Leuca at the very tip of Italy, where the Adriatic meets the Ionian sea, is one of the most dramatic pilgrimage sites in southern Italy. A Roman column topped by a statue of the Madonna marks the southernmost point of Puglia. The view from the lighthouse above in both directions is extraordinary.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Caffe Alvino, Lecce Most beloved cafe in Lecce since 1950. Eat the warm pasticciotto before anything else. | Lunch: Trattoria Le Zie, Lecce Finest traditional trattoria. Orecchiette with cime di rapa and local Primitivo wine. | Dinner: Ristorante Il Frantoio, Otranto Outstanding restaurant in an 18th-century olive press. Local fish, burrata and Salento wines.
DAY 2
TRULLI AND ITRIA VALLEY
MORNING
ALBEROBELLO, THE UNESCO TRULLI VILLAGE
Over 1,500 trulli cone houses on a single hillside, UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Rione Monti is most extraordinary. Arrive before 9am for the empty streets before tour buses arrive. Drive: 20 min drive to Locorotondo
MIDDAY
LOCOROTONDO AND CISTERNINO
Locorotondo is a perfectly circular hilltop town with extraordinary views over the trulli-covered plain. Cisternino's macellerie con cucina butcher-restaurants are the finest lunch in Puglia: choose your meat from the butcher counter and it arrives grilled on the wood fire immediately. Drive: 25 min drive to Ostuni
AFTERNOON
OSTUNI, THE WHITE CITY
The most dramatic of the Puglian whitewashed hill towns rising from the olive-covered plain. The approach from the coast road with the white city above the olive groves and Adriatic behind is one of the most extraordinary views in Puglia. The labyrinth of whitewashed alleys contains extraordinary hidden squares and viewpoints.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Grotte di Castellana near Alberobello are the most spectacular stalactite caves in Italy. 3km of extraordinary underground chambers including the pure white Grotta Bianca. Entry approx 15 euros for the full tour. One of the finest cave systems in Europe.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Alberobello before 9am Coffee before the trulli streets fill. The morning light on the grey stone cones is extraordinary. | Lunch: Macelleria con cucina, Cisternino Choose your cut, sit outside, it arrives grilled. The finest and most affordable lunch in Puglia. | Dinner: Osteria del Tempo Perso, Ostuni Outstanding cave cellar restaurant. Local lamb, burrata and the finest Puglia wines.
DAY 3
POLIGNANO A MARE AND MATERA
MORNING
POLIGNANO A MARE, THE CLIFFTOP CITY
The medieval old town sits directly above the Adriatic with extraordinary cliff-edge views to the turquoise water below. The Lama Monachile cove is reached by 200 steps. Domenico Modugno who wrote Volare was born here. Drive: 1 hour drive to Matera
MIDDAY
MATERA, THE CITY IN THE CAVE
The Sassi di Matera are two ancient cave city districts inhabited continuously for 9,000 years. Now UNESCO World Heritage Site and European Capital of Culture. Walk through cave churches, prehistoric cisterns and extraordinary inhabited caves. Drive: 30 min walk to plateau
AFTERNOON
THE MURGIA PLATEAU AND CAVE CHURCHES
Walk across the ravine for the finest view of the entire Sassi cityscape. Dozens of rupestrian churches with 8th to 13th century Byzantine frescoes, entirely free to find and enter. The Madonna delle Virtu is the finest fresco cycle in southern Italy.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Casa Grotta di Vico Solitario shows how a family of 11 plus their animals lived in a single cave room as recently as 1956. The extraordinary intimacy and ingenuity of the space is profoundly moving. Entry approx 3 euros.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Polignano Coffee on the cliff-edge terrace before the day-trippers arrive from Bari. | Lunch: Ristorante Il Cantinone Outstanding seafood below the clifftop. Fresh catch and sea urchin pasta. | Dinner: Ristorante Baccanti, Matera Finest restaurant in Matera in a cave cellar. Local lamb and Aglianico wine.
DAY 4
BARI AND CASTEL DEL MONTE
MORNING
BARI VECCHIA, THE MOST AUTHENTIC OLD TOWN IN SOUTHERN ITALY
Bari Vecchia is one of the most extraordinary and authentic old town centres in Italy. The labyrinth of tiny streets on the sea promontory is home to hundreds of local women who sit at their doors making orecchiette pasta by hand all morning, a tradition entirely alive and entirely free to watch. The Basilica di San Nicola is one of the finest Norman churches in Italy, containing the relics of Saint Nicholas (the original Santa Claus). The extraordinary fish market at the Piazza del Ferrarese opens at dawn. Drive: 1 hour drive to Castel del Monte
MIDDAY
CASTEL DEL MONTE, FREDERICK II'S MATHEMATICAL CASTLE
Castel del Monte is one of the most extraordinary buildings in medieval Europe. Built by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in 1240, the perfect octagonal castle with eight octagonal towers has a mathematical precision and symbolic geometry that scholars have never fully explained. It appears on the Italian one-cent coin. UNESCO World Heritage Site. Entry approx 7 euros and one of the most mysterious buildings in Italy. Drive: 40 min drive to Trani
AFTERNOON
TRANI, THE CATHEDRAL IN THE SEA
Trani has the most dramatically sited cathedral in Italy. The Cattedrale di San Nicola Pellegrino was built in 1099 directly on the rocks at the sea's edge, its white facade reflected in the harbour water below. The Norman interior is extraordinary. The medieval Jewish quarter of Trani is one of the finest surviving in southern Italy, with four medieval synagogues (now converted) still standing in the narrow streets.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The women making orecchiette pasta by hand in the streets of Bari Vecchia have been doing so in the same narrow alleys for generations. The best streets are the Arco Basso and Strada dei Coppolieri. They sell directly from their doorsteps for approx 5 euros per bag. Buy a bag, take it to a restaurant and ask them to cook it for you.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Fish market, Bari Vecchia Buy fresh raw sea urchins from the dawn market on the Piazza del Ferrarese. The finest breakfast in Puglia. | Lunch: Ristorante Il Buco, Bari Outstanding traditional Barese cuisine. Fresh pasta, raw seafood and the finest local wine. | Dinner: Ristorante Quintessenza, Trani One Michelin star in the extraordinary old town. Modern Puglian cuisine at its most refined.
DAY 5
THE GARGANO PENINSULA
MORNING
MONTE SANT'ANGELO, THE PILGRIMAGE CAVE ABOVE THE ADRIATIC
Monte Sant'Angelo is one of the oldest Christian pilgrimage sites in the world. The Sanctuary of the Archangel Michael is built around a natural cave where the Archangel is said to have appeared in 490 AD, predating Santiago de Compostela by 800 years. The cave descends 90 steps below the Romanesque church and pilgrims have worn smooth channels in the stone floor over 15 centuries. UNESCO World Heritage Site. Free to enter. The Norman castle above has extraordinary views over the Gargano to the sea. Drive: 30 min drive into Gargano forest
MIDDAY
THE FORESTA UMBRA, THE ANCIENT HEART OF THE GARGANO
The Foresta Umbra is a primeval beech, oak and yew forest in the heart of the Gargano National Park, the last fragment of the ancient forest that covered all of Puglia before the Romans cleared it. Walking paths lead through extraordinary old growth forest of enormous trees, entirely unlike the dry limestone landscape of the rest of Puglia. Free to enter, the visitor centre has maps of the walking trails. Drive: 30 min drive to Vieste
AFTERNOON
VIESTE AND THE HIDDEN GARGANO COAST
Vieste is the finest and most dramatic town on the Gargano coast, a medieval city on a white limestone promontory jutting into the Adriatic with extraordinary views in both directions. The Pizzomunno, a 25-metre white monolith standing in the sea below the town, is one of the most extraordinary natural formations in Puglia. The coast either side of Vieste has some of the finest beaches on the Adriatic, accessible by the local boat service from the harbour.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Tremiti Islands, 25km offshore from the Gargano, are one of the finest and least visited archipelagos in the Adriatic. Ferries run from Vieste and Rodi Garganico to three extraordinary islands with Roman ruins, a medieval monastery and some of the clearest water in Italy. Day trip from approx 30 euros return.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Monte Sant'Angelo Coffee in the pilgrimage town before the cave sanctuary opens. The town itself is extraordinary. | Lunch: Ristorante Il Dragone, Vieste Outstanding fish restaurant in the old town. Fresh Adriatic catch and local Bombino Bianco wine. | Dinner: Final dinner in Bari or trullo Return south for a final night in a trullo in the Itria valley or in Bari Vecchia for the finest seafood end.
Where To Stay
Lecce, Night 1 Patria Palace Hotel, 18th-century palazzo overlooking Santa Croce. Approx 120 to 190 euros per night. Trullo stay, Night 2 Sleep in a trullo near Alberobello or Locorotondo from approx 80 to 160 euros per night. Matera and Bari, Nights 3 to 4 Cave hotel in the Sassi and a boutique hotel in Bari Vecchia. Approx 100 to 180 euros per night.
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