Puglia, unlike the other posts on this blog that are all towns and cities, is an entire region. The Puglia region of Italy is located in the southeastern tip of the country, encompassing the heel of the boot, essentially. Puglia is a phenomenal region to visit as it combines the best elements of authentic Italian culture, with minimal tourist interference, along with a nice mix of beaches, rural areas and small towns. The food is out of this world, the people are lovely and just to circle back to beaches again for a moment…they have some of the most stunning, white sand beaches anywhere in Europe.
Getting to Puglia is relatively easy. There are two main, albeit small, airports in the region, one in the city of Bari and one in the town of Brindisi. Flights in and out of these small airports are relatively cheap. Once you get there this is one of the only places in Italy that I would recommend renting a car. In fact, you basically need to have a rental car to properly experience the region. Most of the towns you’ll want to visit are relatively close, but still require 30-45 minute drives from each other, and there is little in the way of public transport in this region.
While Italians are known worldwide as crazy drivers, this region is relatively easy to drive through. It is mostly highways and in every town it was fairly easy to drive in, sight unseen and find street parking or parking lots pretty quickly. The parking lines are pretty easy to understand. White lines mean free parking, blue lines mean paid parking (ticket machines are readily available and take credit cards) and yellow lines mean handicapped spaces. Be aware though that when you rent a car in Italy, most people assume that their car insurance or credit card covers them during renting a car, like it does in almost every other country, however, almost all insurance companies and credit cards have cut outs that exclude Italy from this coverage due to their famously bad drivers and high incidents of traffic accidents. So, make sure you get the rental insurance if you’re not covered.
The main towns that you will want to visit during any trip to Puglia are: Bari, Polignano a Mare, Otranto, Locorotondo, Alberobello, Metera (which is technically in the bordering region of Basilicata) and Pescoluse. Of those I’d recommend that you stay in either Bari, Polignano or Otranto as your main hub, with maybe a couple days for a beach excursion in Pescoluse. Other than that, the rest can be visited via day trips very easily. We stayed in Polignano a Mare and absolutely loved it. It was the perfect central hub, with quick access to the other spots during our day trip excursions, it had incredible food, easy parking and some of the prettiest scenery. Below you can see breakdowns of what each town has to offer so that you can plan your trip.
Click on the Photos Below to See Things to Do in Each Individual Town
