About Puglia
Puglia is a region that occupies the ‘heel’ of southern Italy and is home to historic towns (many of which have histories that go back thousands of years), diverse landscapes, excellent food and some of the best beaches in southern Italy.
The main entry points for most international visitors are Bari and Brindisi (both have airports and ports with international connections).
If you are planning on traveling after the wedding weekend, there will plenty to do in the Puglia region and you can easily spend a full week there.
10 Things To Know Before Visiting Puglia
1. A week is perfect. Concentrate on either having one base in the countryside (this is where the wedding will be) and a small city (like Ostuni or Otranto) and doing a few day trips to beaches and surrounding towns.
2. The food is delicious and pretty standard throughout. Seafood is plentiful and freshly caught in almost all towns, pasta is handmade, the pizza is divine, olive oil is local (Puglia is responsible for over 60% of the olive oil produced in Italy) and we never met a piece of bread we didn't immediately inhale. Puglia is also the birthplace of many unique Italian foods including burrata cheese, orecchiette pasta and tiella, the Italian take on Spanish paella.
3. Life follows a slower pace. This is a part of the world where the beating heart of community is set firmly in the rhythms of the past. Instead of fighting it, go with it. Do your sight-seeing in the morning and save the afternoon for beach time, have an extra scoop of gelato for your afternoon treat to tide you over til your late dinner and generally do what the locals do!
4. We recommend having a car. Sure, there are trains and local buses, but using them exclusively to get across this varied region is going to take more time than most travellers have. It also means you may miss many of the small coves and cute little towns that make Puglia so wonderful. The brilliant part is that Puglia is just made to be discovered on a road trip.
5. It's Less Touristy and Less Commercial, if anything, there is an abundance of Italian tourists. Puglia has not yet experienced the explosion of tourism so faced by the likes of Cinque Terre on the opposite side of the country so you can truly enjoy an Italian cultural experience.
6. Puglia has the longest coastline of any Italian mainland region. The heel of Italy’s boot-like shape is the defining geographical feature of the area, and is a key reason behind the flowing lengths of coast, totalling around 800km!
7. In recent years, Puglia has been famed for its vibrant and fruity flavours in the red wine varieties. One of the largest wine-making regions in Italy, more focus in recent years has been on perfecting the Puglian flavour, born from the region’s unique grape varieties. Puglia makes more wine than any other region in Italy.
8. The Trulli are ancient huts unique to the region. The rich farming heritage of Puglia is prevalent in the landscape picture, with the iconic white Trulli dotted all around. These stone dwellings date back to the Middle Ages and were once used as homes for peasant farmers, amongst others. Alberobello, a UNESCO site, is one of the best places to experience these, with streets lined by these unique dwellings!
9. Although the official language remains the same, the local dialects include Barese, Foggiano and even Griko, which is considerably closer to Greek than Italian.
10. The region has over 300 days of sunshine a year :)
Beaches
Lido Posto 9 (beach club)
Togo Bay Beach (beach club)
Tayga beach (beach club)
Porto Selvaggio (wild beach)
Salina dei Monaci (wild beach)
Restaurants
Alberobello - With its maze of hilly cobblestone paths lined with charming conical-roofed trulli, the white town of Alberobello in the Province of Bari seems straight out of a children’s storybook. Made out of local limestone, these ancient peculiar structures protected by UNESCO house everything from bars and boutiques to churches, museums, and B&Bs, giving the town’s historic center a whimsical fairytale look.
Lecce - Masterpieces of Baroque architecture stand alongside charmingly crumbling balconies in Lecce, one of the most handsome cities in Italy, let alone Puglia. Good looks aside, this Baroque gem in Puglia’s Salento peninsula is a pleasantly relaxed university town with an enjoyable nightlife scene, hip shopping, and countless restaurants serving hearty cucina povera (traditional peasants’ food).
Martina Franca - One of Puglia’s most beautiful towns, Martina Franca in the province of Taranto is overflowing with elegant Baroque architecture and delightful trattorias specializing in exquisite cold cuts (capocollo). Surrounded by defensive stone walls and eye-catching Baroque & Renaissance gates, its Instagram-worthy centro storico is an alluring mix of narrow twisting alleys and dazzling white houses interspersed with sunny open piazzas, centuries-old palazzi, and exquisitely ornate basilicas.
Ostuni - One of the most attractive towns in southern Italy, Ostuni is a gleaming white jumble of houses, churches, and charming piazzas spread over a hilltop surrounded by quaint countryside and endless olive groves. La Città Bianca, as it is locally known, is home to a spellbindingly beautiful fortified old town packed with medieval architectural treasures and dazzling views of the Adriatic coast. And while the old-world allure is what primarily draws visitors here, Ostuni is no stranger to chic hotels, hip cafés, and excellent restaurants, either.
Polignano a Mare - Perched dramatically on the edge of a craggy ravine on the Adriatic coast of Puglia, Polignano a Mare is prettier than a postcard. The idyllic seaside town hugs a little Blue Flag beach sheltered by two cliffs, and its centro storico – an atmospheric maze of winding streets, sun-bleached buildings, and old churches – reveals intriguing glimpses of the sparkling blue sea at every turn.
Vieste - The easternmost town of the Gargano peninsula, Vieste enjoys a jaw-dropping position on a promontory that juts out into the azure waters of the Adriatic Sea. Vieste’s splendid coastline is lined with sea caves, grottoes, and secluded sun-drenched coves waiting to be explored. Otherwise, the resort has the same labyrinthine historic core of pretty cobblestone streets, colorful piazzette, and blanched buildings with flower-filled wrought-iron balconies.