Do you want visit Puglia ? Do you know what to see in Puglia without wasting time? Do you know which city to stay in to optimize that? Which route to follow according to your tastes? This article is made for you.
Here is the action plan for this article to save time (use the menu on the right to access the desired section):
- How to visit Puglia with GoogleMaps to facilitate your planning
- Summary to visit Puglia in 4 days
- Tips for visiting the north of Puglia (Vieste and Gargano Park).
- 5 days itinerary in Puglia
- Read my article "Rent a car at Bari airport in Puglia".
- Read my article "Where to sleep in Puglia"
1) How to visit Puglia
I get a lot of emails asking me how many days it takes at least to discover Puglia. Well it all depends on what you want to do! But if you want to discover this Italian region, this is what I recommend.
First, you will arrive at the Bari airport. It is still 20 minutes from the city of Bari ...
For my part, I left on a Friday, I arrived at the airport at 19:30 pm, time to pick up my rental car at Bari airport, (by the way, when you visit Puglia, you must rent a car and while 'rent there in the airport).
See the Puglia region as a collection of small towns that are 20-30 minutes from each other. That is why it is necessary to rent a car.
Itinerary of 3 or 4 days to visit Puglia
After a lot of research on the internet, I ended up opting for this itinerary in Puglia.
- Visit Puglia - Day 1 and 2 - Bari
Friday - Arrival at 19:30 pm - Pick up the vehicle at the Bari airport
Friday night - I leave the car in the Gestipark Battisti srl car park (googlemap link) which is near my hotel in Bari, the Zodiacus Residence, to redo I will take care of this hotel which is very well located. If you are looking for a hotel in Bari, I advise you to look in the purple area of the map below and more particularly around the one I took. Parking is a 5 minute walk ...
/! We slept in Bari because it was too late to go directly to Polignano (night falls at 16pm during the winter - November March). With the comments we got it right, because the city is more lively at night in Bari than in Polignano… Also, Bari is still a very nice little city that deserves to be visited.
The historic district is full of charm! You have the Voglia Discobar and the Voglia Pane e vino, which are good addresses (to open these good addresses of tapas bars on GoogleMap) to go out in Bari.
Saturday morning - Visit of Bari during the day with breakfast in old Bari. You don't have 10.000 things to do in Bari, you don't need to spend 2 nights in Bari. 1 night is more than enough yes visit Puglia.
You will find a shopping street in Via Sparano. Take it there, it will take you directly to the historic center of Bari (orange zone). It is also in the historic center that I advise you to eat.
Sleeping in the historic center is not a good idea in my opinion because you cannot drive by car, so arriving with your suitcases is not ideal ... On the other hand, if you stay in Bari for a few days, then yes.
If you want to do an activity I recommend the activity "Discover the treasures of the Bar by bike", you also have the walking tour
Saturday at noon - We pick up the vehicle (we count € 20 for 1 day, but be careful to bring cash because it takes us 1h30 to find an ATM). Many companies do not accept credit cards, so take at least 150 euros in case ...
- What to see in Puglia: Day 2 and 3 towards AlberoBello, Valle di Itria, hotel in Polignano
The departure from Bari was therefore on Saturday morning around 12 noon, we went directly to AlberoBello. AlberoBello although very touristy is essential, it would be a shame to miss it ...
- Arbol Hermoso
Here you have an AlberoBello card, you have parking (you must carry a parking ticket even for 30 minutes, they will not miss you ...).
The purple zone is where you can see the famous Trullis, the green zone is the place where you will find many “tourist trap” restaurants and otherwise you have a good address 'La Cantina', but remember to book).
If you want to sleep in a trulli during your stay in Puglia, I recommend the Trulli Resort Trimore which is very well located, a great experience awaits you!
If you don't have too much time during your stay in Puglia, allow a minimum of 3 hours to visit all of Alberobello.
- The Itria valley
We finish the visit around 15: XNUMX hours (Saturday) and we go to the Vallée di Itria. Again, if you don't rent a car, I'm not sure how you will get around. So I do suspect that there are buses, but I don't think the frequency of the schedules is an advantage for you ...
The Itria Valley can be visited by car (see the purple area in the image below). Do not hesitate to take the small roads, do not use the main roads ... You will see that this valley is very small, so in 1h30 you have made the journey ...
On the map below you can see the itinerary for day 2. However, I visited Monopoli on Sunday at noon. Then on Saturday I leave Bari towards Alberobello, then I walk towards the Itria Valley passing through the points below and ending in Polignano, there I took a hotel.
- Polignano a Mare
Saturday, 17-18 pm retracing our steps using a different route to get to Polignano (see map above), this is where I advise you to stay the second night.
I had a little pleasure to book the B&B Calaporto, (80 € / night), with an ideal location, overlooking the small cove of Polignano, really great, look instead:
If this hotel is not for you, I advise you to look for a hotel in the purple areas below and not in the historic district (orange area). Why that ?
Well, because you can't access the orange zone by car. Afterwards, if you still want to stay within the historic district, I recommend the Frantoio a Mare.
- Where to go out in Polignano:
We are not going to Polignano to party. By cons, here is a really excellent address! The Antiche Mura restaurant (link to googlemap). However, remember to book [email protected].
Day 3 - Sunday - Polignano, Monopoli and Ostuni
Sunday morning, visit to Polignano, the old town is really magnificent… We do not regret having taken advantage of this night in Polignano
Polignano is one of the favorites of our stay in Puglia, so you have to put it on your itinerary.
- Monopoly
Departure at 12 noon from Polignano to eat and visit Monopoli. Monopoli is only 20 minutes from Polignano. Once again, without a car it is a bit difficult to get around Puglia ...
You can visit Monopoli very quickly, in 1h30 you have been around. We ate at dal ghiottone restaurant, a very good address (googlemap link).
- New crossing in the Itruni Valley to reach Ostuni
Departure around 14 pm to 15 pm to arrive in Ostuni, where we booked our third and last night in Puglia.
We booked into a very well located La Terra hotel. Located at the beginning of the historic district, so it is very easy to access and there is no problem to park your car next to it.
I advise you to stay in Ostuni in the purple areas. The orange zone is a street where you can park your vehicle, so it will be close to the hotel. to enlarge this Hotel Map - Where to sleep in Ostuni:
Once again you will see, it is very small but it is definitely worth a look.
- Good restaurants in Ostuni and where to have a good breakfast in Ostuni (googlemap link)
A good restaurant, Casa San Giacomo which is in the heart of the historic district (to see the reviews).
Dolci Momenti is a small address with a very nice terrace, perfect for breakfast (see opinions).
Last day of my 4-day Apulia itinerary
Wake up on Monday morning in Ostuni, departure at 11 am to visit Lecce. Personally, I preferred to visit the other small towns in Puglia.
Anyway, if you want to find a hotel in Lecce, I recommend Casa Balmes which is well located and if not, look for accommodation in Lecce in this purple area. To enlarge this Map of Hotels - Accommodation in Lecce:
- toast
Departure at 14 pm for the Bari airport but a brief stop in Brindisi where I lost 2 hours of my life. Why that ?
For the streets were deserted and without charm. There the impression of a deserted city arises.
2) Visit Puglia in 4 or 5 days
- Day 1 - arrival at Bari airport on Friday at 19:30 pm Pick up of the rental car in Puglia (at Bari airport).
- Day 1 - Hotel in Bari
- Day 2 - Departure on Saturday around 11 am from Bari to AlberoBello, the Itria Valley and then hotel in Polignano a Mare
- Day 3 - Depart on Sunday around 11 am from Polignano to visit and eat in Monopoli, then hotel in Ostuni
- Day 4 - Depart on Monday around 11am. M. From Ostuni to visit Lecce and return to the airport at 16pm. M. For my flight at 17 p.m. M.
3) Tips for visiting the north of Puglia
If I had 5 days to visit Puglia, I would have gone to visit the north of Puglia. It was a great disappointment not having enough time to visit Vieste and the Gargano National Park, but with Vieste being almost 3 hours from Bari, I had a day to go.
It would have taken 1 more day to spend a night in Vieste, so if you have 5 days, go for it! If you were looking for a hotel, you had found the Rocca sul Mare.
- Should you visit Brindisi?
Once again run away, there is nothing to see, I lost 2 hours. If you do not agree, I invite you to tell me what I missed in Brindisi.
4) What to see in Puglia in 5 days
For my part, I arrived on a Friday night, at 19 pm, so if I had arrived on Friday morning, here is the program I would have done:
- Day 1 - Arrival on Friday morning, departure to visit the Gargano National Park and visit of Vieste with hotel in Vieste
- Day 2: departure on Saturday morning from Vieste to AlberoBello, the Itria Valley and then the hotel in Polignano a Mare
- Day 3 - Depart on Sunday around 11 am from Polignano to visit and eat in Monopoli, then hotel in Ostuni
- Day 4 - Depart on Monday around 11 am from Ostuni to visit Bari and then sleep in Bari
- Day 5 - Depart from Bari and return to the airport. If the plane leaves around 17 in the afternoon, you can check activities such as the Caves of Castellana (to see the reviews).
- Once again, car rental in Puglia is essential.
Well there you go, I think you have all the keys in hand to visit Puglia as it should be
Do not hesitate to leave a comment at the bottom of the page to give me your impressions, share a good address, a hotel, a bar ... Sharing is good;)
- And you, what do you prefer in Puglia?
- Do you have an interesting address to share? A roadmap to share?
- Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of the page!
See you soon!
Maxence
Other items not to be missed!
- Car rental tips at Bari airport
Keywords that allowed Internet users to find this article:
- Visit Puglia
- What to see in Puglia
- Discover Puglia
- Visit Apulia 5 days
