1. Gargano Promontory and Monte Sant’Angelo: coast and pilgrimage
On Puglia’s northern edge, the Gargano Promontory feels distinct: chalky headlands, pocket coves, and forested uplands above the sea. Indeed, due to its nature and coastline, it is often counted among the best places to visit in Puglia.
On the eastern coast sits Vieste, where the whitewashed old town steps down limestone terraces toward the harbor. Along the shoreline you still find trabucchi, traditional wooden fishing platforms raised on stilts over the water. West along the bay, Peschici mixes arched lanes, small workshops, and wide views of the coast.
Inland, the Foresta Umbra is a protected beech forest at the center of Gargano National Park, known for shaded trails and spring orchids.
Higher up, Monte Sant’Angelo has been a pilgrimage destination since the early Middle Ages. The Sanctuary of Saint Michael is built around a cave and remains the spiritual landmark of the promontory.
2. The Tremiti Islands: monasteries, coves, and quiet escape
A short way offshore from Gargano lie Tremiti Islands, a small archipelago within Gargano National Park and its marine reserve.
San Domino is the largest island, pine-covered and edged with pocket inlets; Cala delle Arene is the main sandy beach and an easy entry to the clearest water. San Nicola, the neighboring island and historical center of the group, is dominated by the Abbey of Santa Maria a Mare, a fortified monastic complex that later served as a prison.
3. Bari: the gateway to Puglia’s soul
Bari anchors northern Puglia with a busy port and a historic center where everyday life unfolds among Romanesque churches and small squares.
In Bari Vecchia, the old town, narrow lanes open onto piazzas, and it is common to see residents shaping orecchiette, the region’s small ear-shaped pasta, by hand on wooden boards outside their doors, an old neighborhood tradition.
A few minutes away stands the Basilica di San Nicola, an 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque church that houses the relics of Saint Nicholas and welcomes both Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims.
To the east, the seafront promenade runs for miles with open views of the Adriatic.
4. Polignano a Mare and Monopoli: cliff views and harbor life
South of Bari, the coastline tightens into limestone cliffs and compact harbors.
Polignano a Mare sits on a limestone headland above clear water. A historic stone bridge frames Lama Monachile, the shingle cove at the town’s center, while sea caves cut into the cliffs and catch changing light through the day.
A few minutes down the road, Monopoli shifts to a softer rhythm around its working port. The waterfront is anchored by Castello Carlo V (Charles V Castle); within a few streets rise the baroque Cattedrale della Madia (Madia Cathedral) and the promenade by Cala Porta Vecchia, where white walls meet low waves.
Taken together, the two towns form a simple shoreline arc: dramatic in Polignano, unhurried in Monopoli. They are among the best places in Puglia for coastal scenery.
5. Castellana Caves: an underground cathedral
South of Bari, the Castellana Caves reveal a karst landscape carved over millions of years.
Explored since 1938 by speleologists who mapped the system for visitors, the route extends for more than three kilometers through chambers whose names read like chapters.
It opens at La Grave, where a vertical shaft brings daylight into the first cavern. Deeper in, stalactites descend like chandeliers, mineral formations catch the light, and the White Cave gleams in a pale stillness that feels almost theatrical.
6. Alberobello and the trulli
Inland from the coast, Alberobello gathers lanes of trulli, small dry-stone dwellings topped with conical roofs, that form one of Italy’s most distinctive historic landscapes and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for this remain among the best places to visit in Puglia to see traditional architecture up close.
For first-time visitors wondering what to see in Alberobello, focus on Rione Monti, Rione Aia Piccola, and the Trullo Sovrano.
Rione Monti sits on the slope beside the historic core, lively and close-set, with rows of trulli stepping uphill. Nearby, Rione Aia Piccola lies on a gentler ridge; it is quieter and more residential, showing the domestic side of trullo life. Meanwhile, the Trullo Sovrano (Sovereign Trullo), an 18th-century two-story trullo now a small museum, opens a historic interior with period details.
7. Itria Valley: Ostuni, Locorotondo, Martina Franca and Cisternino
Just beyond Alberobello, the Itria Valley opens into olive groves, dry-stone walls, and four hill towns with distinct identities.
Ostuni, known as the White City, crowns a hill with whitewashed walls and terraces. The Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta has a late-Gothic façade centered on a large rose window, and viewpoints around the old town look toward the Adriatic and over centuries-old olive groves.
Orderly and calm, Locorotondo takes its name from the circular plan of the historic center. Look for the cummerse, tall and narrow houses with steep limestone gable roofs, typical of the town and distinct from the round trulli found in the surrounding countryside.
The valley’s baroque showpiece, Martina Franca pairs noble palaces with the Basilica di San Martino and its rococo carving. Here, each summer, the Festival della Valle d’Itria (Itria Valley Festival) brings opera and classical music to courtyards and small theaters across the historic center.
Smaller and close by, Cisternino is known for its intact medieval core and for the Orange Flag quality label, a recognition for heritage, hospitality and sustainable tourism in small towns. Its food and wine reputation is strong, especially for bombette: small pork rolls stuffed with cheese and herbs, traditionally cooked at butcher-grills in the old center.
The valley shows four complementary notes: Ostuni’s sea-facing terraces, Locorotondo’s geometric calm, Martina Franca’s baroque stage, and Cisternino’s medieval lanes and food traditions.
8. Lecce: baroque splendor in the south
In the Salento heartland, Lecce is the cultural capital of the peninsula and the showcase of Barocco Leccese: a local baroque style made possible by pietra leccese, a warm limestone that can be carved in fine detail.
The historic core gathers around Piazza del Duomo, framed by the cathedral complex with its bell tower and episcopal palaces. Nearby, the Basilica di Santa Croce presents one of Italy’s most intricate baroque façades, and Piazza Sant’Oronzo reveals Lecce’s Roman layer with the amphitheater set just below street level. A short distance away, the Castello di Carlo V (Charles V Castle) recalls the city’s role as a fortified center on the Adriatic routes.
Lecce is important not only for monuments but also for craft and learning. Workshops still shape papier-mâché figures for churches and festivals, stone-carving studios keep traditional techniques alive, and the university presence gives the city a steady rhythm of students, exhibitions, and small galleries.
The result is a compact place where Roman remains, baroque architecture, and artisanship sit within a few connected squares.
9. Gallipoli, Otranto and Santa Maria di Leuca: the southern edge
From Lecce, the Salento coast follows two seas.
On the Ionian side, Gallipoli has a historic center set on a small island, linked to the mainland by a bridge. Honey-colored walls ring the old town, fishermen mend nets below baroque balconies, and the Aragonese Castle guards the harbor.
On the Adriatic side, Otranto faces sunrise. Inside its 12th-century cathedral, a vast floor mosaic known as the Tree of Life stretches across the nave and aisles, weaving biblical scenes, animals, and symbols into one design. Just north of town, Baia dei Turchi is a pine-backed cove and beach named for the Ottoman landing of 1480.
At Italy’s southern tip, Santa Maria di Leuca marks the meeting point of the Adriatic and the Ionian. A lighthouse stands on the headland, neoclassical villas line the shore, and sea caves notch the cliffs.
10. Olive groves, wine, and the taste of Puglia
Apuglia’s character comes through in its stone-built towns as much as in its flavors.
The region produces more olive oil than any other in Italy, with around sixty million trees, some centuries old. Many masserie, historic farm estates, welcome visitors to vaulted rooms and courtyards for tastings.
The cooking stays close to tradition. Staples include orecchiette with turnip tops; burrata, a fresh cheese with a creamy center often served with ripe tomatoes and olive oil; and focaccia Barese, a thick pan bread rich with olive oil and baked with tomatoes and olives.
Local accents shift by area. In Bari, classics include panzerotti, fried turnovers filled with cheese and tomato, along with a long-standing taste for raw seafood. In Lecce and Salento, highlights include rustico leccese, a puff pastry with béchamel and tomato, the custard-filled pasticciotto, and iced caffè leccese sweetened with almond syrup.
Among regional wines, Primitivo and Negroamaro are widely grown reds with generous, fruit-forward profiles. While local whites, such as Verdeca, tend to be bright and mineral.
A Puglian journey to remember with Clio Viaggi
From the trulli of Alberobello to the calm of the Itria Valley, from Lecce’s baroque to the bright shores of Salento and the wild Gargano, these are the best places to see in Puglia.
Beyond any checklist, they tell a story of stone-built towns, working ports, quiet coves, and kitchens where traditions still set the pace.
