Puglia Map 363

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It’s still a beautiful beach with soft golden sand and dunes that make it feel further from the town than it is.

Just south of Gallipoli is a string of popular beaches. Baia Verde is the most famous, especially with young people, and is often compared to Ibiza for its summer beach parties and nightclubs.Additionally, we spent quite a bit of time admiring the yachts and fishing boats while walking around its harbor, as well as sunbathing on its golden beaches. Legend has it that a beautiful princess used to bathe in the waters and poets came from all over the land to write about her, hence its name. It’s easy enough to find the free sections as they’ll be the parts without identical umbrellas (each lido has a different colour scheme). Free beaches do get very busy in summer, though.

There are many lidos with sun loungers to rent or either end of the beach has large free sections. The sea is calm and it’s popular with families. Or you could head south to the Salento, essentially the Lecci province. Lecce is the famous southern Baroque town in Puglia. Eat the typical cucina povera dish called Fave e Cicoria, a creamy puree of favas with a pile of bitter greens, chicory. It goes best with that famous bread of Puglia. How to travel from Bari to Lecce on the train Using Tours to Get to the Little Places We were actually glad we hadn’t managed to book a sun lounger, as we were able to choose a spot that was clearest and enjoyed swimming in the lovely blue sea. The Gargano Peninsula in the north of Puglia is often overlooked by international visitors, although it’s a popular summer destination for Italians.Lido Pizzo takes up about half of the beach, but don’t expect to get a sun lounger. Season passes seem popular here because it was fully booked for all of August, despite most of the chairs being empty. Where to Stay: Masseria il Frantoio, a 15-minute drive from the beach, is our favourite place to stay in Puglia. It’s on an olive farm with 300-year-old stables lovingly restored to comfortable guest rooms. The pool and beautiful grounds are perfect for relaxing and the 8-course dinners are incredible. Apulia's coastline is longer than that of any other mainland Italian region. In the north, the Gargano promontory extends out into the Adriatic sea like a "sperone" ("spur"), while in the south, the Salento peninsula forms the "tacco" ("heel") of Italy's boot. [5] The highest peak in the region is Monte Cornacchia (1,152 m/3,779 ft above sea level) within the Daunian Mountains, in the north along the Apennines. It’s even shallower here, which is great for kids, although you have to walk quite far out to swim. In May, you’ll find long stretches of empty sand, whereas in August, the same stretch will be unrecognisable covered in sun loungers and umbrellas.

Despite resisting lidos for most of our Puglia beach trips, we did splurge on a fancy one in Torre Lapillo (see below) and it was worth it for a comfortable, relaxing day at the beach at the busiest time of year. The crescent of golden sand has a picturesque setting beneath the old town’s walls and the shallow sea is calm and clear. Due to its karstic, highly permeable stone floor, numerous subterranean cave systems have formed in Apulia. Among them are the caves of Castellana. Soon after their discovery, the caves were made accessible to tourists. International Airport of Brindisi “Salento”: The new International Airport has been recently opened. There are many airlines flying to Brindisi for both international and national traffic. Very cheap flights with low cost airlines are available through the year from the main European capitals. Strategically located it covers the provinces of Brindisi, Taranto and Lecce. The three cities can easily be reached by train, bus or renting a car. Motorways connect the three cities.

Be inspired.

There are also some unique places to stay in Puglia, from the sometimes fortified family farms called Masserie, many of which have been restored into fine places to stay,to the humble domed dwellings called Trulli found around Alberobello. from Italy-loving outsiders, the area is setting itself up on the tourist trail. There are many new and upgraded hotels, holiday apartments and B&Bs. One of the most popular types of tourism is masseria accommodation. Masserie were the big houses at the centre of large agricultural estates: now they frequently offer comfortable rural accommodation, often with extras such as spas and cookery courses. Puglia airports and travel

For comparison with driving times, the distance between Foggia and Bari is about 120 kilometers. The Autostrada (Italy's fast toll road) route between these two cities could be managed at a top speed of 130 km/hour. Allowing for stopping to pay tolls, this journey should take around an hour in a car, as it does on the Eurostar. The regular train takes 40 minutes longer because it stops at many smaller stations.

Where to Go in Puglia on the Train

A little further south we'll find a special dance of the Salento, the Pizzica Salentina, which is a special subset of the tarantella dances of the south and especially Sicily. Pescoluse Beach is very popular, and even at 8.30am in August, there were plenty of people around. By 10am it was way too busy for us. Crowded Pescoluse Beach at 10am. That water though!