August 21, 2022
Trulli houses, cave hotels and olive groves
Puglia is the heel of Italy’s boot, a compact region that is peppered with interesting and stunning cliff top towns. You can cover so much of Puglia in just a long weekend. Even better, Matera can be combined with a quick Puglia road trip so you get more bang for your buck! In this post, we provide a 2 day guide for Puglia (and Matera) that covers some of the best cities in Italy. Get ready for white Mediterranean cliffs, low rolling hillsides, cave churches, Trulli houses and olive groves.
Suggested: Looking for more Italian destinations? Read our guides to Matera, Piedmont and Venice here. We also have a skiing guide to the Dolomites, and a road trip guide to the Dolomites in winter.
Puglia is definitely ‘discovered’, but there is such a wide variety of experiences and towns that can be combined into a short road trip to suit any time of year (and weather conditions!). The amount of different things we could do over just a long weekend made this area a perfect destination for part-time travellers like us. Plus, we think Puglia has some of the best cities in Italy that are definitely worth your time and money.
There are so many places we want to go back to in this region, and the ease of being able to fly directly into Bari (usually for pretty cheap) means that we can divide the region into bite size pieces whenever we’re looking to get away for a weekend. Puglia has something to offer everybody, whether you’re looking for a city trip or a laid back beach weekend. Also, most towns south of Bari down the coastline can be accessed by train making it a great budget destination.
You could easily spend weeks working your way down the Adriatic Coast towards the Ionian Sea. There are endless beach towns and cities to explore that go well beyond this guide.
For our itinerary, you only need two days (preferably flying in the night before). You could extend our suggested itinerary by a night if you wanted to have a beach day in Polignano a Mare, but for shoulder season travel you don’t really need more time than what we have suggested.
Time to get on the road! For this guide we suggest renting a car. There are trains heading south, down the coast of Italy’s heel, but we’re going to head inland first.
We had only driven in Italy twice before Puglia (around Turin and the Dolomites), but we found driving in this area to be fine. We had read that the roads were not in good condition and that it was difficult as a tourist to drive in this area. But that is not what we found. Some of the smaller local roads around Alberobello weren’t in the best shape, but they weren’t busy either so we had no issues with driving around potholes. The highways aren’t particularly well lit at night so you may want to avoid driving after dark if that concerns you.
Please be aware that access into the sassi in Matera is by foot only. You will need to park your car in the newer part of town overnight. Most hotels will have affiliated secure car parks. Our hotel organised a spot in an underground garage for €20 a day including transfers to and from the hotel. You can also self-park in one of the street parking locations throughout the city. It’s about a 20 minute walk into the sassi from the main area of the new town. We recommend packing light so that you can easily carry your bags.
For those who don’t have that much time, this compact region is perfect for long weekend trips. There are plenty of towns in close proximity to each other so you can pack a lot in over just a couple of days. Below are some highlights from our last trip where we only had two fulls days.
You’ll most likely be flying into the region’s capital, Bari. Ryanair, easyJet, British Airways and Wizz Air all fly direct to Bari. To make the most of your long weekend, try to fly in on Friday night. Bari is a perfect stepping off point for all of Puglia. There are (cheap!) trains that go from here all the way down the coastline if you would prefer not to hire a car.
For our suggested weekend itinerary, spend your first morning exploring the old world charm of Bari before hopping in your car to our first destination, Matera.
Suggested: read our detailed itinerary for 2 days in Matera.
Matera was actually the main reason for our trip to this area. We were drawn to Matera for its beauty and the dreamy cave hotels scattered throughout the sassi. Matera isn’t actually in Puglia, it’s located in the region Basilicata. But its proximity to Bari makes this an easy town to visit from Puglia’s capital.
Only an hour straight up the highway from Bari, Matera is one of the most unique and romantic cities in Italy that we have been to, including Venice in our opinion! Plus, it’s way less touristy.
Matera is the oldest inhabited city in Italy and is filled with cave houses and rupestrian churches (churches built into mounds of stone). Matera was previously known as the ‘shame of Italy’ due to the horrid living conditions of people living in the caves up until the 1950’s. Due to the extreme level of poverty experienced by people and farmers in the town, they were relocated to new housing projects (that didn’t work out). Matera has undergone a makeover in recent decades and is now a beautiful destination for a long weekend.
Many films have had scenes shot in Matera including James Bond (No Time to Die and Quantum of Solace), Wonder Woman and Passion of the Christ. The ancient sassi make a beautiful backdrop not just for films, but also for romantic strolls and sunset aperitivo. Matera is definitely one of the best cities in Italy that we have been to, and is a great destination for shoulder season travel or even for winter holidays.
Heading back towards the coast you’ll drive through Itria Valley where one of the most distinctive attractions in Puglia is located, the Trulli houses. It’s only an hour drive from Matera to Alberobello where you can find a small village of these traditionally constructed homes that were granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 1996. It makes for a quick stop for photos and coffee before heading back to the coast.
Arrive early to avoid the crowds. We got lucky on the day we went as the weather wasn’t looking too fantastic which seemed to keep people away a bit. Even still, the car parks in town were filled up by the time we left at around 11am. It is one of the main tourist attractions in the region, so try to avoid summer if you can. Puglia in general can get unbearably hot in summer anyway, and both Alberobello and Matera make great destinations for the shoulder season or even winter.
Our honest opinion? You only need a couple of hours tops here. We were expecting the Trulli zone to be more than just a neighbourhood. The houses are actually located within a larger city, and you can walk through the whole area in about an hour. There are two main Trulli areas and one is far more touristy than the other. Rione Monti quarter is lined with souvenir shops, whereas Rione Aia Piccola was much quieter and seems to be where a lot of the hotels are located. There are plenty of boutique hotels and Airbnb’s if you would like to stay a night, but we think there would be far nicer places to enjoy the Italian countryside than here.
From Alberobello it’s only a 40 minute drive to Polignano a Mare, a picturesque coastal city that is small enough to fully discover during your last afternoon in Puglia. Once you arrive, head straight into the historical centre ‘Centro Storico’ and wander around with a gelato in hand while making your way to Terrazza Santo Stefano.
This spot will give you the best vantage point over the iconic Lama Monachile beach. Next, obviously make your way down to the water. The small pebble beach can get very busy during summer so to beat the crowds, keep walking around until you reach Mirador al Bastión de Santo Stefano, and find yourself a spot on the cliffs to put your towel down. This area was blocked off during our visit in Spring 2022, and it looked like they were constructing a lot of new infrastructure across the tops of the cliffs. Hopefully this means the area is a lot more accessible without impacting the beauty of the coastline.
Polignano a Mare is more of a summer destination than Alberobello and Matera. It was a bit quiet when we were there, with most shops still closed before the start of the season. We didn’t have the best luck with weather either, but we would still rate this town highly! It was beautiful regardless of the weather and the quiet vibe suited us fine as it meant we got all of these gorgeous views to ourselves.
It’s only a 45 minute drive to the airport from here, but if you aren’t flying out until the following day we suggest staying the night here.
Another iconic location in Polignano a Mare is Grotta Palazzese. Fair warning, eating here comes with a hefty price tag at €200 per person. Instead, why not see it from the water and try this boat tour for only €30 per person INCLUDING aperitif.
We hope we’ve inspired you to plan a trip to Puglia and Matera. It’s a perfect region to explore when you’re tight on time and only have a weekend. You can fit in so much and adjust the itinerary to suit any season or weather conditions.
If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments below! And to stay up to date with our new posts every week, please subscribe!
Suggested: Looking for more Italian destinations? Read our guides to Matera, Piedmont and Venice here. We also have a skiing guide to the Dolomites, and a road trip guide to the Dolomites in winter.
Puglia makes the perfect alternative to your average European city break. With so much to see in such a small region, there’s something for everyone here – from bougie cave restaurants, to trulli houses, and valleys full of olive groves.
Venice in winter is totally underrated. It’s not too cold, there’s no shortage of activities both outdoors and indoors, and most importantly there were no crowds!
This outdoor adventurer’s wonderland is beautiful at any time of the year. But in winter, the Italian Dolomites truly shine, with so many winter activities on offer.
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