Multi-day itineraries in Puglia

This page brings together the ten multi-day itineraries we have written about Puglia. They differ in area and in theme, from the sanctuaries of the Gargano to the ravines of Massafra, from the Baroque of Lecce to the old farmhouses of the far south of the Salento. Below they are grouped by area, with their main stops: the complete programme, day by day, is on the page of each itinerary.

The Gargano, the Tavoliere and the grand tour to Matera

The Gargano in six days: history, faith and nature

Length: 6 days and 5 nights, which can be cut to 4 days by leaving out the Tremiti Islands and Margherita di Savoia. Area: the Gargano promontory, the Tavoliere (the great wheat plain of northern Puglia) and the Daunian hills, starting and ending in Foggia.

• Foggia, its thirteenth-century cathedral and the underground chambers of the old town
• San Giovanni Rotondo and the cave sanctuary of Monte Sant’Angelo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2011
• the Foresta Umbra beech forest, then Vieste and Peschici
• a day on the Tremiti Islands, with a motorboat trip around San Domino
• Lucera with its Roman amphitheatre, and Troia with its Romanesque cathedral

This is the tour for anyone who wants to see every side of the Gargano: the sanctuaries, the beech woods, the coast and the hill villages inland. Read the Gargano itinerary day by day.

From the Gargano to Matera: Puglia and Basilicata

Length: 8 days and 7 nights, the longest of the ten. Area: the whole region from north to south, plus one day in Basilicata, the neighbouring region. It starts in Brindisi, with nights in San Giovanni Rotondo and then in Lecce.

• Brindisi and its harbour, with the columns that marked the end of the Via Appia
• Bari and the Basilica of San Nicola, then San Giovanni Rotondo, Monte Sant’Angelo and Vieste
• Alberobello and Ostuni
• Lecce, Otranto, Gallipoli and Galatina
• Matera and its Sassi, Taranto and finally Nardò

Best for travellers with a good week to spare who want an overview of all of Puglia, Matera included. Read the Gargano to Matera itinerary.

The Terra di Bari and the Valle d’Itria

Trulli and Romanesque: the heart of Puglia

Length: 5 days and 4 nights, which can be cut to 3 days by focusing on the Valle d’Itria. Area: Bari, the Murgia plateau, the Valle d’Itria and the Adriatic coast. The best base is Bari or the area around Alberobello.

• Bari’s old town, the Basilica of San Nicola and the Cathedral of San Sabino
• the Castellana Caves and the trulli of Alberobello
• Locorotondo, Cisternino and Martina Franca
• Castel del Monte, Trani and Barletta
• Monopoli, Ostuni and Polignano a Mare

This is the architecture tour: Apulian Romanesque, the trulli and the whitewashed towns, with a day in the Valle d’Itria for anyone who loves small hill towns. Read the trulli and Romanesque itinerary.

Taranto and the Ionian coast

Tracing the Greeks: Taranto, between ravines and sea

Length: 5 days and 4 nights. Area: Taranto and its province, with the city as a base.

• the temple of Metaponto, a relic of Magna Graecia, the Greek colonies of southern Italy
• the National Archaeological Museum, the cathedral and the swing bridge of Taranto, then a ceramics workshop in Grottaglie
• the rock-cut churches of Massafra and the cave village of Petrùscio near Mottola
• Martina Franca, a winery in Manduria, Oria and Erchie
• Castellaneta, birthplace of Rudolph Valentino

For travellers looking for the Puglia of the ancient Greeks and the Puglia of wine, with Primitivo di Manduria. Read the Tracing the Greeks itinerary.

Karst country: the gravine of Puglia

Length: 4 days. Area: the Ionian coast and the Murgia around Altamura and Gravina, starting and ending in Taranto.

• Taranto, with the museum, the cathedral and the seafront
• Grottaglie and its ceramics, then the rock-cut churches of Massafra
• Altamura with its dinosaur quarry, the Pulo sinkhole and an old bread oven
• Gravina in Puglia with its old town, cathedral and cave churches
• the cave village of Petrùscio near Mottola

The gravine are deep canyons carved by water over thousands of years: this is the itinerary for travellers more curious about landscapes and geology than about beaches. Read the gravine itinerary.

Brindisi and the Messapians

The Messapians and their port

Length: 4 days, starting and ending in Brindisi. Area: the provinces of Brindisi and Taranto and the Salento, on the trail of the Messapians, an ancient people of southern Puglia.

• Brindisi and its harbour, a city with Messapian roots
• Manduria, with its megalithic walls and the Fonte Pliniano spring, then the open-air museum of Cavallino
• Muro Leccese and the archaeological area of Vaste
• Castro, on its cliff
• Ostuni, a town whose name is Messapian in origin

For travellers who come for the archaeology. Read the Messapians itinerary.

The Salento

The Salento, a land between two seas

Length: 4 days. Area: from the port of Brindisi to the Adriatic and Ionian coasts of the Salento.

• Brindisi and the Sailor’s Monument
• Gallipoli on the island of Sant’Agata, and Otranto, the “Gateway to the East”
• a whole day in Lecce, capital of the Baroque
• Galatina and the Basilica of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria

The most compact of the four Salento itineraries, ideal for a first visit. Read the land between two seas itinerary.

The heel of Italy

Length: 5 days and 4 nights, based in Lecce. Area: the whole Salento, from the Ionian coast to the cape of Leuca.

• the old town of Lecce, from Piazza del Duomo to Santa Croce
• Gallipoli and Galatina
• Santa Maria di Leuca, then the coast road to Castro and the Zinzulusa sea cave
• Soleto, Corigliano d’Otranto, Sternatia and the village of Specchia
• Copertino and Porto Cesareo

For travellers who want the whole Salento without changing hotel. Read the heel of Italy itinerary.

The Grecìa Salentina: Griko, pizzica and the tarantate

Length: three days, starting and ending in Lecce. Area: Lecce and the villages of the Grecìa Salentina, where some people still speak Griko, a dialect of Greek origin.

• Baroque Lecce
• Galatina, the town of the tarantate, and Soleto with the small Byzantine church of Santo Stefano
• Corigliano d’Otranto with its castle and an underground olive mill
• Sternatia and the convent of Santa Maria della Consolazione in Martano
• Carpignano Salentino with its crypt, and Melpignano, home of the Notte della Taranta festival

For travellers who come to the Salento for the music, the language and the traditions. Read the Grecìa Salentina itinerary.

The masserie of the Salento: five days of history, crafts and nature

Length: five days, arriving at Brindisi airport or Lecce railway station. Area: the Salento from north to south, sleeping in a masseria in the Grecìa Salentina and then in Presicce.

• Galatina and the Basilica of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria
• a masseria in Sternatia that is still a working farm, then Lecce
• the ceramics workshops of Cutrofiano and Castro
• Gallipoli, then the underground olive mills of Presicce
• Santa Maria di Leuca and Otranto

The masserie were large farmsteads, home to big families who lived off livestock and farming. After restoration, many of them are now agriturismi (farm stays) or historic guesthouses: this itinerary uses them as a base instead of hotels in town. Read the masserie of the Salento itinerary.

How to choose between the ten

The itineraries overlap in several places. Lecce and Galatina appear in five of them, and the two Taranto itineraries share Taranto, Grottaglie, Massafra and Mottola: if you have done one, the other mainly adds Altamura and Gravina, or Metaponto and the Manduria area. With four or five days, pick one area and stay there; with eight days, the Gargano to Matera tour is the only one that crosses the whole region.

More ideas for exploring the region on our itineraries in Puglia page.