7 Best Places to Visit in Puglia You’ll Love

Ah, Puglia Italy! I think this must be where Italians go on their holidays and they have decided to keep rather quiet about it. I visited in December for New Year’s Eve – not a typical time to head to southern Europe.

It was full of Italians and rather glamorous ones. When it comes to the best time to visit Puglia it is actually a year-round destination.

This confirmed my view that the Italians have been trying to keep this lovely area a secret – especially with all the google searches asking if is Puglia worth visiting – well no longer.

Here are my best places to visit in Puglia.

7 Best Places to Visit in Puglia

1. Borgo Egnazia

If you’re looking for where to stay in Puglia as a base here it is. Borgo Egnazia is not cheap – but it’s not ridiculous.

I actually think Borgo Egnazia Puglia is amazing value based on my experience. Anyway, I am getting ahead of myself.

I visited the lovely Borgo Engazia Spa in late December for a several night stay including New Year’s Eve.

I visited with a girlfriend and decided I wasn’t going to be a travel blogger – I was just going to relax and enjoy without constantly looking around for content and information and enjoy this stunning Albergo and its olive groves.

Here I am now writing about it because I so loved the Puglia region and Borgo Egnazia is the best base in Puglia. Anyway, we arrived at night and it was just magical.

Borgo Egnazia Albergo was lit up with candles and lights and it was like something out of a movie. I am not sure I have ever stayed anywhere with so many candles.

We joked that this must be why they had so many fire doors throughout the place. I imagine someone has a full-time job there like a candle lighter/wax manager – I never saw any stray wax either so this person deserves a pay rise.

When it comes to where to stay in Puglia I can’t imagine anywhere more lovely!

⇒ Read Reviews on TripAdvisor ⇒ Book Now

The resort is more like staying in a village than a hotel of any type. A gorgeous limestone village. This is definitely one of the best places to visit in Puglia – and one of the best hotels in Puglia.

The Rooms

We had decided to get a Borgo Egnazia Villa as this was nearly the same price per night as two rooms. I highly recommend doing this.

We had a lovely living room area with a little kitchen. The decoration is just stunning. So white and simple yet with so much character. And the lighting – so lovely and warm and, most importantly, flattering.

The living area in the Borgo Egnazia villa has a massive tv which is always good news. We were even able to get an HDMI cable from the hotel so we could link the laptop to the tv and watch Netflix – heaven.

We were also able to order pizza from room service which was delivered in proper cardboard boxes – and was delicious. There is a small kitchen area in the villa. The fridge is a good size and has a nice mix of local products inside.

However, there is still room for you to bring in your own wine etc. Most importantly, it had a very good illy coffee machine – and of course, the coffee was restocked every day because we were in Italy.

Our villa at Borgo Egnazia had two bedrooms and three bathrooms – not the normal ratio. The downstairs living area had a bathroom with a shower.

One bedroom had a double shower, and the other a bath and shower. The bedrooms were lovely and also had TVs. The beds were super comfortable beds with a sufficiently high thread count.

Good level fluffy large towels and very soft bathrobes. Plus, great slippers – more like flip flops than your typical in-room slide style.

The villa also had a large ground-floor outdoor private area plus a huge roof terrace.

⇒ Love your wine? Read all about 12 Great Wineries in Montepulciano

The food

Let’s start with breakfast. Breakfast is held in the La Frasca restaurant upstairs. There is a large buffet that is very very well stocked.

The usual suspects of eggs in different formats, grilled tomatoes, bacon etc. Then lots of local Mediterranean fare, including mozzarella, olive oil, ricotta and burrata cheeses.

There were also some fantastic sweet treats, pastries, and fresh juices.

It was also possible to order some hot items – omelets (which were delicious), poached eggs, crepes (which looked amazing) and pancakes which I very much enjoyed.

Different lunch activities happen every day at Borgo Egnazia. The weekend brings brunch menus which tend to be at a set price. The main restaurant, Due Camini, is also available for lunch.

Speaking of Due Camini, it received a Michelin Star in early November 2018. It was easy to see why. We enjoyed a fantastic dinner there.

There are some great-looking tasting menus on offer but we didn’t feel our appetites were up to that so we enjoyed a la carte again.

We both started with a fantastic onion that had been “caved” out and aubergine and ricotta added inside and it was amazing. If you visit Puglia, don’t miss this restaurant.

This Puglia restaurant is so beautiful. Soft, warm lighting in soft shades of white. I know it is not very Italian, but I had pasta as my main meal which was fantastic.

After we finished our main meals, we were going to head back to the villa. However, the waiter approached and said he had a special treat for us.

Intrigued and excited, we followed him to the kitchen – which was suitably impressive. We were taken to a special area of the kitchen and treated to a selection of delicious sweet treats.

The most amazing strawberry truffles, chocolates and then a very delicious and modern interpretation of tiramisu.

The wine list is also extensive. We were delighted to find that several local wines were available by the glass and decided to try different options rather than get a bottle.

Oh and don’t miss the very groovy bar for a pre or post drink. This is one of the best places to visit in Puglia whether you are staying at the hotel or not.

The Facilities

Borgo Egnazia has three rather large pools. I visited in December – not a great time for the well-known Puglia beaches – so the only pool I used was the indoor one, where it was nice and warm.

It was just actually very pleasant lying on the sun lounger around the indoor pool and reading books.

Should you forget anything there is a rather large boutique at Borgo Egnazia filled with lovely things. There is a large selection of clothing (men, women, and kids), toiletries, jewelry, lots of items sourced from the local area etc.

Borgo Egnazia also has its own beach club nearby but due to the weather, we didn’t make it there. There is a golf course as well which we didn’t use.

We did, however, make use of the many bicycles that are available for use. This area is perfect for cycling as it is rather flat. It is also very easy to cycle to some of the Puglia Italy beaches from here in summer.

For further exercise, there is a rather large gym with loads of modern equipment.

Borgo Egnazia Spa

Then, of course, there is the Borgo Egnazia Spa – Vair. This beautiful spa is located on the lower ground level and is beautiful.

There are loads of treatment options and rooms. During my stay, I only used the sauna and steam room in here but the treatment menu was extensive and looked fantastic.

The Service

The service was just exemplary. Every person was genuinely friendly and immensely helpful. The reception staff was terrific, the waitresses at breakfast were lovely and friendly, and the cleaners came in twice a day – just everyone.

We did enjoy our once-a-day clean and once-a-day turn down – complete with chocolate dates.

I needed to leave by 7 am on the last morning to get my flight. When I mentioned this reception offered to put together a breakfast box and book someone to pick up my bags.

Once I got to the front desk, my car keys were waiting, Once outside, the car was there and my case had even been put in the boot for me. This type of attention to detail was evident all throughout our lovely stay and is a key part of why this is one of the best hotels in Puglia.

It definitely felt like Borgo Egnazia was mostly filled with Italians – which I always think is a good sign. If it doesn’t suit you to stay there, I highly recommend coming for at least one meal.

⇒ Read reviews of Borgo Egnazia on TripAdvisor ⇒ Book Now

2. Visit Ostuni

This gorgeous white city is set on a hilltop only 8km from the sea and one of the key Puglia destinations. It was raining when we visited but still very cute.

It is not easy to find your way around the narrow streets – apparently, the town was built without a plan which makes perfect sense after you have visited.

However, like many of these towns, the best thing to do when visiting Ostuni is to explore and get a bit lost in the back streets.

It is a bit of a walk to get to the main part of the old city of Ostuni (right on the top of the hill) but it is worth it. There is a stunning cathedral and views down to the sea from one side of the old town.

It is also extremely instagrammable, with lovely arches, cute colored doors and shutters, white stone streets etc etc.

⇒ If you’re looking for somewhere to stay near Ostuni check out this post on Italian Villa Corte Dei Massapi.

Ostuni is known for its Saturday market. And of course for great places to eat. We stumbled upon Trattoria Fave e Fogghje. This very cute little restaurant is run by two local guys who cook with locally sourced ingredients.

Ristorante Porta Nova also has a good reputation. Eating loads is a critical part of all Puglia holidays.

And if you only have a couple of days in Puglia check out this weekend in Puglia itinerary.

3. Alberobello

There are so many things to do in Puglia – and lovely UNESCO World Heritage Site Alberobello – which is also very fun to say – is one of Puglia’s Trulli towns.

A Trulli is basically a white stone cottage with a cone-shaped roof. They are a cross between something from early Star Wars and the kind of place you would expect to find in a desert in the middle east.

This is, of course, why this lovely city is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

There are 1400 Trulli in the old town area of Alberobello. They are mostly located on small cobblestone streets of the historic center that have been pedestrianized. And there are lots of boutiques and shops and restaurants in the Trullis.

⇒ If you’re looking for another beautiful place to visit in Italy you’ll enjoy my post on 14 things to do in Rimini and around Rimini

The best thing to do in UNESCO world heritage site Alberobello is wander its cute streets. We followed the signs for the Centro and, once we hit the pedestrianized area found the closest place to park.

From this point, a terrific view of the main square and the trulli section of town was great for photos.

We enjoyed an excellent pasta lunch with local wine at La Locanda Del Gallo. This cute little restaurant was inside a trullo and in the old part of town.

I also heard good things about Casa Nova for antipasti.

4. Savelletri

There are some Puglia beaches. Savelletri is the quintessential seaside town with sandy beaches. To be fair there isn’t a lot going on in Savelletri from what I could see.

But this is not why Savelletri is on this list. It makes the list for three key reasons.

The first is its fantastic location right on the sea. It has quite a long boardwalk allowing for lovely strolls.

The second thing is the number of fabulous-looking seafood restaurants dotted along this lengthy area. Pasta plus great seafood – heaven.

We visited little Momo, which was a bit away from the main drag. It is a tiny restaurant – there are probably about six tables inside. I assume they have loads of outdoor tables when the weather is better.

The food was great. We were practically sitting in the kitchen so got to see the food being prepared up close and personal. Everything looked very fresh and local.

We hugely enjoyed the seafood salad and mussels. Plus local wine, of course. Momo had quite a few organic wines as well, which were nice to try.

Number three – the sunsets over the beach. I hope my photos in this post speak for themselves. I saw the most amazing pink clouds during the sunset I witnessed.

Also, importantly there were some nice buildings, sea frontage and palm trees for the foreground of the sunset shots – absolutely critical for a good sunset photo.

If you are staying at the lovely Borgo Egnazia grab one of their bikes and you will be in Savelletri in ten minutes.

5. Bari

So Bari Italy is a bit of an odd one. It is not the cute and atmospheric small Italian town that generally features in this area as key for tourists.

It is the real thing. A bit of a rough and tumble town. A genuine southern Italian town. And it is quite free from tourists so a nice difference.

⇒ Click here for a Bari Italy Map

There is a nice seaside area with restaurants, but the rest of Bari is a bit rundown. What I most enjoyed about Bari was the people. The real people that lived in the town.

Walking through the town, windows are open with washing coming out. Old women are yelling down the street. Cats are prowling. Big issues are being discussed intensely over coffee.

This is Italy, so of course, the food and wine are great in most places where you eat. Come to Bari for a day as a bit of contrast to the extremely picturesque Italy in the other towns on this list.

It can also serve as a great base if you are keen to visit lots of the different parts of Puglia without changing hotels or Masseria every night.

⇒ Get underneath the skin of this city with a Bari Street Food Walking Tour or a Home Made Panzerotti Cooking Class

6. Lecce

Lecce is quite far down south in Puglia and known for its over-the-top architecture. It is larger than Alberobello or Ostuni but still relatively small and manageable. It is also a university town, so bubbles with energy.

⇒ Click here for a Map of Puglia Italy

As you may rightly have guessed by now, the nicest thing to do in Lecce is to wander. Or orient yourself more with a map from the tourist information office on the main square.

⇒ Love Italian food? Check out this great value Lecce Wine and Food Tasting Tour. Or this Street Food Tour of Lecce with Wine Tasting. Or this Traditional Home Cooking Experience?

7. Matera

Strictly speaking, Matera is not in Puglia, but it works well as a day trip from the region, so I thought I would add it in. I have to be honest, I didn’t get there on this trip, but I had researched it.

This gorgeous little cave town was named The European Capital for Culture for 2019, so it is getting busy.

⇒ Cities like Matera are often perfect for a tour – particularly if they are focussed on food. To fully discover the backstreets of Matera, check out this Matera 2 hour walking tour.

⇒ Or how about a Traditional Hands-on Cooking Class in Matera?

⇒ Find out more here in this great post from the Never Ending Voyage on Matera

Where is Puglia Italy?

Puglia has two main airports: Bari and Brindisi. Confusingly the airport code for Bari is BRI and Brindisi is BDS.

Brindisi is the more southern option and both cities are near the coast. Alas, Ryan Air offers some of the best direct flights and prices options. I took Al Italia one way as I couldn’t face Ryan Air both ways.

It was annoying to stop in Milan but I was able to land at City Airport in London so total travel time was virtually the same as going to Stansted.

⇒ Flights to Bari

⇒  Flights to Brindisi

I highly recommend renting a car in the area – it is well suited to a road trip. Although it is still Italy, driving here is not as scary as in other parts of Italy. It is quite easy to get around.

⇒ Car rental deals in Puglia

Who Paid for What in this Post

I covered all of the costs associated with this trip. This post on the best places to visit in Puglia does contain affiliate links. This means if you click on them and end up making a purchase I may receive a small commission. This will not increase the price you pay. Just wanted to make sure you knew.

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