15 Puglia Tips: What We Wish We Knew Before Visiting Italy’s Underrated Gem
Let’s be real. With so many towns, foods, and experiences, planning a trip to Puglia can quickly become overwhelming. Most people waste time in the wrong towns, get scammed by Instagram-famous experiences (hi, Pasta Grannies), and totally miss the good stuff. But if you use our Puglia tips, you’ll eat the best focaccia, sip incredible wine with locals, and explore places that feel like you’ve stumbled onto a secret.
We made all the mistakes so you don’t have to. Here’s the honest guide we wish we had before spending 10 days road-tripping through the region — no fluff, no tourist traps (we’re looking at your Alberobello!)
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1. Don’t Try to “Wing It” — You’ll Waste Time
On the map, Puglia looks small — it’s just the heel of the boot, right? But once you’re there, you realize it’s a lot bigger than it seems. We almost made the mistake of just staying in Bari and doing day trips. That would’ve meant way too much driving and not enough actual vacation time.
2. Use Bases To Explore the Region
Instead, we recommend breaking your trip into sections and choosing different cities to stay in as bases. Our personal picks:
- Bari for the north
- Ostuni or somewhere nearby for the center
- Lecce for the south
3. Stay at least 10 days
If you want to see more than just the highlights and actually experience the region, give yourself 10 days to two weeks. That lets you slow down a bit and explore without burnout.
IMPORTANT: You COULD stay just one week but you will only have time for the tourist hotspots and will have to rush around. We prefer to have time to explore off the beaten path and we found 10 days to be the perfect amount of time to do that. However, we did not have much time for relaxing or beach days (that’s not our usual go-to.) If you want that, try to plan for 2 weeks!
4. Avoid the Summer
Honestly, this goes with ALL of Italy. Everyone and their grandma (literally – family vacays are a thing ya’ll) goes to Italy in the Summer. Puglia is where Italians go to vacation so it’s extra busy in combination with all the tourists!
Puglia is CROWDED during the high season and you’ll be fighting for space on the beach and getting poked with selfie sticks. I mean, if the Beckhams go there, you know it’s a hotspot! Avoid, avoid, avoid!
We were there in early October and still sweating, but we didn’t have to elbow anyone for beach space. Perfection.
5. Renting a Car is Not Optional
Here’s one of the biggest Puglia tips we can give: rent a car. Public transportation in Puglia is not reliable. Sometimes the buses don’t show. Sometimes the trains are late — or just don’t come at all. And not every town is connected.
Without a car, you’re basically limited to the same three cities every other tourist without a car is going to. But if you rent a car, you can actually explore off the beaten path — and those lesser-known towns ended up being our absolute favorites. (Ceglie Messapica, looking at you!)
>>We love using Discover Cars! You can see all car rental companies and companies prices side by side! <<
PRO TIP: Worried about driving in Puglia? Driving was way easier than we expected. Most of the roads are chill farm roads, not crazy mountain passes or tight city corners. Just go slow and don’t be afraid to pull over and let someone pass if needed.
6. Know the Parking Rules — Or You’ll Get Fined
We learned this the hard way. If you don’t know the Italian color-coded parking system, you’ll end up with a fine as we did and have to wait for 3 hours in a sweaty Italian Post Office to pay it, trying to communicate when you don’t know the language,
Here’s the cheat sheet:
- Blue lines: paid parking (find a meter, even if it’s hidden)
- White lines: free parking
- Red lines or no lines: don’t park there
We parked where there were no lines, assuming it was fine, and ended up paying a ticket… or at least we tried to. Five months later we got an email saying it wasn’t actually paid. So yeah — just look for the blue or white lines and you’ll be good.
7. Not All Towns Are Worth Spending A Lot Of Time In
We visited a lot of towns during our road trip — here are the ones we think are the best towns in Puglia, plus a few you can skip or just stop by briefly.
- Bari: People love to hate on it, but we found it gritty and cool. Great food scene, and fun to explore for a day or two. It is not the only place in Puglia you can fly directly to from the USA, so that’s pretty cool!
If you DO decide not to rent a car (whyyy though?!) this is one of the best cities to use as a base.
- Polignano a Mare: Yes, it’s all over Instagram for a reason. The cliffs and beaches are stunning, but it gets crowded.
- Matera: Not technically in Puglia, but you should 100% go. It’s a stone cave city and one of the oldest cities in Europe. Go at sunset and thank us later.
- Ostuni: The famous white city. We liked it, but one night was plenty. It’s small, and a little touristy.
- Ceglie Messapica: Our favorite town in the region. Authentic, amazing food scene, and no crowds. Hardly anyone talks about it — which is exactly why you should go.
- Lecce: Known as the Florence of the South. Stunning Baroque architecture, fun college town vibe, and solid place to base yourself in the south.
- Alberobello: Looks like a fairy tale with its trulli houses, but it’s extremely touristy. Worth a quick visit in the morning, then bounce.
- Casamassima: The blue city of Puglia. Tiny, sleepy, and barely any tourists. Great for a morning visit and some focaccia. You only need a morning and afternoon.
- Monopoli: One of the prettiest coastal towns we visited. Think charming old town, boats bobbing in the harbor, and seafood that actually lives up to the hype. You just need one day here.
8. Budget Accordingly
We kept track of what we spent, and here’s a breakdown for two people per day:
- Food: $60–$100/day. Bakery breakfast, sandwich lunch, nicer dinner.
- Alcohol: $15–$20/day. Mostly wine (around $5–$7 a glass), occasionally a fancier cocktail.
- Hotels: $80–$120/night. Clean, well-located, not luxury, but totally comfortable.
- Car Rental: $35/day total (car + gas). Insanely worth it.
9. Don’t Be Alarmed By Hidden Costs
Don’t forget the coperto (cover charge) at restaurants — usually $1–$3 per person. You won’t always see it on menus and then you’ll be like why is the bill higher? This covers things like your bread and water and it’s not optional.
And you’ll have to pay a tourist tax in cash at most hotels — about $2 per person per night. Carry loose change to keep it easy – we never did and always scrambled on the last day.
10. Don’t Visit the Bari Pasta Grannies
You’ve probably seen them on Instagram — the sweet little grannies making orecchiette in the streets of Bari. Cute, right? Unfortunately, it’s mostly a tourist scam and Italy is cracking down on it.
We found out they’re using factory-made pasta, not hand-rolling it, and some even tried to charge us just for taking a photo. It looks charming, but it’s not the authentic experience you think it is. Skip it and go to a real cooking class or cheese farm instead — way more memorable and actually local.
11. Book Authentic Experiences
If you want more than just checking off tourist spots, here are the three things we recommend most:
Stay in a Trulli or Masseria
These traditional homes or working farms give you that cozy, local experience. Breakfasts are insane.
Our favorite was Masseria LoJazzo. I mean, LOOK at this breakfast! And the grounds were absolutely stunning and the little Trulli house was like staying in a fairytale.
>>Click here to see photos, read reviews, and check prices and availability <<
Cheese-Making Tour
We went from cow to cheese plate and got to eat our weight in the freshest cheese. Absolutely MOOvelous. Such a GOUDA time.
I can’t help myself with cheese puns!
>>Click here to see photos, read reviews, and check prices and availability <<
Cooking Class in Lecce
It wasn’t just about pasta — we visited local markets, learned how to taste olive oil, and actually cooked a full meal from scratch.
>>Click here to see photos, read reviews, and check prices and availability <<
12. Plan Meals Around Closures
Many places shut down from 1–4 PM, sometimes later. In smaller towns, that means you might not find anything open if you wait too long.
PRO TIP: If something IS open during this time, read reviews to make sure it’s not a tourist trap!
13. Tip 10% At Restaurants
When tipping at a restaurant (which isn’t mandatory, but always appreciated) 10% is good. If you’re at a coffee shop or quick service place, round up or leave some change.
14. Wi-Fi is spotty outside main towns
This is especially truly if you do farm stays! Grab a SIM card or use an eSIM app like Airalo to stay connected.
15. Make sure to eat regionally.
This is a tip for ALL over Italy! It has so many different regions and each of them has their own culinary identity and different foods to try. Don’t make the mistake of just ordering pizza and spaghetti everywhere, because you’ll be getting the tourist special.
Here are some of our local/regional favs to try:
- Focaccia Barese: Salty, oily, tomato-topped perfection. Best eaten on the go, straight from a paper bag. We still talk about how audible the CRUNCH of the crust was
- Orecchiette Pasta: Looks like little ears, made to hold onto sauce. It’s the most traditional shape in Puglia and you’ll find it everywhere.
- Pasticciotto: Lecce’s signature dessert. Buttery crust, creamy custard inside. And when you break it open, it’s very Instagrammable, if you care about that kind of thing.
- Rosé wine: We didn’t expect to love rosé here, but it’s cheap, local, and absolutely perfect with the cheese. Like, we bought a few bottles and carried them around in ALREADY HEAVY backpacks for 3 months just so we could have some to drink at home.
- Caciocavallo: Aged, salty cheese that pairs ridiculously well with wine. You’ll eat your body weight in it if you do the cheese tour. Like, we had so much cheese that we had to take some home and eat it for breakfast. Not mad.
- Spaghetti all’Assassina: A burnt, spicy spaghetti cooked like risotto. So weird. So good. Only in Bari.
- Panzerotti: Fried dough stuffed with cheese and tomato sauce. It’s like a calzone’s better cousin. We got one, ate it, walked 10 steps, and then turned around for another.
Fewer Mistakes, More Focaccia
With these 15 tips, we think you will be able to plan the best and most authentic visit to Puglia. It’s a region that is growing in popularity but still not nearly as famous as Tuscany or the Amalfi coast. We recommend you go ASAP before it blows up and you’re waiting in line for a picture in every town!
You’ve got the plan. You’ve got the tips. Now go make fewer mistakes than we did (and bring stretchy pants.)
But, all these tips won’t even matter if you don’t make the most of your time in this gorgeous region of Italy!
We wrote an entire guide on how long to stay in Puglia and what you could use each day to make nailing down your trip itinerary easy and stress-free!
What tip was the most helpful? Any Puglia questions we can answer for you?
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