The 15 best things to do in Puglia

Puglia isn’t really a sightseeing region: there’s no must-see museum circuit. It rewards doing: a boat into the sea caves, a tasting in a vineyard, an afternoon learning to shape orecchiette, a long lunch by the water. Here are the fifteen things worth doing, grouped by type, plus the beaches worth the drive.

The exception is the towns themselves. They are worth the trip for what they are rather than for anything you go inside, and choosing between them is the first real decision of a Puglia itinerary: we put them in order in the guide to the best towns in Puglia.

Experiences worth booking

Start with the two that draw people to Apulia in the first place, the wine and the water. For the wine side, start with Puglia wine tours.

Wine tasting & vineyard tours

Taste Primitivo, Negroamaro and Valle d’Itria whites, the cellar tours and vineyard lunches worth booking, by region.

Best beaches in Puglia

From the cove under Polignano’s bridge to the white sand of the Salento, which beaches are worth it and when to go.

Walking in Puglia

The cammini and coast paths, from the Via Francigena and Cammino Materano to Salento clifftop walks: which to choose, when to go and how to plan it.

E-biking in Puglia

Gentle loops past trulli and olive groves in the Valle d’Itria, and the flat Salento coast, where to ride, when to go and how to rent.

Book your Puglia experiences

Real, bookable tours and tickets across Puglia, live prices, reviews and instant confirmation. You pay the same as booking direct.

The 15 things worth doing

Named and specific, in no particular order. Each one has a full guide behind it.

Alberobello

Whole streets of cone-roofed trulli, not the one or two you see elsewhere in the valley. Go up Rione Monti early or late: the middle of the day belongs to the coaches.

Lecce

The baroque here is cut into a soft local limestone, which is why the facades go so deep. Piazza del Duomo is the one to stand still in.

Ostuni

A white town stacked on a hill above the olive plain. See it from the road in before you climb up into it.

Trani

A Romanesque cathedral built right on the water, with nothing between it and the Adriatic. Worth timing for the late light.

Castel del Monte

An octagon standing alone on a hill in the Murgia, with no village around it and no settled explanation of what it was for.

Polignano a Mare

White houses on the cliff edge and the Lama Monachile cove cut into the rock below. The view people come for is from the bridge.

Torre dell’Orso

A pine-backed crescent of sand with the Due Sorelle stacks at one end. The Salento beach we send people to first.

Grotte di Castellana

Kilometres of caves under the Murgia, ending in a chamber of white alabaster. The one thing on this list you do underground.

Santa Maria di Leuca

The end of the heel, where the Adriatic and the Ionian meet. Come for the lighthouse and the sea caves along the coast.

Isole Tremiti

The only islands Puglia has, off the Gargano, with the clearest water in the region. A boat day, not a stop.

La Notte della Taranta

Pizzica played to a square full of people, and the biggest music night in the south. The Concertone closes the festival at Melpignano in August.

The Grecia Salentina

A cluster of Salento villages where an old Greek dialect is still spoken. You will hear it in the songs before you hear it in the street.

Grottaglie

The ceramics quarter, where the workshops are still working rather than staged for visitors. Buy from the potter, not from the souvenir shelf.

Matera

Over the border in Basilicata and the easiest big day trip from Bari or the Valle d’Itria. The sassi are worth the drive.

Sleeping in a trullo

The one part of Puglia you book rather than visit. Thick walls, cool in August and a roof you will keep looking up at.

More, by type

Pick a type below for its full guide and live, bookable tours. Every town guide also lists the experiences that run from there.

Experiences to book

Our in-depth guides, with live prices and free cancellation on GetYourGuide: