Walking in Puglia: the cammini and how to plan them
Puglia is not the Dolomites. This is slow, low, warm walking: old pilgrim ways and country lanes through olive groves and the stony Murgia, along a coast of sea caves and fishing towns, from the Gargano headland down to the heel of Italy. Seven long-distance cammini now make up the region’s official network, and the credentials they issue have more than tripled in four years. Here is an honest look at which one suits you, when to go and how to actually organise it.
Which walk is right for you?
Let me set expectations first. Puglia is mostly flat to gently rolling, so these are cultural, landscape and pilgrimage walks rather than mountain hikes. The trade-off is heat and exposure: long stretches of the Murgia and the Salento have little shade and few water points. Pick your route by what you want to see and how many days you have, and you will not go wrong.
| Route | In Puglia | Time | Terrain | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cammino Materano (Via Peuceta) | 168 km, Bari to Matera, 7 stages | ~1 week | Murgia karst, woods | The best-waymarked first cammino |
| Cammino del Salento (Via del Mare) | ~115 km, Lecce to Leuca, 5 stages | ~5 days | Flat coast, some rock | Sea, swims and baroque towns |
| Cammino Federiciano | 130 km, Gioia del Colle to Trani, 7 stages | ~1 week | Country lanes, Murgia | Castel del Monte and castles |
| Via Francigena del Sud | Celle di San Vito to Leuca | About a month | Mixed, long days | The full pilgrimage, north to heel |
| Via Micaelica (to Monte Sant’Angelo) | Gargano pilgrim arm | ~4 to 5 days | Upland Gargano | The San Michele shrine |
| Rotta dei Due Mari | 136 km, Polignano a Mare to Taranto, 6 stages | ~1 week | Trulli country, lanes | Coast to coast through the trulli |
| Cammino di don Tonino | Over 400 km, Molfetta to Leuca, 18 stages | ~3 weeks | Mixed, towns and country | Crossing the whole region |
Distances and stage counts follow the official cammino associations and Puglia’s regional tourism board; most routes have variants, so treat them as a solid guide rather than the last word.
Puglia’s long-distance cammini, one by one
Three routes carry most of the region’s pilgrims: the Materano, the Salento and the Francigena accounted for more than four in five of the credentials issued in 2025. If I had to send a first-timer on one, it would be the Cammino Materano: well signed, a manageable week, and it ends in the Sassi of Matera. Here is what each is really like, with two more walks that sit outside the official network.
Cammino Materano (Via Peuceta)
The region’s most solidly waymarked walk, and the one I would start with. It runs 168 km in seven stages from the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari across the Alta Murgia to the cave city of Matera, following painted yellow-and-green marks and a proper pilgrim credential. It threads the karst plateau and the Difesa Grande woods, passing Gravina in Puglia and Altamura before the emotional drop into Matera’s Sassi. Shade and water are sparse on the plateau, so it is a spring or autumn walk. Our full guide walks it stage by stage: the Cammino Materano from Bari to Matera.
Cammino del Salento (Via del Mare)
The one for sea lovers. The coastal Via del Mare runs about 115 km in five stages from baroque Lecce down the Adriatic to Santa Maria di Leuca, the heel-tip sanctuary, by way of Otranto and Santa Cesarea Terme. It is mostly flat with rocky limestone singletrack near the sea, and you can swim most days. Its inland twin, the Via dei Borghi through Galatina and Melpignano, is being upgraded and is not walkable in 2026, so aim for the coast.
Cammino Federiciano
A walk in the footsteps of the emperor Frederick II. The classic line covers 130 km in seven stages from the castle at Gioia del Colle across the Alta Murgia National Park to Trani on the Adriatic, with the octagonal Castel del Monte as its centrepiece. Roughly four-fifths runs on quiet country lanes and old mule tracks. Note that longer variants starting further north near Lucera are advertised too, so check stages with the operator before you book.
Via Francigena del Sud
The big one. The Francigena does not stop at Rome; its southern branch carries on to the ports for the Holy Land, and its Puglia portion alone is about a month on foot, entering near Celle di San Vito and finishing at Leuca. It is a Council of Europe cultural route, well signed, but a serious commitment through Bari, Brindisi and Otranto. A Gargano arm branches off towards Monte Sant’Angelo. Most people walk a section, not the whole thing.
Via Micaelica (to Monte Sant’Angelo)
The oldest pilgrimage of them all, up onto the Gargano to the UNESCO grotto of San Michele. The historic Via Sacra Langobardorum climbs through San Marco in Lamis and San Giovanni Rotondo (Padre Pio) to the shrine at Monte Sant’Angelo. In the Gargano it overlaps the Francigena’s northern arm. A shorter, upland pilgrim walk with a clear spiritual goal. Confusingly, a separate trans-Italian "Cammino di San Michele" shares the name.
All destinations
See every town these walks pass through
Two more official cammini: the Rotta dei Due Mari and the Don Tonino
The regional network has seven routes, and these two come next after the big three. Two more are mostly outside Puglia: the Cammino della Pace comes down from L’Aquila to Monte Sant’Angelo, and only the last three stages of the Cammino di Guglielmo, into Barletta, are in the region.
Rotta dei Due Mari
Coast to coast in 136 km and six stages, from Polignano a Mare on the Adriatic to Taranto on the Ionian, through Castellana, Alberobello, Locorotondo and Martina Franca: a walk right across trulli country. The passport, the GPX tracks and the testimonium come together for a donation of €15 to the association that runs it.
Cammino di don Tonino
Named after Tonino Bello, the bishop of Molfetta who was born and is buried in Alessano, it crosses the whole region: more than 400 km in 18 stages from Molfetta through Bari, Alberobello, Martina Franca, Ceglie, Mesagne and Lecce to his tomb at Alessano, and on to Santa Maria di Leuca. Ask for the credential online at least 20 days before you start.
Credentials, stamps and the testimonium
Every cammino in Puglia has its own credential, issued by the association or company that runs it: there is no single regional pass, and on the Materano you must use the Materano’s own. You collect stamps along the way, and at the end they earn you a testimonium, the certificate of the walk. Prices vary: the Salento credential costs €15, the Materano asks for a free offering and the Guglielmo’s is free.
Order the credential before you travel: the Don Tonino wants requests at least 20 days ahead, and the Salento posts its credential for €6. Where you collect the testimonium depends on the route: on the Materano at Matera, Bari or Brindisi once you have walked at least 100 km, for €3; on the Salento in the religious-souvenir shop beside the sanctuary at Leuca; on the Don Tonino by email, with 100 km on foot. The pilgrim offices, the Statio Peregrinorum, are at Monte Sant’Angelo, Brindisi, Santa Maria di Leuca, Taranto and, just over the border, Matera. Only about a third of walkers go on to collect a testimonium.
When to walk (and when not to)
This is the part guidebooks soft-pedal and I will not: do not walk long stages in Puglia in July or August. Summer temperatures regularly sit at 35°C and push towards 40°C in the Salento, and much of the Murgia and coast has almost no shade and few places to refill water. It is genuinely unpleasant, and on exposed stages it can be unsafe.
The sweet spots are spring, roughly April to June, and autumn, September to November: warm, long days, wildflowers or harvest light and mild nights. On the coastal Salento you can stretch the season from October to May. If you can only come in high summer, walk at dawn, keep the days very short and treat it as swimming with a bit of walking rather than the other way round. The cave and shrine sites, at least, stay cool.
| Season | Walking verdict |
|---|---|
| Apr-Jun | Ideal: warm, green, long days |
| Jul-Aug | Avoid long stages; heat and no shade |
| Sep-Nov | Ideal: harvest light, mild |
| Dec-Mar | Coast and Salento fine; cool, quiet |
Book beds early in spring and autumn: the regional tourism agency counted 15,172 pilgrim credentials in 2025, 11.4% more than the year before and three and a half times as many as in 2021, and foreign walkers are now 13.4% of the total, led by Switzerland, France, the UK and the US. More on timing in our best time to visit Puglia guide.
How to plan a walk in Puglia
You can do these routes two ways: independently, following the waymarks and GPX tracks, or with an organised trip that books the beds and moves your bag. Here is what to sort out either way.
| What | Good to know |
|---|---|
| Waymarking | Materano and Francigena are well signed; still carry the official GPX |
| Credential | One per cammino, from the association that runs it: see above |
| Luggage | Organised trips move your bag stage to stage |
| Water and shade | Sparse on the Murgia and Salento; carry 2 to 3 litres |
| Beds | Villages are small; book ahead in peak spring and autumn |
| Getting to the start | Bari and Brindisi airports; trains reach many stage towns |
Independent walkers download the route’s official GPX and buy the credential from the relevant cammino association. Signage on the Cammino Materano (yellow-green marks) and the Via Francigena is reliable; the Salento uses orange arrows. Even so, load the track onto your phone, because a wrong turn on the shadeless Murgia costs you.
Prefer it organised? Several operators run guided and self-guided Puglia walking holidays with luggage transfer and booked accommodation, which removes the logistics and the bed-hunting. It costs more but takes the stress out, especially on a first cammino.
Reach the trailheads without a car where you can: see getting around Puglia for trains and buses, or getting to Puglia for the airports. You will not need a hire car for a point-to-point walk, though one helps for the Gargano and Murgia day walks below.
Hiking in Puglia: shorter walks and day hikes
Not everyone wants a week on foot. If you just want a good half-day walk from a base, Puglia has four obvious pockets, and none of them needs a full cammino commitment. Hiking here means forest, plateau and clifftop coast rather than mountains, so expect long views and easy gradients rather than summit days.
The Gargano and the Foresta Umbra. The green headland in the north is the one part of Puglia with real forest walking: the ancient beech woods of the Foresta Umbra, a UNESCO site, have marked loop trails, and the coast around Mattinata and Vieste has cliff paths down to the beaches of Vignanotica and Baia delle Zagare.
The Alta Murgia. The stony inland plateau around Castel del Monte and Gravina is a national park of open grassland, dry-stone walls and shepherd huts, the same country the Materano and Federiciano cross. Big skies, little shade.
The Salento coast. Between Otranto, Santa Cesarea Terme and Leuca the clifftop path strings together sea caves, coves and old watchtowers, easily broken into short stretches with a swim at the end.
The Valle d’Itria. Gentler and greener, the trullo country around Martina Franca, Locorotondo and Cisternino is lovely on foot or, honestly, even better by bike: see e-biking in Puglia. For the wider picture, start at things to do in Puglia.
Guided walks and day hikes to book
If you would rather walk with a local guide, or just want a single memorable day on foot, these are the kinds of experiences worth booking. Live availability and prices come via GetYourGuide.
Best time to walk
Spring (April to June) and autumn (September to November) are ideal; avoid the shadeless heat of July and August. The Salento coast stretches the season to October through May. Best time to visit Puglia
Keep planning
Practical guides: Getting around Puglia · Getting to Puglia · Puglia travel tips
Walking in Puglia: FAQ
Is Puglia good for walking?
Yes, if you know what to expect. Puglia is flat to gently rolling, so it suits cultural and pilgrimage walking rather than mountain hiking. Its official network counts seven waymarked long-distance cammini, plus good day walks in the Gargano forest, the Alta Murgia and along the Salento coast, and pilgrim credentials have more than tripled since 2021. The one caveat is heat: walk in spring or autumn, not high summer.
Where is the best hiking in Puglia?
The Gargano is the one part of Puglia that feels like proper hiking country: the beech woods of the Foresta Umbra have marked loop trails, and the cliff paths above Mattinata and Vieste drop to beaches you cannot reach by car. Inland, the Alta Murgia national park around Castel del Monte and Gravina gives open grassland walking with big skies and almost no shade. For a coastal day, the clifftop path between Otranto and Santa Cesarea Terme strings together sea caves and old watchtowers. None of it is mountain hiking, and all of it is better outside July and August.
What is the best walking route in Puglia?
For most first-timers, the Cammino Materano (Via Peuceta) is the best all-round choice: 168 km in about a week from Bari to Matera, well waymarked, ending in the dramatic Sassi. Choose the coastal Cammino del Salento for sea and swims, the Cammino Federiciano for Castel del Monte and castles, or a section of the Via Francigena del Sud for a classic long-distance pilgrimage.
When is the best time to walk in Puglia?
Spring, roughly April to June, and autumn, September to November, are ideal: warm, long days with mild nights. Avoid July and August, when temperatures often hit 35 to 40°C with little shade or water on the Murgia and Salento. The coastal Salento can be walked comfortably from October to May.
Is the Via Francigena waymarked in Puglia?
Yes. The Via Francigena del Sud is a Council of Europe cultural route and is signed through Puglia, running from Celle di San Vito on the Apennine border down to Santa Maria di Leuca at the heel of Italy, by way of Bari, Brindisi and Otranto: about a month on foot. Most walkers tackle a section rather than the whole route, and should still carry the official GPX track.
Can you walk the cammini independently, or do you need a guide?
You can walk independently: the main routes are waymarked, GPX tracks and a pilgrim credential are available from each cammino association, and villages have small guesthouses. If you would rather not handle logistics, several operators run guided and self-guided Puglia walking holidays with booked beds and luggage transfer, which is worth it on a first cammino.
Do you need a pilgrim credential to walk the cammini in Puglia?
You can walk without one, but it is worth having. Each cammino issues its own, for about €15 on the Salento and the Rotta dei Due Mari, a free offering on the Materano and nothing on the Guglielmo; there is no single regional pass. Stamp it along the way and you can collect a testimonium at the end, for example at Matera once you have walked 100 km of the Materano.
Which cammino in Puglia is the most walked?
The Cammino Materano and the Cammino del Salento, almost level: in 2025 each accounted for about 30% of the credentials issued in the regional network, ahead of the Via Francigena at about a quarter. The Rotta dei Due Mari came next, with under a tenth.
Related: Things to do in Puglia · E-biking in Puglia · Gravina · Monte Sant’Angelo
I grew up in the province of Brindisi and spent 30 years in Puglia. I have walked stretches of this coast and the Murgia in the right season and the wrong one, and the difference is everything. The routes and figures above are checked against the official cammino associations and the regional tourism board, and updated when things change. More about who is behind this guide