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If you’ve just recently planned a trip to Puglia, or perhaps you’re still on the fence—you’ve come to the right place. Puglia, or the boot heel of Italy, is gaining traction as a popular destination due to its perfect beaches and its slightly more off-the-beaten-path feel compared to the rest of Italy.
However, because Puglia slightly off the beaten path, that means it comes with more unknowns, surprises, and simply its own particularities to be aware of! I wanted to make this Puglia guide to pull together all the things to know about Puglia that I found surprising or wish I’d known before spending a month there!
- 1. You’ll definitely need a car
- 2. Plan for the pausa
- 3. The seas are not created equal
- 4. You might wanna brush up on your Italian
- 5. Restaurant reservations are a life-saver
- 6. Local festivals are the perfect window into local culture
- 7. This will be a relaxing holiday – embrace it
- 8. Lidos are king
- 9. Shoulder season is quieter, while July and August are crazy hot
- 9. You’ll want extra time
- 10. Don’t wear your bathing suit or go shirtless in town (or the lido restaurant)
- 11. Have some cash with you!
- 12. Rosé
- 13. Some of Puglia is local as hell and some of Puglia is overdone. Choose wisely!
- 14. Trulli
- 16. It’s not the *most* exciting food-wise
- 15. You’ll see horse on the menu
- 16. Tap water at restaurants is not really a thing
Delve into Italy
Don’t forget to check out the rest of my Italy posts and guides if you’re still planning your perfect trip!
Puglia Guide: Essential Tips for a Perfect Trip
DISCLAIMER: Puglia, like literally so many parts of Italy, can come under strain from overtourism. I beg you, BEG YOU, to not be an asshole when you’re traveling around Italy (or anywhere). I mostly like to assume that if you’re here on my blog, I can trust that you want to help preserve, rather than spoil, the integrity of wherever you’re traveling… but still. I would feel irresponsible if I didn’t still give a little reminder that if you’re making the locals lives hell, you should stay home :).
1. You’ll definitely need a car
Listen, I’ve read a handful of other Puglia guides saying that you can technically do Puglia without a car, but – frankly – I just don’t entirely agree.
Like technically yes, you could. You could do anything. However, you probably won’t have a very good time and it will be way more trouble than it’s worth.
The train and bus system really just isn’t great within Puglia. You might be able to get away with taking a train from Rome or Florence down to one of the bigger cities, but once you’re here I really do recommend renting a car.
The very best that Puglia (and Salento in particular) have to offer is its small towns. Even if you manage to make it to Lecce or Gallipoli without a car, you’ll struggle to reach these without a huge headache, and – in my opinion – you’ll likely miss out on the best Puglia has to offer.
The same goes for relying on a taxi service. You might be able to have a smooth experience if you’re staying in a bigger city, but when we were down in Salento it was a headache to even get a simple taxi from the beach, so we were really grateful to have the car in the end.
Insider Tip
Do be aware that there’s no “central” taxi service, so you’ll have to do some legwork to find a private taxi service, interface with them via Whatsapp to arrange a pickup, and make sure you have cash on hand. It’s doable, but can be challenging at times!
We booked our rental from Discover Cars, which we always use, and were really pleased with the price we got for our long-term rental.
2. Plan for the pausa
An absolutely crucial piece of Puglia travel advice is that the hours of (roughly) 1pm-6pm are basically non-existent in public. If you’re at all familiar with the idea of a siesta in Spain, this is essentially the same thing. Most businesses will be completely closed for these hours of the day (large grocery stores, most cafes, and lidos notwithstanding). This makes planning your days a bit more complicated than it would be on a trip to a different location.
The intention of the pause is to allow workers to go home, escape the heat, rest, eat, etc. – and you should probably aim to do the same!
In the summer months the heat in Puglia is regularly in the high 90s – low 100s Fahrenheit (35 – 38°C). Because it’s a fairly arid region, the heat can feel oppressive in the middle of the day, and given that shops will be closed in the middle of the day, your options for what to do are basically eat (which won’t usually take up the full time), head to the beach, or go home and nap or freshen up.
Although, if you’re happy to explore towns and do without the shops or many locals, you might get a nice and empty look (or photo op!) at places that are normally much more crowded!
When we were in Salento in July we had all kinds of plans to check out a small town most days, and instead we turned into complete beach bums to beat the heat.
The ideal schedule that we worked out for ourselves was basically: head to the beach between 8am-9am, either lunch at the beach and stay there until around 4pm-5pm, or head home for lunch and a nap, then we’d head out in the evening around 7pm to stroll around a small town, get an aperitivo and dinner! My ideal type of vacation to be honest.
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3. The seas are not created equal
Puglia is, obviously, a peninsula, and a thin one at that! This means that the majority of places you might find yourself staying in Puglia will have relatively easy access to both the Adriatic Sea on the east coast and the Ionian Sea on the west coast.
It might not seem immediately obvious, but one of the key things to know about Puglia is that the two different bodies of water offer pretty different experiences, so it’s good to know what you’re in for before you decide where you’re headed for the day.
The most important thing for me is sea temperature. The Ionian is typically a bit warmer, in part because a lot of the Ionian coastline has many shallow, sandy areas. In fact, the most southern tip of the peninsula on the Ionian side is commonly referred to as the Maldives of Italy, because of the insane turquoise water, which stays shallow quite far out. If you’re down in Puglia, the Adriatic shouldn’t be too drastically colder than the Ionian, but I like my sea water to feel like bathwater, so I’m partial to the Ionian.
However, the Adriatic Sea (as well as the tip of the peninsula where the two seas meet) is where you’ll find most, if not all, of the stunning grottos you hear about. There are lots of beautiful landscapes on that side, which could be a big pro for some people. Adriatic beaches in Puglia are generally rockier and/or take the shape of small coves rather than wide, straight beaches.
There are plenty of great lidos on both seas, and one innovation I particularly enjoyed in Puglia was seeing that rockier beaches to the east often have wooden platforms built over the rocks where you’ll find the umbrellas and chairs located, as well as long docks that extend out into the deeper water so you don’t have to climb over the boulders close to the shore.
Basically both seas have a lot to offer, and I encourage you to check both out to form your own opinions, but just know what you’re in for!
Insider Tip
If you want to make like a true local, download a wind app (like Windy.app) and head to whatever side of the peninsula is less windy each day!
4. You might wanna brush up on your Italian
This is true for a lot of Italy, to be fair, but Puglia felt particularly rough, language-wise (rough for me, obviously). Most people in Puglia that I encountered either didn’t speak any English, or spoke only very little, and preferred to speak Italian if possible. Obviously no region is a monolith, and there are definitely people in Puglia who can and do speak English, but my experience was overwhelmingly that I was shit out of luck with my poor language abilities.
Not only will having a few key phrases in your arsenal be immensely helpful to you in navigating your day, it will also 9 out of 10 times endear you to people immediately, and they’ll be a lot friendlier / more helpful.
I’ve noticed that we’re often met with a bit of standoffishness when Italians first clock that we’re foreigners—I put this down to many having had one too many bad experiences with overtourism, and tourists who are complete assholes. Honestly, this feels understandable to me, and I would probably act the same.
However, when they see that you’ve put effort into learning even a little bit of their language, it’s almost like a complete 180. Suddenly the warmth and hospitality you’ll experience from people is almost overwhelming!
My Puglia travel advice? A little effort can go a long way.
5. Restaurant reservations are a life-saver
Here’s a Puglia travel guide essential: I highly recommend getting dinner reservations while you’re in Puglia (and to be honest, all of Italy).
While there are a lot of exceptions to this rule—especially in smaller towns and shoulder seasons—the fact is that Italy can get crowded. The last thing you want is to be hungry, frustrated, and out of luck looking for a place to eat at 9:30 at night.
If you don’t speak Italian (like most of us) I recommend either using TheFork.it to book reservations online, or texting restaurants when you can see that they’re using WhatsApp.
Insider Tip
If an Italian phone number starts with 0, it’s a landline. If it starts with 3, it’s a mobile number. If it’s a mobile number, it’s almost 100% certain to be on Whatsapp! Just use Google Translate to help you make your reservations over text—it’s very, very common.
As you’d expect, I would say that you especially need reservations in bigger cities or towns (Lecce, Nardò, Bari, Gallipoli, etc.) at particularly popular places, especially from Thursday to Sunday and especially in July and August. If you prefer to take a more casual approach to your trip and want to just wing it, my best tips are to stick to the smaller towns, be willing to eat earlier or later, and traveling in May/June or September, rather than July and August.
In general, I’d say we often had pretty good luck (but not perfect luck!) whenever we got in touch before 2pm for same-day dinner reservations.
6. Local festivals are the perfect window into local culture
There’s not a ton to do in Puglia, especially the further south you go into Salento (aside from the beach, of course). However, one of the things to know about Puglia is that you should keep your eyes open for the local festivals that happen across the region. There are two specific ones that you’ll want to take note of:
First are the Saints Day festivals. Almost every municipality in Puglia hosts a festival for its patron saint each year, which typically involves huge light displays (which you’ll see all over Puglia in shops, restaurants, and town squares). One of the most famous happens in Scorrano around July 5-7 each year, although you can find a more complete list here.
The second are the sagra festivals. These harvest festivals also happen in other regions, but Puglia is a particularly bountiful region with particularly bountiful sagre! At these product-specific events, dedicated to everything from potatoes to octopus, you can expect to find every restaurant (or even some food stalls) serving various iterations of that festival’s food focus. Often, long tables will be set up on the street with people sitting, eating, and talking to each other for hours.
7. This will be a relaxing holiday – embrace it
A key piece of Puglia travel advice: Especially if you’re going to be in Salento, you are here to relax!
There are lots of tiny towns, and some slightly bigger towns (Lecce, Gallipoli, Nardò), but for the most part Salento is perfect for eating fresh food, drinking good wine, and of course spending time at beaches that are so beautiful they make you question your entire existence.
If you head to Puglia expecting to be go-go-go, I fear you may be disappointed. Things move at a slower pace in Puglia.
Shops and restaurants aren’t open all day, there might not be many shops in any given town, and you might be way too hot to enjoy things anyway!!
If you want a vacation where there’s a bit more action to mix in with your leisure, I recommend Sicily!
8. Lidos are king
Unlike Spain, one of the other big beach destinations in Europe, free beach space is pretty hard to come by in Italy. In many parts of the country it’s common to have even 70% of the coastline maintained by private establishments, or lidos. This has caused some tension with locals, many of whom would prefer more free coastline, and resent the high prices required to get a spot at the beach these days. However, if you like amenities… they’re hard to dislike.
Personally, I’m a huge fan of lidos. Lidos are more or less something like a beach club. They pretty much all have lounge chairs and umbrellas, bathrooms, showers, a lifeguard, and a restaurant/bar. Lidos vary pretty widely in terms of niceness and price. Some of them are basically just a chair, umbrella, and a bad snack bar, while others offer padded loungers with service that comes to your chair.
You can often just show up and ask for a pair of lounge chairs day-of, especially before mid-July and if you arrive in the morning. However, I also watched a decent number of people get turned away, especially later in the summer, so it can a bit of a gamble!
On the other hand, you can always book ahead. If you want a totally hands off experience, use Spiagge.it. This is by far the easiest option if you can’t communicate in Italian. It’s also very often possible to text lidos on WhatsApp, similar to how I suggested making restaurant reservations above.
My Puglia travel guide wouldn’t be complete without a few specific recommendations, so these were our absolute favorite lidos in Salento:
If you want to do your Puglia vacation on a budget, or just prefer the DIY and local vibes of a free beach, or spiaggia libera it’s totally doable, but will require a bit of foresight! The easiest way would be to just input “spiaggia libera” into Google maps and scan the results in the area you want to go to the beach.
The two main snags I would foresee are finding parking – which can sometimes be a breeze, and sometimes be a nightmare – and the beach being quite crowded or otherwise not as nice as you’d hoped. I’ve found that sometimes the only way to know if you’re going to like either the vibes or the conditions at a beach is to chance it and go there yourself.
9. Shoulder season is quieter, while July and August are crazy hot
We were in Puglia from mid-June to the end of July. While June is squarely in the summer season, it was also notably less crowded than July.
From what I understand, August can tend to slow down in terms of American tourism (not that there’s a ton in Puglia to begin with), but it doesn’t slow down with Europeans, and especially other Italians. August is also when it will be the hottest, but you’ll also have the warmest sea water (and most expensive lido prices to match).
Some people recommend visiting Puglia on the shoulder seasons to avoid the crowds, and I think that if you’re planning to be in the most popular areas (Gallipoli, Polignano a Mare, Bari, etc.) this is true. However, if you’re going to be in the more rural and smaller town parts of Salento, it shouldn’t matter too much.
9. You’ll want extra time
If you’re going to plan a trip to Puglia I genuinely think the bare minimum amount of time you should plan for is a week. This will give you time to explore any cities and towns you’re interested in but also give you ample time to drive around and enjoy the perfect Puglian beaches.
My ideal timeline would be to give it more like two weeks, to be honest, but I know that isn’t doable for everyone. With one week you’ll at least be able to relax and have a nice time without being overwhelmed.
10. Don’t wear your bathing suit or go shirtless in town (or the lido restaurant)
This is one of the most important things to know about Puglia, and it’s true for most of Europe actually, so listen up! Do not head straight from the beach into town while you’re still in your bathing suit.
Put some clothes on! Not only is this a surefire way to be clocked as an American/Brit/otherwise obnoxious traveler, it’s also just kind of rude. You wouldn’t walk into a cafe or restaurant in London or Paris in a bikini or topless with just your boardshorts on, so don’t do it here!
Similarly, I’ve seen mixed adherence to this rule for lido restaurants. I would say that all through June and half of July everyone was getting dressed to go eat lunch. As things got busier and more touristy though I noticed a lot more people eating at the restaurant in just their bathing suits, so I would do a vibe check before making that call. Just don’t be the only underdressed person at a local establishment, or you will get a lot of stares!
11. Have some cash with you!
I’ll be honest, I was actually pretty surprised by how many people took card payment in Puglia, even in smaller towns, but there were definitely plenty of instances where we needed cash and didn’t have it on hand. This most commonly happened with small shops, parking lots, or street vendors, but also happened once or twice at a restaurant and taxi service.
One other perk to having cash is that many places in Puglia will require you to go inside the restaurant/up to the counter in order to pay by card. This is obviously a very minimal issue, but it is a little bit annoying to have to do sometimes, and there were definitely moments we wished we’d had cash to avoid having to do that.
12. Rosé
On our very first day in Puglia, our tour guide, who is pretty enmeshed in the local food and wine scene, told us that Puglia is sort of known for its rosé. I for one latched onto this information and took it as a wonderful reason to basically only drink rosé for the rest of the trip.
Normally rosé is just like any other wine to me, not particularly special, but I have to say, the rosé I had in Puglia was consistently fantastic. I really recommend trying some local rosé (and some local reds and whites, to be fair!) while you’re in Puglia.
13. Some of Puglia is local as hell and some of Puglia is overdone. Choose wisely!
Puglia, like so much of Italy (and a ton of Europe, let’s be real) is a mixed bag of completely authentic and local, and completely ruined by overtourism. I go over my own opinions of specific cities in these posts, but I had to figure this out on my own.
A lot of Puglia travel guides that I consulted when planning my own trip told me that Monopoli and Alberobello would be amazing, and I had to go there myself and see that they were overrun with tourists to realize I wanted (almost) nothing to do with them.
In general, be wary of anyone who has nothing critical to say about a destination… nowhere is perfect! Something is always going to be overrated, and you might want to save your time and energy and skip those things! On the other hand, everyone’s different, so the things I hate might end up being the things you love, I just hope that I can help steer you a bit in the right direction.
14. Trulli
Trulli are these little round houses that are unique to the Valle d’Itria – you’ll see them in any Puglia guide.
The most common historical understanding for them is that they were built with the little statue pieces on the top so that they could easily be dismantled when tax collectors came around, because only finished structures would be taxed at the time.
Today you’ll see them all over the Itria Valley area of Puglia, and you can visit Alberobello to see a whole town full of them (though it’s pretty touristy, so beware of that!).
One of the more unique things to do in Puglia as well is to stay in a trullo (singular of trulli). Originally we had booked a stay at this lovely trulli B&B near Alberobello and we were so excited stay, but due to a few last-minute logistical issues we ended up needing to cancel and stay somewhere else. The owners were super nice and accommodating, though, so I highly recommend it!
16. It’s not the *most* exciting food-wise
(This one is potentially mostly true for Salento, so take that into consideration!)
Because Salento is much more rural and rustic, the food scene is definitely more traditional, and a lot less varied than other parts of Italy might be. To be clear, everything is really good, and really fresh, it’s just that the menus are very similar to one another, so it can begin to feel a bit repetitive.
Expect a good amount of seafood, orecchiette at every restaurant, tiramisu, spumone—the classics. Personally, I never got bored of eating in Salento, I just got bored of certain dishes and had to switch things up sometimes. If you want to know more about the dishes I think you have to try while you’re in Puglia, check out this post.
15. You’ll see horse on the menu
This is not only true for Puglia – it’s not uncommon to see horse meat in Sicily and other regions as well – but I just wanted to flag it! I know some people may have visceral and/or emotional reactions to the idea of eating horse, but that’s not what I’m covering right now, and I don’t personally see an issue with it to be honest.
However, I know it can be shocking to see if you’re not expecting it, and I don’t want you to be in a position where you accidentally order it and find out after the fact.
Keep an eye out for carne equina or, more commonly, just cavallo on the menu.
If you want to try horse meat, I think you should! Eating new things and trying local foods is one of the best and most interesting parts of traveling as far as I’m concerned. We tried it in a stew, and it tasted like the beef you might find in beef stew. It was neither amazing nor bad, and I would try it again!
16. Tap water at restaurants is not really a thing
The rumors are true kids: Europeans want you dehydrated.
I’m joking. Obviously. But it’s true that you can’t really, or at all, get tap water while you’re out in Italy. If you ask for water at a restaurant it’s going to be a bottle of water.
To really drive the point home that you will not be served free tap water: one evening at a restaurant we ordered still water, and the waiter told us he was out, so our options were sparkling water or other drinks. Like, he literally wouldn’t give us tap water. So just get used to the fact that you’re gonna be paying for water (or bring a reusable bottle and fill it every day before you leave).
The only exception to this rule seems to be the little plastic cup of water you’ll be given if you order a coffee.
You can usually differentiate between a small or big bottle (I always go for the big bottle). Since you’re paying anyway you might want to opt for sparkling water, but I’m usually so hot that I’m desperate for an acqua naturale ASAP.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How many days is enough for Puglia?
I kind of covered this earlyier in my Puglia travel guide as well, but I think you should aim for at least a week in Puglia. If you want to properly explore the entire region, you probably need two though, just realistically.
Puglia is honestly kind of big, or more specifically, it’s long.
So if you’re interested in seeing all parts of the region you’re going to need to drive a decent amount. The best way to do this would probably be to choose a base in the middle of Puglia, near the Itria Valley, and then a base in Salento, towards the southern tip. My Puglia travel advice is to give yourself roughly a week in each and I think you’ll be golden.
Is Puglia expensive for tourists?
No, Puglia is not very expensive for tourists. Now, to be clear, it obviously can be expensive, but we found it to be shockingly cheap compared to other trips we’ve taken in Europe. The most expensive parts are going to be accommodation and a rental car.
We booked both months in advance and I feel like we got a good deal with both. We also didn’t put too much pressure on the specific locations we decided to stay in in order to prioritize a cheaper price—and in fact, the small town we ended up staying in during the Salento part of our trip had perfect vibes.
As far as food, most restaurants we ate at were insanely affordable to us. Mind you we’re coming from London, and our families both live in the Bay Area, so cost is obviously relative here, but it felt really affordable to us. Also, depending on how you want to visit the beach, that’s also a fairly affordable activity in Puglia.
Is Puglia too touristy?
No, Puglia is definitely not too touristy, at least depending where you go. While it’s certainly gained popularity in recent years, Puglia is still relatively off the beaten track as far as destinations in Italy go. This is especially true for the furthest southern tip of Puglia, Salento.
Obviously all of Italy is struggling under the weight of overtourism, so it’s not like you’re going to be stumbling upon empty beaches (though you may find some empty towns). But it will not be anything like the crazy crowds you’d expect in the Amalfi Coast, for example.
Is Puglia cheaper than Amalfi?
YES Puglia is cheaper than the Amalfi coast. Amalfi is, obviously, stunning and gorgeous and on my personal want-to-go list as well, but who are we kidding here?
Amalfi is such an idealized destination, and not only is it going to be full of tourists, it’s going to be expensive!
That’s not to say it won’t necessarily be worth it, but if you’re looking to save a bit, Puglia is the move.
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Ready to plan your trip to Puglia?
I hope this Puglia travel guide answered all the questions you had about Puglia, and maybe told you some new things to know about Puglia you’d never even considered were worth knowing!
If you’re still planning your trip to Puglia, check out the rest of the Puglia archives here, and if you’re still weighing up where in Italy you want to go, check out the Italy archives here.
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