You may have the universe if I may have Italy
Giuseppe Verdi
There is just something about the vibe in Italy. The expressive language. The chill squares with little tables and chairs spilling out from coffee shops and restaurants. The evening strolls. The maze of narrow alleyways, arches, and cobblestone streets. The Spritz. The pasta. The laundry hanging out windows drying in the brilliant sunshine. Something about this place keeps drawing us back. Three years have passed since our last visit, and we decided that although we visited over 30 countries in that time, we have to be more consistent with our trips to Italy. Wandering through the cute little towns in the Puglia region was a great way to soak in the vibe of the southeastern Italian coast. Here are the five towns that we visited on a long weekend that also included Matera in the Basilicata region (blog coming soon).
Ostuni
Ostuni is commonly referred to as La Città Bianca (the White City) due to its white-washed walls. We stayed for a night here just outside the old town after a late-arriving flight, and we were greeted in the morning with an absolutely lovely view.
Built atop a hill to protect from invaders, Ostuni provides a magnificent view over the ocean of olive trees that cover the Itria Valley. We even caught our first glimpse of the Adriatic Sea in the distance.
We took a morning stroll through this peaceful little town as it was just starting to come alive for the morning.
Of course, you have to visit the duomo in every Italian city. The cathedral was originally built in the 13th century and then re-built after damage by an earthquake in the 15th century including the addition of the beautiful rose window.
This is the perfect little town for strolling and appreciating the Italian vibe. We could have easily spent days here enjoying spontaneous Italian moments.
Polignano a Mare
Polignano a Mare is a beautiful town on the Adriatic Coast with restaurants and bars overlooking the turquoise ocean and rugged cliffs. This city was an easy choice for a lunch stop. One of the most famous sites in town is the white-pebble beach Lama Monachile bordered by limestone cliffs, white-walled houses, and a Roman bridge.
We ate lunch at Donna Gina overlooking the beach. Notice the Roman bridge behind us.
For the first course, we sampled the famous pasta from the region, orecchiette, tossed simply with garlic, olive oil, and broccoli rabe and topped with sundried tomatoes and our favorite Italian cheese, burrata. For the second course, we splurged on a fresh grilled seafood platter that included langostine, shrimp, red snapper, octopus, squid, and more.
Only in Italy does an octopus tentacle taste like bacon. The views, the food, the company…it doesn’t get much better than this.
Oh wait….strolling through a gorgeous town with gelato…yeah, that’s pretty spectacular too.
Around every corner was another stunning view of the vibrant aquamarine water and caves carved out from the limestone cliffs.
We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect afternoon in this iconic Pugliese town.
Alberobello
A quick stop in Alberobello is a must when driving through Puglia to see the one-of-a-kind trulli houses. The trulli zone has been designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the trulli are a remarkable example of a dry stone (mortarless) prehistoric building technique seen nowhere else on earth.
These white, circular homes have conical roofs made by overlapping stone circles and are embellished with decorative pinnacles.
They were built in the 1500s by the peasants who were forced to build easily destructible homes so that the feudal ruler could avoid taxes when an inspection came from the king. Absolutely amazing that these easily destructible homes lasted to modern day for us to appreciate!
The town’s church was even built in a similar style.
Symbols are painted on many of the roofs to bring good fortune or ward off demons. The symbols are of mixed origin including Christian, magic, and primitive symbols.
Alberobello was quite touristy but an important stop to learn a bit about the history of the region and to check out these cute, unique structures.
Locorotondo
Locorotondo has been designated one of the most beautiful towns in Italy. Given how gorgeous Italy is in general, this set a really high bar that I feel wasn’t quite met.
Regardless, we got lost in the labyrinth of alleyways, checked out the churches, and savored some gelato, so overall not a bad way to spend an afternoon
What do you think? Worthy of the prettiest in Italy?
Monopoli
The weather was a bit cool and overcast in the towns of the Itria Valley, so we headed back to the coast as our final stop before returning to the airport for our flight home. We found perfect blue sky and sunshine again in Monopoli. A stroll through town brought us to numerous beautiful churches including the 18th century Duomo di Monopoli with its Baroque bell tower.
Along the waterfront promenade, a 15th century castle was built on a peninsula to fortify the city walls.
Italian towns are just an amazing place to get lost in and appreciate the beauty of old crumbling facades, the pleasant aromas of pizza and pasta wafting through the air, the charisma in the voices of the town folk, and the complexity of the local wines.
With a final Spritz in a rooftop bar overlooking the iconic turquoise waters of the Adriatic Sea, we toasted yet another fabulous trip to Italy.
It looks beautiful! Ah to be a nextgennomad!
Look forward to having you on a nomad adventure soon!