Puglia Italy: Everything you need to know about Puglia Italy

Puglia is an Italian region, located in southern Italy, with most of its land surrounded by mediterranean sea. The main cities in Puglia are Bari, Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce and Taranto. The region is a wonderful place to stay, whatever the interest of our trip is. Puglia has an untouched landscape and seaside, cristaline water, ancient culture, great food, wine experiences and much more to its visitoris.

There is a lot topics to cover talking about Puglia, about its cities and point of interests.

If you plan to travel to Puglia you can find useful informations about some of the best places to visit in Puglia and to help you organize your Puglia Vacations to have a great time during your stay.

Where is Puglia in Italy

Puglia is the region in southern Italy that forms the heel of the "boot" that the italian country forms resembles.

It is an entering door for balcanic and mediterranean sea transports and commerce.

Travel to Puglia by plane from all over Europe has become simple and cheap thanks to the well served puglia airports of Bari in the north, and Brindisi in the south.

Puglia vacation are a way to discover ancient towns and meet lovely people. Having a Puglia Travel will amaze you on how the region is loved and maintained by its citizens. 

Puglia Travel

Puglia Holidays need to be planned in advance to fulfill your plans within the given time. There is really a lot to see and every second spent there is a way to enjoy great food within historical, agricoltural and whild landscapes.

Define the itinerary based on the time you have to spend and book a flight in advance to get best offers for flights and place to stay.

You can book good offerst to stay in villas, masserie or trulli in the countryside or next to the sea especially out of the central summer season.
Book an apartment or a house in the city center of an ancient town to better enjoy and enter the lifestyle of the locals.

If you plan to stay most of the time at sea with the family then a good choice would be to book in advance a fully served Touristic Village for the whole family.

Whatever your plans are just enjoy every minute of your Puglia Vacation because you will have an hard time when returning back home.

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Puglia Italy Map

Puglia map is the interactive tool to be informed about Apulian territory and to plan your trip in a smart way.

Puglia Italy Map is using an intuitive user interface. The visitor can find out about the beaches, things to do, places of interest, villages and events.

The map also highlights structures and services that can be choosen  in the area you are travelling to and rented.

You can just inform yourselves in a smart way and plan your trip to Puglia starting directly from the innovative Puglia Italy Map.

Puglia Italy map is te perfect tool to make choices about what to do and where to go in Puglia during your trip.

Or visit directly The map of Hotels, Bed And Breakfasts and holiday homes in Puglia.

Puglia Beaches

Puglia beaches spread over 370 km out of the 995 km of the apulian coast, overlooking both the Adriatic see and the Ionio sea.

Eastern Puglia beaches alternate with long stretches of rocky coast. Check out Foggia beaches  where you can have breathtaking views of the Mediterranean nature at its best.

If you travel with cruises to Puglia or you fly to Bari Puglia airport, and you want to stay in the area, then would be a wise choice to enjoy the cozy sandy beaches near Bari.

To enjoy the nature, flat wild coasts and uncrowded beaches you should fly to Salento Brindisi airport and visit some of the best beaches in Brindisi or drive a little bit south towards Otranto.To enjoy the nature, flat wild coasts an

Western Puglia coastline, like the beaches in Lecce, is more sandy with low crystalline water. The beaches near Taranto, instead, is where the nature embraces the beaches giving locations a Caribbean flavor.

Puglia Coastline are protected since the 1970' by special environmental regulations. Big areas of the coastline of Puglia is nominated Natural Marine Reserves, for example like Torre Guaceto Natural Reserve near Brindisi.

No human settlement is allowed in the reserves to avoid interference with nature. Most of the natural reserves are open to the public with rules to follow to preserve nature and history.

A characteristic of most Puglia beaches is the presence of amazing coastal dunes.

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Puglia Best Hotels

Puglia has some of the most renowned hotels in the world for their originality and their beauty. Puglia Best Hotels are located on the sea side or in the countryside within historical estates. Check out our Map of Hotels in Puglia to easily find out the hotel of your choice.

Ancient farm structures, the Masserie or the Trulli, are often reorganized into Luxury Hotels.

They run within unique structures immersed in beautiful landscapes. Luxury Hotels in Puglia provide unique and unforgettable experiences to visitors.

Browse our contents related to cities, events, beaches in order to obtain contextualized Hotels Offers in Puglia.

Use our Puglia Hotel Map to find easily the best accommodation for you near the place you are going to visit whe in Puglia.

Puglia Luxury Hotels

Luxury hotels in Puglia have the characteristic of being strongly linked to the territory in which they are immersed.
 
Puglia Luxury hotel are immersed in nature, leveraging local history and culture, to amaze customers.
 
A stay in one of the luxury hotels in Puglia is a unique experience for many reasons. The locations are amazing. The quality of the historical buildings is pristine.

The level of services and Mediterranean spirit of Puglia Luxury Hotels will make you wish to postpone departure.

Puglia Villa Rental

Renting a villa in Puglia is one of the favorite ways for groups and families to spend their holidays in Puglia.

You can find modern villas equipped with swimming pools and all other comforts. But you also have the choice for typical countryside structures like Masserie and Trulli. Those are renovated and modernized to accommodate visitors comfortably.

You can easily find out the available best villas to rent in Puglia based on the area you want to stay and the level of services you wish to receive.

As like villas in Puglia also some Masserie and Trulli are equipped with amenities and are considered high-end villas. They have swimming pools, sauna, outdoor hot tubs on gardens with wonderful views over the countryside or the sea.

Puglia Masseria

Masseria are fortified farms build to host owners and workers but most importantly to protect them from the attacks by marauders.

The masseria was a home for the owner, the whole workers and eventually its guards and servants.

The farms are located throughout the whole Puglia territory. They were usually built in the center of large agricultural properties.

Today there are still farms inhabited by large landowners but most of them have been abandoned. Many have been restored and converted into country houses, resorts, hotels or farmhouses.

In a Puglia Masseria you can enjoy the relaxation of the Puglia countryside and get to know the hospitality of the territory.

You can check out a filtered list of the best masseria to rent in Puglia available right now, or choose the areas and cities where you would like to stay to see a list of the available spots.

Many Masseria are equipped with swimming pools and lawns within the walls. Some farms are equipped with spas and wellness centers.

Almost all the farms have their own agricultural production. A bless for the hosts since benefits of healthy, fresh food cooked by lovely experienced local ladies.

Is nice to return to the Masseria in the evening, after spending a day by the sea or on a trip to visit one of the nearby villages. You enter the fresh countryside to stay in a cool place that exudes history and culture and where you can appreciate fresh local food an wine.

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Puglia Festivals

Puglia festivals are strongly linked its territory, to its peasant and maritime traditions.

Festivals in Puglia celebrate agriculture, unique products, religious occurrences or other traditional events.

Festivals are distributed on all territory throughout the year. They often last several days and are enriched by markets, exhibitions and musical events that attract people from all over the region.

During public holidays or during summer live music concerts are organized. Music Festivals in Puglia aim to explore and share with citizens, the importance of traditional bales and songs. 

The most important music festivals in Puglia take place in summer times, from June to September, hosting some of the most known international music artists.

Music festivals in Puglia have great success and international reach, with bands and musical guests from all over the world.

This allows Puglia Festivals to share traditional Apulian music and folk songs with the world.

Music Festivals in Puglia, Events of Summer.

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Puglia what to see

There is an infinite list of historical places, art pieces, landscapes, towns, cities and events a visitor can see and enjoy in Puglia the whole year.

Puglia has a long history that dates back to the Messapian populations entering the fertile region from east.

Numerous Paleolithic and the Bronze Age testimonies are still visible today in their original beauty. Many caves have been carved into the rock starting from the Gargano up to Valle d'Itria and the "Murge" area, with spectacular rock paintings.

Some other funeral testimony, like the Montalbano "Dolmen", data back to the bronze age (3500 BC).

Puglia was occupied by many populations in last centuries due to the fertility of land, the richness of the territory and the strategic position in the Mediterranean Sea.

Romans, Normans, Swabians, Angevins and Aragonese have succeeded one another over the centuries.

Each of these populations has left interesting historical and architectural testimonies that can be enjoyed by any visitor overall the region: Vieste, Ostuni, Otranto, Lecce, Bari and many other ancient towns both on the see and inland.

The culture and the development of the region was deeply influenced by those populations and that is why the Puglia is one of the most beautiful and most visited regions of Italy.

Check out some of the things to do in Puglia by province:

• Things to do in Bari
• Things to do in Brindisi
• Things to do in Lecce
• Things to do in Foggia

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Trulli

Trulli are ancient buildings unique in the world with the characteristic of having a cone-shaped roof.
 
Visit Itria Valley, between Locorotondo and Martinafranca, to see that Trullo is a very widespread structure in the area.

Alberobello is the only town left in the Itria Valley whose historic center is still almost entirely made up of Trulli.

Trulli nowadays are distributed here and there in the countryside in the various landholdings.
 
Today the Trulli are used as homes or to host tourists who want to live the experience of living in these fairytale homes both in summer and in winter.
 
Staying in a Trullo is a unique experience. The conical roof built in dry stone seen from the inside is a work of art, one wonders how it can stand without the use of cement or lime.

Valle D'Itria

Find out what to see in Valle D'Itria and its beauties. A journey between culture and tradition. From the Trulli of the Itria Valley to the most beautiful places to visit.

Puglia New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve in Puglia is one of the busiest times of the year from the point of view of tourist visits.

Public places as well as private services become stages for the classic New Year's Eve party. Square, bar, disco, restaurants and all other public places need to be booked in advance to be able to join the party.

Municipalities organize musical events and celebrations of various kinds to toast new year.

Puglia New Year events leverage the unique landscapes and the specialties that the territory offers to visitors.

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Puglia Christmas

Christmas in Puglia is the period of greatest influx of tourists from all over Italy and the world after summer.

Visiting Puglia during Christmas will make you realize that beaches and summer are not the only attraction to visit the region.

Spend Christmas in Puglia means going back in time and discovering ancient villages traditions.

You can enjoy Christmas evening with you family everywhere in Puglia. Coasts, countryside or promontories in the region offer all great entertainment and services.

Every village celebrates and entertains citizens and visitors. They organize Christmas markets in Puglia, living nativity scenes, concerts, patronal feasts and much more.

Puglia is a region strongly linked to its history. The citizens are truly in  love with the territory. Services continuously aspire to modernize while maintaining strong ties with its traditions. The love for the territory is reflected in the quality of relationships, care and attention to details.

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Puglia Food Culture

Puglia Food Culture is the result of centuries of refinement in preparing great food using only fresh local ingredients.
 
Puglia economy is still strongly linked to its ancient peasant traditions. Puglia can in fact be defined as an open-air vegetable garden. The region supplies the rest of Italy with a lot of varieties of products. The most exported products are Durum Wheat, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Wine of the highest quality.
 
Puglia has been one of the Italian regions with an agricultural vocation for millennia. Agriculture and fishing are the activities that have made Puglia what it is today, a region proud of its territory and with a desire to innovate.
 
The development of territory and of social life in Puglia are strongly related to its peasant evolution.
 
There was a time when there where no machines helping ease the hard work. All the families were committed to support themselves independently through agricultural productions (for example of vegetables, cereals, fruits, oil, wine, ...) or through processes of transformation and conservation of fresh products.
 
In the peasant tradition the end of agricultural cycles and working seasons meant the end of a hard work period and the begin of celebrations. The party at close of the harvesting celebrated the availability of products and the end of particularly tiring periods.
 
Coming together at work and at celebrations at the end of the harvest were moments of joy and social spirit among the workers.
Helping each other was the glue between the families and is what makes Puglia region a great place to stay and relate to locals.

Puglia Wine

The production and trade of wine in Puglia has a millenary tradition. The luxuriance of the territory and the many ports in ancient times strengthened wine trades and agriculture in general.

Puglia wines are famous throughout the world for their high alcohol content, depth of colors, intensity of aromas and depth of colors.

Production of Puglia wines is a way to keep winery traditions alive,  the final result of a year of hard work and centuries of evolution.

If you like in winery an wine production in general then October is the month to be in Puglia. In October the grapes harvest begins and so the wine production. Discover what it means to produce wine in Puglia hosted by farmers that show you what their secrets are.

You can live and see with your eyes how whine production in Puglia works and check out how some of the best wines in Puglia are made.

Take advantage of the hospitality of farms and country houses, like the wineries in Brindisi, that will host and involve you in one of the most intense and chilling period of the year.

You will contribute to the closure of a cycle that lasted a year and a process of development that lasted centuries.
Enjoy the Puglia Wine production first hand visiting Puglia countryside.

Puglia Grape Harvest

Between the end of summer and before Christmas two events characterized the life of the peasants: the grape harvest and the olive harvest.

The grape harvest is the period in which entire families moved from farm to farm to help harvest grapes by hand.

A lot of effort was accompanied by laughter, jokes and cheerfulness during work. Days were marked by the rhythms of the breaks to eat mid-morning until the end of the day. At evening rich tables were set to welcome all the workers and families to eat together in cheerfulness.

Harvesting before winter, with low temperatures, allowed the total ripening of the grapes and better fermentation and clearing of the wine.

Puglia Wine has been a very important resource not only for wine itself. Grapes are used to produce other drinks, various sweet and savory recipes.

"Vino Cotto" (or cooked wine) is a typical Apulian product, a sort of syrup produced from wine cooked with figs or apples, used in the kitchen and on many other occasions.

Puglia Olive Oil

Puglia Olive Oil is the result of the harvesting and milling of native olives distributed in the region. The most important of the 21 cultivars for the production of oil in Puglia are Ogliarola (of Bari, Gargano or Salento) and Coratina (or Racioppa).
 
These two varieties are among the most present and the most productive in the area. Both are appreciated for their resistance to cold, good yield and an oil with an intense and fruity flavor.
 
The intense aroma and strong taste of Puglia olive oil are unparalleled. It has to be pleasant on the palate and has to "scratch" or pinch in the throat.
 
Only 10% of the weight of olives, the Extra Virgin Olive Oil, becomes Puglia Olive Oil once milled. Puglia Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a product of excellence in the world.
 
In Puglia Olive Oil is used to cook and enrich the vast majority of dishes served in Puglia: sweet or savory, cooked or raw.
It is also widely used to produce preserves in oil or , for aesthetic and pharmaceutical products.
 
To taste the best olive oil you should consume only Mono-culture Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Puglia.
 
Using oil coming from a single cultivar is the healthiest choice. To obtain mono-culture olive oil is either to contribute to the harvest or to contact the producers directly. From them you will be able to obtain the highest quality and purity at fair prices.
 
Puglia Olive Oil maintains its nutritional properties for 2 years and then starts to decade but still can be used. For this reason Italian families tend to buy large quantities of quality oil and store them in a fresh and dark place be ready to use.

Puglia Olive Harvest

The olive harvest is a job that is done between October and December by picking the olives, from the ground or from the branches, of the olive tree.

As for grape or wheat, olive harvest in Puglia also involved many families to collaborate and help each other to speed up the process.

Then the olives would to be taken to the mill to be "ground" and thus transformed into oil.

The anticipation of ripening of the fruits favors collectors who can be outdoors in short sleeves (December days in Puglia can still be hot).

Olive harvest is still one of the activities to be carried out by hand. Some of the most pleasant aspects of the olive harvest nowadays have been kept and that makes tourists and visitors happy to help an collaborate in the process.

The joy while working, the nature and hot weather, the social and festive spirits of harvesting days are an event for the harvester.

The expectation and anxiety for the result of the milling at the mill and the curiosity to taste the results of one's efforts and work is the end of a long year that repeats itself since millennia.

Fresh extra virgin oil at home means enjoying a bruschetta with the family or a traditional preparations made with the new oil.