Puglia

The territory of Puglia is a long, narrow peninsula, mostly occupied by plains and hills, apart from some lower mountains of the Southern Apennine chain and the Gargano Promontory, with high, steep cliffs and its Tremiti Island. 

It offers at least one excellent archeological museum, a host of cathedrals dating back to the 10th century, several deserted Greek and Roman ruins, a gleaming necklace of lively fishing villages, one of Europe's largest forests, a chain of medieval hilltowns, and some of the very cleanest beaches and water in the Mediterranean. Acres and acres of vineyards and olive groves grace this southeastern most region of Italy. Puglia produces one-tenth of the wine drunk in Europe; its olive oil is renowned.

There is one other attraction that you will see only in Puglia, and that is i trulli. Whitewashed cones made of stones held together without mortar, they are visible in almost every wheat field and olive grove, where they serve as miniature barns. But they are at their most picturesque when clustered together in the hundreds, to form a town. This is Alberobello, and it's a wonderful site you will never forget.
Other tourist destinations in Puglia are Lecce, Brindisi and Gallipoli.

GARGANO PROMONTORY is a high, rocky spur jutting into the Adriatic Sea, the Gargano is a dramatic wilderness dotted with coves and cliffs.  Its coastal towns of Rodi Garganico, Peschici, Vieste and Manfredonia are popular with holidaymakers.

THE TREMITI ISLANDS (the green San Domino, the rough San Nicola and the wild Caprara) lie 22 miles from the Gargano promontory (province of Foggia) and are also known as the pearls of the Apulian Adriatic Sea. The other three isles located further out (Pianosa, Pelagosa Grande and Pelagosa Piccola) and a small group of 16 minor crags are part of the same group of islands.  The main island, San Domino, has a wonderful coast with fjords and caves. The sea bottom is wonderful for diving. The "sea calf" cave hosted the last of the Mediterranean seals.  Inland, the island is covered with Mediterranean bush, Indian figs, and some olive trees. The Tremiti are the Italian islands least visited by foreigners.

BARI is the capital of the region and its ports face the Adriatic, on the edges of the plateau of the Terra di Bari.  The city consists of two parts, the old town (a maze of twisting lanes) lying on a small peninsula between the bays of the old and new ports, and the modern city expanding inland as well as along the coast.

OTRANTO is a minuscule town nestling around its harbour, is only an hour by train from Lecce and still very much a quiet Puglia backwater set in an arid, rocky and windblown landscape, with translucent seas to swim in and a comparatively undeveloped coastline.

TAVOLIERE is large plain that lies in the northern part of Puglia, between the foothills of the Apennine Mountains and the Adriatic Sea. Foggia is the largest and most important urban centre. The area is called the Tavoliere or `chessboard' because of the characteristic patchwork of corn lands and grasslands.

ALBEROBELLO literally means 'beautiful tree' and this is where many of the distinctive 'trulli' or whitewashed conical shaped homes can be found that are one of the symbols of Puglia.

LECCE is right in the middle of the Salentina peninsula, the famous “boot’s heel”, midway between the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian Sea. Lecce, which is the province’s chief town, is the principal town of Salento.

BRINDISI maintains its identity as a port and European shore to the East, as well as many of its most representative monuments, which seem to project themselves into the sea. In front of the city there's the island of S. Andrea, with the Castello Alfonsino and the Forte a Mare.

GALLIPOLI is an island connected to the mainland by a bridge and an important fishing centre.

GETTING AROUND The costal highway (A14-E55) heads south into Puglia.  Beyond Foggia, it joins the S16 to Taranto.  Brindisi, the main port for Greece, is accessible from Bari or Taranto.  The roads throughout are good.  Train and bus services go to the major cities, with buses only to more remote parts.