Puglia is 400km long — from the Gargano peninsula (the "spur" of Italy's boot) to Santa Maria di Leuca (the tip of the heel). The minimum worthwhile trip: 5 days (covering Valle d'Itria + a taste of Salento). The ideal: 7-10 days (Valle d'Itria + full Salento + coast). A car is essential — Puglia's spread-out treasures (masserie, beaches, trulli towns, olive groves) are connected by quiet roads through flat landscape, making driving easy and pleasurable (unlike the Amalfi Coast's terror-roads).
Plan my Puglia trip →Day 1: Arrive Bari airport → drive to Ostuni (1h). Settle in. Explore the white centro storico. Sunset aperitivo. Day 2: Alberobello (trulli, 30min) → Locorotondo (the prettiest town, 10min) → Cisternino (evening — the famous butcher-grill restaurants where you choose raw meat at the counter and they grill it). Day 3: Polignano a Mare (morning — Lama Monachile cove, cliff walk, coffee at Caffè Minnucci), afternoon: beach or drive to Monopoli (old port, town beach). Day 4: Drive to Lecce (1h from Ostuni). Afternoon exploring baroque centro, Piazza Sant'Oronzo, Basilica di Santa Croce. Evening: rustico + orecchiette dinner. Day 5: Morning: Lecce market. Drive to Otranto (45min) for the cathedral + beach. Return to Bari for departure. This covers the highlights but feels rushed in Salento.
Days 1-3: As above (Ostuni base — Alberobello, Locorotondo, Cisternino, Polignano, Monopoli). Day 4: Drive to Lecce (switch base). Afternoon/evening: Lecce baroque, food. Day 5: Otranto (morning — cathedral, castle, old town) → coast drive south → Santa Cesarea Terme (dramatic clifftop thermal pools) → Castro (sea caves). Day 6: Gallipoli (old town island + beach) or Torre dell'Orso (the most beautiful beach in Salento — twin rock stacks, white sand, crystal water). Day 7: Morning: Lecce revisit (the parts you missed). Drive to Bari for departure. This pace is RIGHT — time for the beach, the food, the passeggiata, and the particular Pugliese rhythm of doing nothing beautifully.
Days 1-3: Valle d'Itria (as above). Days 4-7: Salento (as above, but with an extra day for: Nardò, Porto Cesareo, or the inland countryside). Days 8-9: Drive north to Gargano (3h from Lecce) — the overlooked peninsula: Vieste (the sea stack town), the Foresta Umbra (ancient beech forest), Peschici (cliff fishing village), the Tremiti Islands (ferry from Vieste, 1.5h — the most beautiful small islands in Italy). Day 10: Gargano morning → drive to Bari (2h). Depart. This is the COMPLETE Puglia — most tourists never reach Gargano, which is a tragedy because it's the most dramatically beautiful part of the region. Where to stay →