Many towns are an hour apart, making Puglia a town-hopping nirvana.
BARI
Experience modern-day medieval in Puglia’s capital, Bari, a port city three hours east of Naples. Bari is known for its distinct medieval “cortes,” courts and “Posellas,” maze-like passageways built to disorient invading armies. These gothic remnants lie in the historic quarter, “Barivecchia,” where local bars still serve “panne y pomodor” (bread and tomato) and “rabe” (vegetarian-filled pastry). Visit 11th-century Basilica di San Nicola, where you’ll get a glimpse of the tomb of real-life Saint Nicholas—a saint later remembered as Santa Claus.
For a more 20th-century Bari, see Teatro Margherita, an art nouveau-era opera house built right over the water—an attempt to bypass a city agreement that disallowed building theaters on public land. Survey the city’s last remnants of Benito Mussolini’s fascist architecture in still-standing WWII buildings as Albergo delle Nazioni (today, Boscolo hotel).
POLIGNANO A MARE
Just 30 minutes south of Bari is Polignano a Mare, a 10th-century fishing town that rises out of the cliffs. Thanks to the sea’s erosion, Polignano rests on naturally carved grottoes, including the famous Grotta Palazzese, where local nobility regaled in the 1700s. With a mere 17,000 residents, Polignano is famous for being the birthplace of “Volare” singer Domenico Modugno, and cliff diving—thanks to Red Bull’s cliff diving world series. And perhaps no other place in Puglia is remembered more for gelato than Polignano. Grab a cone, topped with fresh whipped cream at Il Super Mago del Gelo or Bar Turismo. Then, Sip Turismo’s signature coffee-liqueur drink, Caffe Speciale. After-hours, nab a drink at L’Archibugio Braceria wine bar and take a “passeggiata,” or stroll, along the piazza to the ocean’s edge. The town is also famed for spectacular sunsets. If you’re lucky enough to be there at dusk, don’t forget your camera.
ALTAMURA
For bread lovers, nothing comes close to Italy’s bread capital, Altamura. The bread, “Pane di Altamura” is ancient, legendary and, just as in centuries past, eaten with a sprinkle of olive oil and salt. Shipped all over Italy and the world, it’s no wonder people still enjoy the same bread Horace described in his 37 A.D. Satires, as “the world’s most delicious bread—so delicious, in fact, that the discerning traveler stacks up on it for the rest of his journey.” Pane di Altamura is renowned for staying soft inside for weeks thanks to its hardy crusts, and for being the only bread in the world protected under the European Union’s DOP (Protected Designation of Origin). When it comes to this bread, all ingredients, from the sea salt to its specific local variety of durum wheat, is native to Altamura.
Break bread at Forno Antico Santa Chiara, where locals have been bread making since 1423. Try owner Vito Macella’s specialty, tomato and eggplant focaccia, ear-shaped orecchiette pasta or one of the 300 loaves he bakes daily in a 538-square foot oven.
