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Polignano a Mare on the Adriatic coast
Bari & Puglia · 200 tours reviewed

Puglia begins at Bari.

The sea caves of Polignano a Mare, the trulli of Alberobello, the Sassi of Matera and focaccia straight off the board in Bari Vecchia. What each tour is really like, what it costs, and where to book it.

Start with the shortlist Browse by town →
The shortlist

Seven bookings that carry a first trip.

Whether it is your first time south or your fifth, these hold up the itinerary: the boat run into the Polignano sea caves, a morning in the Sassi of Matera, a focaccia walk through the old town before the heat sets in.

All 200 tours →
★ 4.7 · 1,891 reviews · the most-booked tour

Polignano a Mare: Cave Boat Tour with Aperitif

Speedboat cave tour in Polignano a Mare with swims and a Prosecco-based aperitif. Short, scenic, and great value for $47.

From $47 per person

Read the review →
★ 5.0Crowd favouriteDiscover Matera, the ancient city – English tourFrom $361,771 reviews ★ 4.5Books out fastGuided Tour of Matera SassiFrom $181,312 reviews ★ 4.8Local pickPolignano a Mare: Boat Trip, Swim & Cave with AperitifFrom $351,300 reviews ★ 5.0Worth the tripPolignano a Mare boat tour emotions, caves, diving and appetizersFrom $421,022 reviews ★ 4.7Easy winGuided Walking TourFrom $34744 reviews ★ 4.8Traveller favouriteTour di Alberobello e Matera in bus privato da BariFrom $67701 reviews
The big day out

An hour west, nine thousand years back.

Cross into Basilicata and the Sassi of Matera open up below you: two cave districts carved into the ravine, rock churches, houses lived in until the 1950s and film crews ever since. A driver from Bari and a guide who knows which cave to walk into make the whole day.

01Matera: Sassi Tour with Entry to Rock Houses and Churches★★★★★★★★★★622 reviews · from $40→ 02Tour of Alberobello and Guide to Matera, from Bari★★★★★★★★★★478 reviews · from $93→ 03Matera’s Sassi Walking Tour – History & Culture★★★★★★★★★★476 reviews · from $30→
Compare the Matera days →
The planning question

Which day trip out of Bari?

Most first visits get three or four days, and Puglia pulls in three directions at once. Here are the three days people actually pick between. Choose the one that sounds like your trip, and every tour behind it is already reviewed and priced.

On the water The coast day 2 hours · from $35 · 3,382 reviews A gozzo or speedboat out of Polignano a Mare into the sea caves under the cliffs, a swim in water the colour of glass, an aperitif on deck, then a slow lunch in Monopoli harbour. The day for anyone whose idea of Puglia is the sea and nowhere to be. See the coast days → Trulli and white towns The Itria Valley day 2 hours · from $47 · 727 reviews The cone-roofed trulli of Alberobello first, then up into the valley: whitewashed Ostuni on its hill, the round streets of Locorotondo, olive groves and masserie in between. Short walks, long views, a tasting or two. The gentlest way to read the countryside. See the white-town days → Across the border The Matera day 2 hours · from $31 · 6,618 reviews The longest run and the one people talk about after. Into Basilicata to the Sassi of Matera, the cave city that took decades to bring back to life. More walking, more history, an early start worth setting the alarm for. Best kept for a day the weather is kind. See the Matera days →

Compare every day trip from Bari →

After the sun drops

Puglia slows down at dusk.

The heat lifts, the whole town walks the seafront, and dinner is in no hurry. A street-food crawl through Bari Vecchia, an aperitivo as the light goes, a sunset sail off the old port. This is the part of the day the guidebooks skip and the locals live for.

01City Highlights Guided Bike Tour★★★★★★★★★★527 reviews · from $58→ 02Walking Street Food Tour★★★★★★★★★★458 reviews · from $74→ 03Old Town Guided Eco-Friendly Rickshaw Tour★★★★★★★★★★355 reviews · from $81→ 04Polignano a Mare: Catamaran Tour with Aperitif & Local Food★★★★★★★★★★249 reviews · from $63→
Plan a Puglian evening →
Come hungry

The south eats late and long.

Focaccia barese warm from the bakery, orecchiette pressed by hand on Strada delle Orecchiette, burrata and a glass of Primitivo. These are the food hours to book if you only book a few.

All food & drink →
★ 4.5Bari Walking Tour with Pasta ExperienceFrom $52270 reviews ★ 4.8Polignano a Mare: Pasta Making Cooking Class with DrinkFrom $77260 reviews ★ 4.5The Original Street Food Walking Tour in BariFrom $71226 reviews
On two wheels

See more of it on wheels.

An e-bike down the lungomare with the sea on one side, a vintage Fiat 500 through the countryside, a rickshaw or Vespa weaving the lanes of the old town. More ground, less walking, better photographs.

All bike tours →
★ 5.0Bari Bike TourFrom $54266 reviews ★ 5.0Bari Rickshaw TourFrom $62233 reviews ★ 5.0Alberobello Guided Segway and Mini Golf Cart TourFrom $60221 reviews
Built in stone

The towns Puglia is famous for.

The dry-stone trulli of Alberobello, roofed in grey cones and topped with painted symbols. Ostuni rising white above the olive plain. Locorotondo laid out in neat rings on its hill. A guide fills in why the roofs come apart and go back together, and where the good gelato hides.

01Itria Valley: Polignano, Ostuni, and Locorotondo, from Bari★★★★★★★★★★502 reviews · from $71→ 02UNESCO’s Alberobello and Matera from Bari★★★★★★★★★★271 reviews · from $192→ 03Alberobello and Matera Bus Tour, from Bari★★★★★★★★★★250 reviews · from $72→
See the white towns →
Where to go

Pick your Puglia, town by town.

The region reads as a string of towns, each an easy run from a Bari base. Polignano a Mare for the cliffs and the caves. Alberobello for the trulli. Matera for the Sassi. Monopoli and Ostuni for the slow days in between.

Polignano a Mare50 tours Matera70 tours Alberobello41 tours Monopoli12 tours Ostuni8 tours Itria Valley8 tours Bari Vecchia5 tours
What to do

Know the kind of day you want?

Twelve ways into the same coastline. Pick the one that sounds like your kind of day, and every tour behind it is already reviewed and priced.

Sea-Cave Boat Trips50 tours Trulli Tours41 tours Street Food18 tours Cooking Classes21 tours Bike & E-Bike17 tours Vespa & Tuk-Tuk20 tours Old-Town Walks5 tours Boat Tours32 tours Walking Tours35 tours
Out of town

All of it, a morning away.

Bari sits in the middle of the good stuff. The Sassi of Matera, the trulli of Alberobello, the sea caves of Polignano a Mare and the white towns of the Itria Valley are each a short drive out and back in a day.

Matera70 tours Alberobello41 tours Polignano a Mare50 tours Ostuni8 tours Monopoli12 tours Locorotondo8 tours
If it is your first time

Three days, done right.

You cannot see all of Puglia in one trip, but you can do the right three days from a Bari base. This is the order we would hand a friend landing at the airport tomorrow.

Day 1 Settle into Bari The lanes of Bari Vecchia, the Basilica di San Nicola, the orecchiette ladies of Strada delle Orecchiette, then a street-food walk as the town fills up for the evening. Plan day one → Day 2 Down the coast South to Polignano a Mare, a boat into the sea caves and a swim off the rocks, then lunch in Monopoli harbour and the drive back along the water. Plan day two → Day 3 Trulli and the valley The trulli of Alberobello early, before the coaches, then up into the Itria Valley for Ostuni and Locorotondo, olive groves and a long lunch at a masseria. Plan day three →
200Puglia tours reviewed
10towns and villages covered
6day trips within a morning of Bari
Just added

The newest reviews.

Everything we have reviewed →
★ 4.5Polignano Coast with Private Tuk Tuk Tour and View of the CavesFrom $7723 reviews ★ 5.0Cesarine: Small group Pasta and Tiramisu class in AlberobelloFrom $16223 reviews ★ 4.8Boat tour in Monopoli of 1.30hFrom $3524 reviews ★ 4.5Matera: journey of the Sassi, the Murgia and the Tibetan BridgeFrom $12024 reviews ★ 5.0Private Catamaran Tour in Polignano a MareFrom $79024 reviews ★ 5.0Private walking tour in MateraFrom $24025 reviews ★ 5.0Locorotondo & Martina Franca: Guided e-bike loop tourFrom $5525 reviews ★ 4.5From Matera: tour of Alberobello with private transferFrom $5925 reviews