Puglia Review is a website guide to the Southern Italian region of Apulia (Puglia in Italian). The site is written exclusively in English and aims to provide a valuable resource for visitors to the region. If you imagine Italy as the shape of a boot then Puglia is the area of the heel, ankle and some of the instep. It's a largely coastal region blessed with some beautiful seaside towns on the Adriatic and Ionian seas, the sparkling Tremiti Islands with their crystal clear water, the world-famous Trulli Houses of Alberobello and another UNESCO site, the much revered Castel del Monte. There are also dozens of pretty fishing towns and cities to explore such as the capital Bari and the Baroque city of Lecce in the heart of the Salento region. Further up the coast there's the stunning Gargano Peninsula where you'll find the curious fishing huts called Trabocchi dotting its coastline and further inland another national park, the Alta Murgia. If you're planning a visit to Puglia and you'd like some advice, please feel free to drop me a line via info@italyreview.com and I'll be happy to help.
Dion Protani, creator of Puglia Review.
Dion Protani, creator of Puglia Review.
HERE'S SOME OF WHAT YOU CAN FIND ON PUGLIA REVIEW!
Puglia In - FocusSitting at roughly the midway point of Puglia's Adriatic coast, Bari is the biggest and most important city in the region with its largest population. Being the regional capital of Puglia and the capital of its own province, Bari is one of the key administrative centres of southern Italy as well as a vital transport hub with commercial ferries heading east to Croatia, Greece, Albania and beyond. It's impossible to talk or write about Bari without giving mention to the city's patron saint; the bones of San Nicola (Saint Nicholas) are housed in Bari's main visitor attraction, the Basilica di San Nicola.
|
Porto Vecchio, Bari
|
The basilica is situated in the older part of the city known simply as "Bari Vecchia" (Old Bari), which tends to be the most interesting area to visit with other sights including the Cattedrale di San Sabino, the Norman/Swabian castle ("Castello Normanno-Svevo") and the bustling Piazza Mercantile all within a very short walk of each other. Bari Vecchia and the aforementioned attractions occupy the small peninsula which also has two ports, the older of the two again appendaged to mark out the difference between "Porto Vecchio" and "Porto Nuovo". Of the two ports, Porto Vecchio (Old Port) is the more attractive and comprises a mixture of small pleasure craft and fishing boats while Porto Nuovo (New Port) is where you'll find the large, commercial ferries that cross the Adriatic.
Bari's new town couldn't be more different to Bari Vecchia; the city suffered heavy bombardment during World War Two and as a consequence much of it had to be rebuilt. However, relatively new as this side of the city is, it's not without its own charm. Walking away from Bari Vecchia you encounter two theatres, the first one Teatro Margherita straddles the old and new towns while the arguably grander, more beautiful Teatro Petruzzelli lies within the new town's network of modern, straight roads. A short walk from Teatro Petruzzelli takes you into the city's commercial district where you'll find a large variety of shops; designer shoppers will make a bee-line for Via Sparano where the likes of Gucci and Prada tantalise with their attractive window designs while most people will find the prices more palatable in the art nouveau Palazzo Mincuzzi, currently sporting the colours of Benetton.
Transport options are plentiful for visitors to Bari; it has its own airport (10km from the centre), sea port and mainline railway stations as well as being situated along the A14 motorway known as the "Autostrada del Sole", connecting Bari to the north with the major cities along the Adriatic coast before heading inland to Bologna, while to the south lies Puglia's second biggest city: Taranto.
For many years Bari has been viewed more as a place that you pass through while being on the way to another destination; travellers by ferry being the most obvious example of this. However, as the city has developed over recent years it's become more popular with visitors looking for a genuine experience of southern Italy while the emergence of Polignano a Mare as a holiday hotspot has also benefited Bari which is just a 40 minute drive away. Heading north from Bari along the Adriatic coast are some of Puglia's most picturesque fishing towns such as Trani, Giovinazzo, Molfetta and Bisceglie, all less than an hour's drive from Bari and ideal for day-trips.
Bari's new town couldn't be more different to Bari Vecchia; the city suffered heavy bombardment during World War Two and as a consequence much of it had to be rebuilt. However, relatively new as this side of the city is, it's not without its own charm. Walking away from Bari Vecchia you encounter two theatres, the first one Teatro Margherita straddles the old and new towns while the arguably grander, more beautiful Teatro Petruzzelli lies within the new town's network of modern, straight roads. A short walk from Teatro Petruzzelli takes you into the city's commercial district where you'll find a large variety of shops; designer shoppers will make a bee-line for Via Sparano where the likes of Gucci and Prada tantalise with their attractive window designs while most people will find the prices more palatable in the art nouveau Palazzo Mincuzzi, currently sporting the colours of Benetton.
Transport options are plentiful for visitors to Bari; it has its own airport (10km from the centre), sea port and mainline railway stations as well as being situated along the A14 motorway known as the "Autostrada del Sole", connecting Bari to the north with the major cities along the Adriatic coast before heading inland to Bologna, while to the south lies Puglia's second biggest city: Taranto.
For many years Bari has been viewed more as a place that you pass through while being on the way to another destination; travellers by ferry being the most obvious example of this. However, as the city has developed over recent years it's become more popular with visitors looking for a genuine experience of southern Italy while the emergence of Polignano a Mare as a holiday hotspot has also benefited Bari which is just a 40 minute drive away. Heading north from Bari along the Adriatic coast are some of Puglia's most picturesque fishing towns such as Trani, Giovinazzo, Molfetta and Bisceglie, all less than an hour's drive from Bari and ideal for day-trips.
THINGS TO SEE IN PUGLIAWith so much to see in Puglia I've grouped the major sights under different headings such as Seaside Towns, Cities, Fishing Towns, Hill Towns, National Parks and UNESCO Sites.
|
PUGLIA ACCOMMODATIONTo aid your search for accommodation I've provided a Booking.com search engine where you can choose from thousands of Puglia Hotels with cheap prices and free cancellation options.
|
|
|
