Puglia 4-Day Itinerary by Car
Four days down the heel of Italy with a three-year-old — a cliff town, a town of stone cones, a safari you drive through, a city carved into a ravine, and a port city that is better after dark. The short version; every stop has its own guide.
5 Places to Visit in Puglia, a Line Each
Polignano a Mare — a white town on a limestone cliff with a beach wedged into a ravine underneath it, and a quieter cove along the coast where an old fishing boat has been turned into a library.
Alberobello — sixteen hundred dry-stone cones on two hillsides, a UNESCO site by day and a different town entirely in the hour after the coaches leave.
Zoosafari Fasanolandia — a wildlife park you drive your own car through, where goats, zebras, ponies and deer walk right up to the car, which is the reason we took full insurance.
Matera — a city cut downward into a ravine and lived in since prehistory, over the border in Basilicata and worth rearranging a trip for.
Bari — a working port city rather than a show town: pasta made by hand in the street, the bones of Saint Nicholas, and an old town that is better after dark.
4-Day Puglia Itinerary, Day by Day
A different town every night and a hire car from landing to departure. The flights are what make four days work: out at 07:40, on the ground at 08:30, so day one is a whole day rather than an arrival day.
Land Bari 08:30, car from 09:30 · Polignano a Mare · Alberobello for the afternoon and the hour after sunset
Flight · hire car from the airportZoosafari Fasanolandia from opening · south to Matera for the late afternoon, the lights coming on, and dinner in the Sassi
By car · about an hour to MateraCar back at the airport 07:00, in the air at 09:05, home before noon. Day four is logistics, not a day.
Flight homeOne honest geography note. Matera is not in Puglia — it is over the regional border in Basilicata, about an hour from Alberobello. Every Puglia itinerary includes it anyway, including this one, because it is close and it is extraordinary. Just do not be surprised by the road signs.
Renting a Car in Puglia
Puglia without a car is a different and much smaller trip. The towns are spread out, the good ones are not on the railway, and the Zoosafari is not reachable any other way. We picked the car up at Bari airport on landing and dropped it at the same desk before the flight home: Sicily by Car, €326.77 for three days, automatic, with full cover.
One thing worth knowing. We took the full insurance deliberately, because of the animals that walk up to the car at the Zoosafari; a damage excess would have cost more than the cover did.
Looking for a car for Puglia? You can find an affordable rental at Bari airport through Localrent (affiliate link).
How Much Does 4 Days in Puglia Cost?
| Item | Paid | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Flights, Bucharest–Bari return × 3 | €424.00 | Out 07:40–08:30, back 09:05–11:50 |
| Hire car, 3 days, automatic, full cover | €326.77 | Booked with Sicily by Car |
| Trulli Arcolaia | Antico Fienile (affiliate link), Alberobello | €140.40 | 19–20 Sep — an actual trullo |
| Casa Adelina nel Centro dei Sassi (affiliate link), Matera | €140.12 | 20–21 Sep — in the Sassi themselves |
| VS Luxury Suite with Spa (affiliate link), Bari | €142.60 | 21–22 Sep |
| Booked before we left | €1,173.89 | ≈ €391 each — all from receipts |
| Food, souvenirs and day-to-day spending | ≈ €400 | ≈ €100 a day, from memory rather than receipts |
| Four days, three people, all in | ≈ €1,575 | ≈ €525 each |
Planning the same trip? You can search flights to Bari on Kiwi.com (affiliate link).
Two extras inside that daily spending we do have exact figures for: the tuk-tuk tour in Polignano, €40 for the three of us, and €72 to get into the Zoosafari — €36 each for the two adults, with our three-year-old not charged. That zoo ticket does not include Fasanolandia, the fairground on the same site, which we did not do.
What stands out is how flat the accommodation was: €140.40, €140.12 and €142.60. A trullo, a cave house and a city suite with a spa bath — and barely two euros between them.
What to Eat in Puglia, and Where We Ate
Puglian food is coastal, cheap and unfussy. The regional defaults are frittura di paranza — whatever came off the boat, floured and fried, eaten from a bowl with a beer — the octopus panino, and orecchiette, which in Bari you can buy from the women who shape it by hand in the street. Ask for the local beer and you will be handed a Raffo, brewed in Taranto.
Where we actually ate: Good Time in Polignano for the octopus burger, and Il Super Mago del Gelo on the same square for a caffè speciale — both in the Polignano guide. Coppino in Alberobello for homemade pasta out of a paper bowl (Alberobello guide). Antò Cucina Tipica Pugliese in Bari for truffle spaghetti and a loaded flatbread (Bari guide). We ate well in Matera too and have lost the name of the place, which we are not going to invent.
What We Would Change
We would take five days, not four
Two towns fell off the plan — Monopoli, fifteen minutes past Polignano, and Locorotondo, a circular hill town between Alberobello and Matera. Neither was far. Both lost to time on a full day. A fifth day absorbs both with almost no extra driving.
We would not change moving every night
Three towns, three nights, no backtracking. A single base would have been simpler and would have cost us the evenings in Alberobello and Matera, which were the best hours of the trip.
Day four is not a day
Car back at 07:00 and wheels up at 09:05 means the last morning is logistics. If you want four days in Puglia you need a fifth night.
Written up in full
The detail lives in these — the hours we were there, what each thing cost, and what we would do differently.
Polignano a Mare
A beach at the bottom of a ravine, a €40 tuk-tuk tour, and the quiet cove with a boat full of books.
Read the guide →
Alberobello
Sixteen hundred stone cones, a night inside one of them, and the half hour after the coaches leave.
Read the guide →
Zoosafari Fasanolandia
You drive your own car through it, goats, zebras, ponies and deer come right up to the windows, and that is why we took the full insurance.
Read the guide →
Matera
A city cut downward into a ravine — the cistern, the terraces at dusk, and a cave house lived in until the 1950s.
Read the guide →
Bari
Pasta made in the street, the bones of Saint Nicholas, and an old town that is better after dark.
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