Hey hey! Puglia is a day tripper's heaven and the day after our visit to Alberobello, we were already on our way to the second destination during our short stay in Italy. As we were staying in Bari, it was really easy to reach, because Polignano a Mare is situated merely 30 minutes by train away. It also only cost us something like 2€ to take that train per person, which is so cheap compared to what we normally pay in the Netherlands.

Polignano a Mare itself is known to anyone who follows any travel blog on Instagram - even such a social media boomer as me. The picture that took over is this inlet beach that you will see later on in this post, but I wouldn't say that was even my favourite part of the city. The old town especially is beautiful and very pleasant to walk around in. The problem is of course that it is busy, because once a place is trending on Instagram, people begin to flock more and more. Unlike in Alberobello, we did not stay overnight, as we were slowly running out of time in Italy - so we could not avoid the crowds, but still wanted to make sure we do not miss out on Polignano a Mare.

Lama Monachile (the Beach)

I started with the picture for two reasons. First of all, to show you how beautiful it is - as honestly, it is one of the better views I've seen on this holiday or even this year. The inlet, the beach, the bridge in the background, as well as the backdrop of the old city of Polignano a Mare is just so beautiful.

The second reason is that I wanted to show how many people are on this beach. When we went down to it (which was a short walk, even though we had to walk all the way around, because it's a really small place), we were initially planning to sit down on a towel on the stones, maybe get our feet wet.. But we only managed to do one of those two things. It was just impossible to sit down, as there were too many people.

Few more angles on the beach, as well as us, just to prove we were really there! We enjoyed watching the beach a lot and the water was really nice, but it is also worth mentioning that it gets deep quick, so if you cannot swim, it isn't really for you - just stay on the beach instead.

Something that we did was find a small opening on the side of the beach, which let us through a tunnel (which was nice and cold, quite refreshing!) to a pretty viewpoint on the water and more rock formations around Polignano a Mare.

Likely my favourite part of being there was that the waves were breaking against the rocks and spraying our legs with water in an extremely refreshing way. We also encountered a fun (or frustrating) situation, as girls next to us were taking pictures and lost their fliplops to one of such waves. While there was lots of laughing, I pity them having to go back up the stones, rocks and stairs with no footwear.

Old Town

Polignano a Mare has its beautiful beach, but my favourite part of the city is its old town. We've walked a lot of old towns in our lifetimes and this one is one of the better ones, especially in Italy - which already has quite a bit of great old towns. If I compare it to Bari Vecchia for example, Polignano a Mare wins quite easily.

Typical narrow streets and the stones are charming just like in any other city in Puglia, but there's just something a little more special.

I think it is just the fact that it's a bit smaller and less adapted for tourists. Sure there are souvenir stores and all, but unlike many of the Italian cities, this isn't an old town that people will stay overnight it most of the time. It is almost exclusively a place for day trips and anyone who stays, will do it in the new part of the city, making the old town stay beguiling. The picture above shows one of those pretty streets that are just incredibly beautiful (well, with an.. underwear store in the background?).

So Is It Worth It?

Polignano a Mare is a place that is easy to visit from Bari on a day trip, so it really does not take much effort to get there. This means that the question is - is it worth the time? In my opinion, it definitely is. There isn't a ton to do there, but it is extremely pretty, so you can just relax by walking around the Old Town or go to the beach and try your luck at finding a spot to lay down. There are also some great places to sit down in and have lunch - we tried a Puccia, which is a traditional Apulian bread and it was so tasty that even if just to eat a great puccia in a great atmosphere, visiting is great.

If you want to come to Puglia JUST with Polignano a Mare as your goal though, it is probably not the best place to choose. There are more beautiful places and going to Puglia just for this reason is a bit too much. That said, if you end up in the region just because of Polignano, you will still end up being able to go to so many beautiful cities and villages like Alberobello, Locorotondo, Lecce and Bari - so it'll all be well in the end.

Final verdict? For sure go to Puglia and while you're there - spend half a day in Polignano a Mare. You won't regret it, because it stands out even for Italy standards, but you'll probably find Alberobello and Locorotondo slightly nicer.

Closing Words

Polignano a Mare was a great choice for half a day trip. For us, it was a fairly spontaneous decision during our stay in Bari, which was easy to make happen due to how simple it is to go there. If you're staying especially in Bari, or maybe even in Lecce - definitely go visit and marvel at the Lama Monachile.