Beaches in Puglia
Our Hand-Picked Guide to the Best Beaches in Puglia
Moving anticlockwise from Palermo, we immediately arrive at the splendid sandy beach of Mondello, a magnet for Palermitani and holidaymakers alike. The best season for Mondello is between September and June, as in the high summer months it gets very crowded. Continuing west, past the beaches of Castellammare del Golfo and Guidaloca near Scopello, the mountainous nature reserve of Lo Zingaro offers some excellent coastal walking, crystal clear waters and quiet pebble bays.
Gargano
Starting in the north of Puglia, the rocky, mountainous promontory of the Gargano offers some stunning coastal scenery: green wooded hills give way to white cliffs, sea stacks, azure crystalline seas, golden sands and paradisiacal pebbly coves. The beaches around Rodi Gaganico, Peschici and Vieste are particularly popular, but if you get off the beaten track – ideally in a boat – you will come across some real hidden gems.
Bari and the Valle d'Itria
Heading south down the Adriatic, the coast between Manfredonia and the bustling, historic capital, Bari, is formed by a series of sandy and pebble beaches, the salt pans of the Margherita di Savoia Nature Reserve, and some lovely towns such as Trani with its fabulous seafront cathedral. From Bari, the mostly rocky coast is punctured by occasional spots of sandy beach, such as those at the lovely towns of Polignano a Mare and Monopoli, both well worth a visit.
Beaches in the Salento
Continuing south towards Brindisi, one of Puglia’s most important ports, of note are the sandy beaches of Marina di Ostuni and the fabulous Torre Guaceto Nature Reserve, a nature lover’s paradise combining unspoilt woods, Mediterranean maquis, several miles of sandy beach, and a protected marine reserve. While there you may well come across a flock of flamingos, just one of the dozens of species of migratory birds who stop off here.
Lecce, Puglia’s baroque jewel, lies about 7km in-land but is connected by a straight, no-time-to-be-wasted road to the little Adriatic town of San Cataldo with its lovely sandy beaches and seafront nature reserve.
From this point, the coast becomes rather more dramatic and the magnificently sea-sculpted chalky-white cliffs, transparent waters and sandy beaches of Torre dell’Orso are not to be missed... unless you opt to continue a few miles south to the Laghi Alimini, two lakes immersed in wonderful Mediterranean pine woods. The larger lake is connected to the sea by a small channel and the sandy beaches are of spectacular beauty.
Just a stone’s throw away to the south, is the delightful fortified port town of Otranto, another highlight of this stretch of the Adriatic coast.
Apart from its historical and architectural interest, Otranto also boasts several lovely sandy beaches, one of which is right in the centre of town.
Around two miles south of Otranto, at Capo d’Otranto, one comes to the easternmost point of Italy and from here on, until the tip of the heel where the Adriatic and the Ionian seas meet and mingle at Santa Maria di Leuca, the coastline is characterised by rocky cliffs, probing inlets, such as the one at Porto Badisco which heads inland for nearly 400m, and towns like Castro, perched above the sea in superb panoramic positions.
Continuing our tour around Puglia’s coast, heading westward from Santa Maria di Leuca, with its strategically positioned lighthouse and sumptuous Liberty-style villas, one soon arrives at one of the most lovely stretches of sandy beach in Italy: about six kilometres running along Marina di Salve, through Marina di Pescoluse and up to Torre Pali. A brief interruption of rocky coastline soon gives way to more spectacular sand and turquoise waters at Torre Mozza and Marina di Ugento.
Heading north for another 15km or so, one soon comes to the spiky Punto del Pizzo, which signals the beginning of the Gulf of Gallipoli, characterised by yet more lovely sandy beaches accessed through fragrant pine woods.
Taranto
The historic fortress island town of Gallipoli is a must-see if you’re in the area, but we need to keep going - there is still over 100km of coastline to explore! A few kilometres up the coast from Gallipoli is Rivabella, home to yet more Caribbean-esque sandy beaches. From this point on, right up to Taranto, small stretches of low-lying rocky coastline alternate with long, sensuous expanses of sandy beach, including those at San Caterina di Nardó. Also of interest is the lagoon-like, sandy seafront of Porto Cesareo, delimited by its own promontory and the offshore Isola dei Conigli, and the 20-km stretch of beach that runs along the south-facing coast between Punto Prosciutto and Acqua Dolce.
As the coast heads northwest towards the historic naval port of Taranto, there are lots of lovely little towns with their own sandy bays. On the other side of Taranto, the Puglian coastline continues westwards along the northern shores of the Gulf of Taranto for about 40km, until, after the Stornara Nature Reserve and its curvaceous, non-stop stretch of sand, it arrives at the border with Basilicata.
