PUGLIA. It’s the heel of the boot in southern Italy and its one of the best kept secrets.  But I think the secret is already out.  In the next couple posts we will be highlighting all the place we traveled with a summary at the end giving you an overview of our itinerary and some travel tips.  So first stop, Polignano a Mare

Polignano a Mare is about 45 minutes by train from Bari Centrale and 1 hour by train from Bari Airport.  Its a coastal town, known for beaches like the white-pebble Lama Monachile, also known as Cala Porto, which is bordered by a Roman bridge. The Ponte dei Lapilli is a cove nestled at the bottom of a cliff.  Picture Perfect!  While we were there a book festival was going on, so the streets were filled with people at night – it made for a fun evening walking around! The streets of Polignano are so simple, yet chic.  To paint a picture of this town you see small alleyways filled with limestone, hunter green shutters, colorful flower pots, bikes and some cactus.  I couldn’t stop taking photos! Enjoy for yourself….

Casamare

We stayed at Casamare for one night on the first leg of our trip.  Looking back, it would have been nice to stay for 2 nights since Casamare was one of our favorite B&B’s we stayed in. Ada was the sweetest and gave us recommendations on places to eat, the best gelato and the beaches.  We found Casamare on Airbnb, but you can also book directly through the site linked above.  Ada prepares a lovely breakfast each morning out on the balcony that has a sea view – she even served us a new dish she whipped up…it was a tart.  See below.  Perfection! Highly recommend staying at Casamare if you are in Polignano a Mare – its centrally located and has one of the best hosts, Ada! Grazie Mille.

Lido Cala Paura

Instead of hanging out at the crowded Cala Porto, we headed to Lido Cala Paura, just about a 10 minute walk from Old Town.  Not that we didn’t like Cala Porto, it just was crowed and we wanted some lounge chairs.  Lido Cala Paura is low key and popular with the local Italians. We paid for chairs, €6 each including an umbrella.  DEAL! We grabbed some Peronis and relaxed for a couple hours.  To note, water shoes recommend!

Shopping

Polignano a mare has really chic boutiques.  As we roamed the streets, we loved popping into the stores and checking out the local designers.  We found two favorite stores No’ and Osaka Design.  They are located close to one another ! I picked up a gorgeous yellow/golden linen two-piece shorts set from No’ and some Italian-handmade sandals.  From Osaka Design, I purchased a long linen white dress that can duel as a cover-up or dress.  Keep a look out in our post of photos of these on instagram!

Caffe Serafini

The outside ambiance brought us to this restaurant for an apertivo.  Caffe Serafini had used Monkey 47 gin bottles as the vases and made it look so elegant.  We had some drinks (Aperol Spritz, obviously!) and a cheese and charcuterie board.  It was the perfect place to grab a bite while we enjoyed the settings of the piazza across from us fill up with people for the book festival that was going on in the city.

Mylo’

Need a place for sunset drinks, go to Mylo’.  Its the perfect spot to watch the sun go down.  To note, the rooftop is small so get their early to claim or spots or if you are lucky like us you will walk up and have a group leave the best seats in the house! Highly suggest Mylo’ for sunset drinks.

Osteria dei Mulini

We had one night in Polignano a Mare, so we had to make sure we picked the best restaurant for dinner.  Osteria dei Milini was the spot as it was on my list and also highly recommended by Ada.  Good old fashion Italian homestyle food.  The restaurant didn’t disappoint – we had the seafood pasta and the ravioli dish along with a bottle of Primitivo, the wine of the region! Earlier in the day, we stopped by the restaurant to make reservations to sit outside.  Highly recommend making reservations, its a small restaurant.

Polignano a mare, our time there was too short – we will have to come back!