Puglia's Ultimate Festival and Travel Guide with Katerina Ferrara

Puglia is one of Italy's most surprising destinations. Many travellers arrive expecting the familiar rhythms of "Italian tourism", only to discover that Puglia follows its own patterns: slower, more local, more traditional, and far more community-shaped than you might expect. For many travellers from the USA, Puglia feels both new and authentic — a place that hasn't been shaped around international tourism. But with this enthusiasm comes a learning curve. Puglia is not Tuscany. It is not Rome. It is not the Amalfi Coast. It has its own rhythms, its own cultural logic, and its own deeply-rooted way of life. Understanding those rhythms is the key to a richer, smoother, more meaningful trip. Welcome to Puglia 101: Essential Tips for First-Time Visitors. Everything you wish you'd known before your trip to the heel of Italy's boot. Follow us on Instagram for reels, stories, and daily inspiration. Use our Puglia Guide to plan your trip with confidence.  

Knowing the best time to visit Puglia helps you plan realistically. Three factors really matter: weather, tourist numbers, and whether your chosen destination will be open for business. It's not just about avoiding the August crowds. From November to Easter, life in Puglia shifts indoors. The weather turns cold and damp — the kind of chill that seeps through stone walls and straight into your bones. Humidity makes it feel far colder. Rain is frequent, skies stay grey, and daylight is short. Life in much of Puglia slows right down. Away from the main cities our region slips into hibernation mode. For visitors, that means the experience changes dramatically outside the extended summer season. There may be fewer tourists, but there's less open and less happening: fewer dining options, fewer outdoor experiences — even fewer accommodation options.  In this seasonal guide to Puglia, we highlight what to expect month by month in terms of weather and tourist numbers, and suggest where to go and what to do during Puglia's "not-summer" season.  For more information, with weather snapshots over a year in Puglia, see our companion Puglia Guys guide on the best time to visit Puglia: a seasonal guide to Puglia. We live in Puglia all year round and provide practical tips on getting around, cultural insights and unique local experiences. Follow us on Instagram for frequent video stories, reels, photos, ideas and other information to inspire your stay in Puglia.  

Not everyone visiting Puglia wants to go it alone. Some travellers prefer the security and structure of a guided experience. It allows for connection — with the people, places, and traditions that make Puglia so special. And sometimes, having someone local by your side can open doors you'd never find alone. For travellers who don't want to drive around Puglia but also don't want the challenge of using public transport to reach harder-to-access corners of the region, guided travel offers the perfect solution. We speak with Luca Oliva of Puglia With Locals, a specialist travel designer and certified tour leader from Taranto, Puglia.  For more information, check out our recommendations for guided travel in Puglia page.  Remember to follow us on Instagram for reels, stories, and daily inspiration.

In this Halloween special, the Puglia Guys take you deep into the Gargano — Puglia's wild northern promontory where faith and fear have shared the same mountains for centuries. We begin in San Giovanni Rotondo, today one of the world's busiest pilgrimage sites, where millions come to honour Padre Pio, the friar who bore the stigmata and claimed to battle demons in the skies above his monastery. Then we climb higher still, to Monte Sant'Angelo, the ancient shrine of Saint Michael the Archangel — a place once said to mark the very gate of heaven. But where heaven opens so near to earth, shadows gather too. From Padre Pio's letters describing his nightly assaults by unseen forces, to the mist-filled Foresta Umbra, where locals whisper of the lupi mannari — the werewolves of Gargano — we follow the line where sanctity blurs into superstition. Pour yourself a glass of dark Puglian red — Negroamaro or Primitivo — and listen as we journey from pilgrimage to possession, from light into darkness. Faith, folklore and fear intertwine in this chilling exploration of Puglia's holiest and most haunted land. Follow us on Instagram - if you dare - for frequent video stories, reels, photos, ideas and other information to inspire your stay in Puglia.

In Puglia, food isn't just something you eat – it's how you understand the region itself. Every dish tells a story of the seasons, the land, the sea, and the people who live here. This is Italy's largest olive oil producer, its breadbasket, the country's second-biggest wine region – and the birthplace of burrata. From pasta scorched in its pan in Bari, to stuffed meat rolls sizzling on a braceria grill, to raw seafood eaten straight from the shell on a harbour wall, these are the dishes every visitor should try. They're the foods locals still cook, order, and argue over. These are the 20 must-eat dishes that define Puglia. For photos of all the dishes described (and more), check out our companion guide to the Taste of Puglia podcast episode. Follow us on Instagram for frequent video stories, reels, photos, ideas and other information to inspire your stay in Puglia.  

Olive oil is the lifeblood of Puglia's landscape, culture and cuisine. With over 60 million olive trees, Puglia is Italy's top olive oil producer, accounting for around 40% of Italy's olive oil. From the monumental groves of Fasano to the sunburnt fields of Salento, olive oil has shaped Puglia's economy, its traditions and even its identity. October marks the start of the olive harvest in Puglia. The harvest marks the arrival of new oil, freshly pressed and full of flavour, and it's the moment when centuries of tradition and hard work come together in the groves and the mills. And there's no better way to celebrate this than with an olive oil tasting at Frantoio Savoia in Pezze di Greco, Fasano. Set in Masseria Pezze d'Aglio, an 18th-century farmhouse surrounded by sixty hectares of olive groves, the Savoia family produce award-winning extra-virgin olive oils that bridge past and present.  Join us on our Puglia olive oil tasting with guide, Rosaria Pace, engaging and enthusiastic, one of the reasons why olive oil tasting at Frantoio Savoia is a stand-out experience. To find out more, check out our Puglia Guys guide to olive oil tasting, or visit Frantoio Savoia's website where you can arrange a visit. Follow us on Instagram for frequent video stories, reels, photos, ideas and other information to inspire your stay in Puglia.

In Puglia we embrace a slower pace of life. Il dolce far niente (sweet idleness). It's part of our culture, reflected in all of our daily rituals. We give you our suggestions to leave behind the noise of daily life and experience Puglia in the here and now. And for visitors from the USA who really like to pack a full itinerary, we offer additional tips to slow down and help manage expectations for a more meaningful, local-friendly stay in Southern Italy. We're taking a summer break. See you the other side of summer. We will still be posting on our website and socials, so be sure to follow us on Instagram for frequent video stories, reels, photos, ideas and other information to inspire your stay in Puglia.  

We meet with US based writer Katerina Ferrara currently exploring Puglia through food, festivals and cultural immersion. Katerina is writing a series of travel guides on Italy, taking readers on a journey with her using festivals as a focus. The 4th book in her series "Ultimate Festival & Travel Guide Puglia" is launched on June 1, 2025. Find out about Katerina's mission on her website katerinaferrara.com. Follow us on Instagram for frequent video stories, reels, photos, ideas and other information to inspire your stay in Puglia.

Take a Chance. Advance to Go! Welcome to Monopoli (the city in Puglia, not the board game). Adjacent to and sometimes overshadowed by its near neighbour Polignano a Mare, Monopoli offers a quieter alternative for lunch or dinner. It has a pretty old town and enjoys a less frenetic pace. The old port with its characteristic light blue and red blue fishing boats and green fishing nets drying under the sun invites you into the beating heart of its centro storico. Its medieval center, characterised by churches and convents, is compact and charming. For details and locations of the beaches, churches and restaurants mentioned in this episode, see our companion Puglia Guys Monopoli City Guide. Follow us on Instagram for frequent video stories, reels, photos, ideas and other information to inspire your visit to Puglia.

Think of Puglia and you will probably picture Alberobello's trulli - as iconic as Polignano a Mare's Lama Monachile - and just as likely to grace the cover of the latest edition of The Lonely Planet Guide to Puglia. Although they feature across the Itria Valley, it is the concentration of trulli found in Alberobello that makes it unique. Drawing a stream of visitors all year round tourism takes centre stage in Alberobello. Most trulli in the crowded commercialised Monti district are shops; those that are not are restaurants. Unprepared for its crowds and commercialisation, visitors can leave Alberobello feeling underwhelmed. The crowds, souvenir shops, and selfie sticks can distract from the magic. Yet no trip to Puglia would be complete without visiting Puglia's trulli. And it is still possible to discover some of the town's quieter, "secret" spaces. For fuller details, including map locations nd full restaurant details, visit our companion Puglia Guys Alberobello Guide. Follow us on Instagram for frequent video stories, reels, photos, ideas and other information to inspire your stay in Puglia.