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Puglia by bike: 8 must-see places to visit
Turnip greens orecchiette, giant mozzarella braids, taralli and trulli, Puglia is one of the beautiful regions of southern Italy. From the province of Foggia, which borders Molise, down to the province of Lecce with its southernmost point in the town of Santa Maria di Leuca, Puglia is a diverse territory that lends itself well to discovery by bicycle. In fact, in Apulia there are no major reliefs, Mount Cornacchia at 1152 m being the highest peak, but extensive plains and large hilly areas and rich in history.
Martina Franca
An intense scent of oil pervades the air as you ride on the pleasant dirt roads of the Taranto countryside. It is harvest time in Puglia and temperatures are still mild and pleasant. The squares of Martina Franca, in the heart of the Itria Valley, are coming alive briskly as the streets, flanked by the town’s ancient palaces and numerous churches, throng with visitors. On a bike, the climb takes your breath away, but the idea of a typical Apulian dinner transmits new energy for the success of the endeavor. The historic center of Martina Franca is characterized by a vertical development where houses were divided, and still are, into living area at the top and workshop at the bottom.
Piazza Plebiscito with the basilica dedicated to St. Martin pulses with energy as the first artificial lights come on, giving the town an even more evocative appearance. The countryside around Martina Franca, and in general the entire Itria Valley, is crisscrossed by a maze of dirt roads ideal for pedaling and discovering the area slowly. Not to be missed: The numerous trulli and characteristic dry-stone walls.
Alberobello
Speaking of what to visit in Puglia by bike, one cannot forget the picturesque trulli, cone-shaped structures that dot the entire region. Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, is the kingdom of trulli and rises at an elevation of 428 m (1,960 ft) in the province of Bari. Pedaling, or strolling, through the streets of Alberobello, you can see some unique structures: the Siamese trullo, a structure with two cones; the sovereign trullo, which is the largest at 14 meters high; and the church-trullo dedicated to St. Anthony of Padua.
Ostuni
Perched on a hill in a panoramic position, Ostuni looks like one of those towns that are impregnable even to the most astute pirates. As you approach it, the snow-white houses of the old town reflect the sunlight in an almost blinding glow; this characteristic has given it the nickname White City.
Ostuni, with its crystal-clear sea (for several years it has been awarded Legambiente’s Blue Flag), boasts some beautiful churches such as the Romanesque Co-cathedral, the ancient church of St. James of Compostela from 1423 and the medieval church of St. Francis of Assisi. In addition to the many farms in the area, some of which are fortified, the old tobacco tannery and some interesting archaeological areas can still be seen in Ostuni. Before leaving Ostuni to continue your cycling trip in Apulia, don’t forget to taste the pucce.
Castro
The ancient village of Castro, nestled between sea and rock, is a little-known place, a place often overlooked by hurried tourists. Castrum Minervae , on the other hand, is a place full of surprises and seems to have been the landing point of Aeneas on our peninsula. Its name, given by the presence of a fortress and a temple dedicated to the goddess, dates back to 123 B.C. when it became a Roman colony after being inhabited for centuries by Greeks and Messapians. Wandering around Castro one can see many clues to its important past: the ancient city walls, the Romanesque-style religious buildings, the remains of a Byzantine church, the castle and the large squares. In the marine territory of Castro are also located some caves with important karst phenomena such as those detectable in the Zinzulusa Cave.
Zinzulusa Cave
The Zinzulusa cave rises in the territory of Castro and is considered one of the most important caves in the world for the karst phenomena that distinguish it. The dialect word “zinzuli” means rags and refers precisely to the characteristic stalactites (and stalagmites) that can be seen inside it and that recall the image of many rags lying in the sun to dry. Perhaps the room most representative of the beauty of this cave is the one known as the Dome or crypt. A curiosity is that in the early decades of the 1900s the cave floor, now cleaned up, was covered with more than 5 meters of guano due to the countless bats that inhabited the cavity.
Gallipoli
One of the most popular places in Puglia to visit by bicycle is the town of Gallipoli, overlooking the Ionian Sea.
The pearl of the Ionian Sea, also named by Pliny the Elder in his writings, lies quietly on the coast showing visitors its beauty. The most convenient way to visit Gallipoli is to start from its center: pedal through the narrow streets of the historic heart, discover the Aragonese castle, the palaces and photograph the Greek fountain, the oldest in Italy, dating back to the 3rd century BC. To recover your energy then, dive into the crystal-clear waters that lap the town’s ramparts from the little beach of the Purità.
Santa Maria di Leuca
If in the hinterland of the Itria Valley the silver of the olive trees is the dominant color, on the Salento coast the turquoise of the sea is the hue that most strikes visitors.
Santa Maria di Leuca is the southernmost town in Puglia , and its 48.60 m high lighthouse was, and still is, an important landmark for sailors.
Among the many special features of this place on the edge of the Italic peninsula, Santa Maria di Leuca encounters the end of the colossal work of theApulian aqueduct whose construction reached here in 1939. On a visit to the end of Puglia , you can also visit the basilica of Santa Maria di finubus Terrae and some of the elegant 19th-century villas that enrich the town’s architecture. The ride to Santa Maria di Leuca could end near Punta Ristola off the coast of which there is still an Italian submarine that was sunk during World War II.
Lecce
The capital of Salento and Italian Baroque, Lecce is one of those cities that make you fall hopelessly in love at first sight. The churches, foremost among them the Cathedral erected in 1144, the monasteries, the castle whose construction would seem to have been ordered by Charles V, the city gates and towers, the magical Piazze di Sant’Oronzo and the Duomo, the archaeological remains and the palaces, make Lecce one of the most beautiful cities in Apulia and all of Italy.
As you visit these wonderful destinations in Puglia by bicycle, remember to also spend some time on the traditional flavors of the region by including a few good glasses of wine.
If you don’t want to plan a bike trip in Puglia on your own, rely on the knowledge of Girolibero, which offers tours for all legs, throughout the region.
