I believe that when visiting Puglia, Bari is often overlooked. I absolutely adored our time in Bari and will provide here a perfect itinerary for spending a day/night here.
Strada Delle Orcchiette
Your day starts early by heading straight out to check out the “Strada delle Orecchiette”. This is the famous street where the women sit outside and hand make pasta all day long. The street is wonderful to see as Bari is waking up, there are far less tourists and you can really spend some time watching and purchasing pasta if you’d like. It just has such an old school feel and I know my Grama would have loved it. The pastas are so colorful and the alleys are so beautiful, we walked this street numerous times throughout the day and night just to see it.
Panificio Santa Rita
After a stroll down the street head to “Panificio Santa Rita” and get the most unreal focaccia. You will thank me for this! The line was out the door when we got there so we knew it was going to be good. Everything in this place looked amazing and I am not one to eat focaccia for breakfast (especially before heading to the beach) but it was heaven!
Hit the beach
Next up, if it is summertime head to the beach for a while. The beach is definitely not the nicest one you’ve ever seen in Italy, and it can get quite crowded. But hey, it’s summer and it’s a beach! The water is beautiful and honestly it’s not a bad spot to spend a few hours during the heat of the day.
La Tana Del Polpo
When you tire of the beach head back into town for the best octopus sandwich ever at “La Tana Del Polpo”. I posted about them on my instagram a while back and they said anyone that shows a screenshot of my post & their comment can get a free drink with their sandwich! You can find my post here
This place was crowded and looked quite popular so I’m sure it also would have been delightful to sit inside and have a full lunch. But no matter how you decide to go, don’t skip this spot!
Take a tour
Next up we took a tour with “Velo Services Bari”. The tour included a bit of walking history of Bari, a stop of Gelato at “Gelateria Gentile”, and pasta making in the square with one of the women of Bari. It was such a fun experience to get to sit in the square and sip wine and learn how to form our own orecchiette.
Dinner at Al Sorso Preferito
To end our day we had dinner at “Al Sorso Preferito” and had another Puglia special. The pasta dish is called “Spaghetti all’assassina. It is made with a special cooking technique similar to making risotto. It is cooked in a pan and it gives it a slightly burnt texture which is so delicious and has so much flavor. We loved trying this dish and many others at this classic spot.
Where to stay: We booked an airbnb in Bari as we were staying with a group, if you’d like the link just send me a message I’m always happy to help! If you’re more keen to book a hotel in Bari please use my affiliate link below. It will get me a small commission at NO COST to you what so ever. This helps me to keep writing posts like this and keep them ad free!
If you’re interested in an itinerary for Puglia check out my post here: Itinerary for Albania & Puglia
If you’re interested in a deeper dive into why we stayed in Monopoli during our time in Puglia check this post out: Monopoli, Italy a great base for visiting Puglia
Plan for me dani 