Practical Information for visiting Puglia

Puglia is long and its public transport is uneven. A car is the practical choice for anything beyond the main cities.

Arriving

Bari Karol Wojtyła and Brindisi are the two airports, both with European connections and a rail link into their cities. The Adriatic main line runs down the coast from Bologna and Ancona to Bari, Brindisi and Lecce; high-speed services reach Bari from Rome in about four hours. Ferries run from Bari and Brindisi to Greece, Albania and Croatia.

Trains

The state network covers the coast well — Foggia, Trani, Bari, Monopoli, Brindisi, Lecce. Inland is served by Ferrovie del Sud Est, which reaches Alberobello, Martina Franca and much of the Salento but runs infrequently, slowly, and with a very reduced Sunday service.

Buses

Coaches fill some gaps between towns, but timetables assume local knowledge and weekend service is thin.

Driving

• A car is effectively required for the Valle d'Itria, the Gargano, the masserie and most of the coast between towns.
• Roads are flat, straight and generally good; distances are longer than they look, with Lecce to the Gargano around four hours.
• ZTL zones operate in most historic centres, camera-enforced, with fines forwarded months later.
• Parking in coastal towns in August is genuinely difficult, and hire cars sell out for that period.

Coverage for mobile networks is good along the coast and in the towns, and thinner in the Gargano and the emptier inland stretches.

• Cellular data. 4G covers inhabited areas well and 5G reaches Bari, Lecce and Taranto. Signal drops in the Foresta Umbra, parts of the Murgia and on the Tremiti islands.
• SIM cards. TIM, Vodafone, WindTre and Iliad. A passport is required by law to buy an Italian SIM. EU visitors keep their home allowance under roaming rules.
• Wi-fi. Standard in hotels, common in bars. Masserie in the countryside often have slower connections than a town hotel, and thick stone walls block signal indoors.
• Power. 230 V, 50 Hz, type L and type F sockets.

Italian is universal. English is widely spoken in Lecce, Alberobello, Ostuni and the masserie, and much less in the smaller inland towns.

• Buongiorno / buonasera — on entering any shop or bar.
• Per favore, grazie, prego.
• Un caffè — an espresso. In summer ask for caffè leccese, over ice with almond milk.
• Il conto, per favore — the bill, not brought unasked.
• Quanto costa? — useful in markets.

Puglian dialects vary sharply along the region's length and are not mutually obvious even to Italians — Barese and Salentino differ considerably. In nine Salento villages, Griko, a Greek-derived language, is a recognised minority tongue and appears on signage. Nobody expects a visitor to engage with either, but knowing they are separate languages rather than sloppy Italian is worth something locally.

Puglia is a safe region for visitors, and organised crime — the Sacra Corona Unita — has no bearing on tourists. The realistic risks are ordinary and mostly to do with cars and the sun.

• Vehicle break-ins. The most common problem, particularly at beach car parks and trailheads. Leave nothing visible, including in the boot.
• Pickpocketing in Bari around the station and in crowded parts of the old town, and at busy markets. Uncommon but not rare.
• Traffic. Driving is assertive, scooters are everywhere in the cities, and pedestrian crossings are treated as advisory. Cross decisively and predictably.
• Summer heat and sun. The genuine hazard. Inland temperatures above 35 °C with no shade, and UV among the highest in Italy. Archaeological sites and the trulli towns offer very little cover in the middle of the day.
• Sea conditions. The Ionian side shelves gently; the Adriatic side has rock, undertow and sea caves that are only safe with local knowledge. Follow beach flags.
• Dry vegetation. Wildfire risk is high in summer, particularly on the Gargano. Open fires are prohibited, and roads can close during incidents.

Healthcare is available across the region, with the largest hospitals in Bari, Lecce, Foggia and Taranto. Provision on the Tremiti islands is minimal.

• Emergencies:112. Emergency treatment is provided regardless of nationality.
• EU/EEA and Swiss visitors should carry the EHIC or national equivalent; UK visitors the GHIC. Others need travel insurance.
• Pharmacies (farmacia, green cross) are in every town and post an out-of-hours rota in the window.
• Heat is the main seasonal risk. Inland July and August routinely exceed 35 °C, and heat exhaustion is common and preventable — water, shade and an early start.
• Air quality at Taranto. The steelworks has a long-documented effect on local air, and anyone with a respiratory condition planning time in the city may want to check current readings.
• Jellyfish appear along both coasts in warm summers; local beach advice is reliable.
• Tap water is safe. It is piped a long way, and some visitors find it tastes strongly of chlorine.

Puglia is informal and welcoming, with a few rules worth knowing and one that is specific to the region.

Rules with real penalties

• Plant material. Because of Xylella, moving plants, cuttings or olive wood out of quarantine zones is prohibited and enforced. This is a real restriction, not a formality.
• ZTL zones cover most historic centres, camera-enforced, with fines arriving months later through the rental company.
• Beach concessions. Much of the coast is divided into private lidi charging for sunbeds, but free public stretches (spiaggia libera) exist by law and are signposted.
• Archaeological sites. Removing stone or fragments is a criminal offence.
• Identification. Hotels must register a passport or ID card at check-in.

Etiquette

• Churches expect covered shoulders and knees, applied fairly strictly.
• The afternoon closure is long here — often 1pm to 5pm in summer, and towns can feel abandoned in the middle of the day.
• Dinner is late. Arriving at 7.30pm usually means an empty restaurant; 9pm is normal in summer.
• Coffee standing at the bar costs less than sitting, at a published rate.
• Tipping is not expected; a coperto is a cover charge.
• Hospitality is offered readily and refusing flatly can read as unfriendly.

112 is the single emergency number across Italy, connecting to police, ambulance and fire. Operators generally handle English. The older numbers — 113 police, 118 medical, 115 fire, 1530 coastguard — remain active.

• Coastguard — 1530. The number for trouble at sea, including on the Tremiti crossings.
• Wildfire. Report to 112 or 1515, the forestry service line. Summer fires on the Gargano and in the Salento can close roads at short notice.
• Pharmacies on duty — posted in every pharmacy window.
• Consulates. A few countries maintain honorary consulates in Bari; anything substantive is handled from Naples or Rome.
• Tremiti islands. Serious medical cases are transferred to the mainland by helicopter, and ferry services are weather-dependent — worth allowing slack before an onward flight.