Planning your Dream Honeymoon in Puglia

Planning your dream honeymoon in Puglia?

Read this travel guide to get some brilliant tips and inspiring ideas to live an unforgettable honeymoon in a heavenly region.

Unlike Sardinia, best-known for its hundreds of wonderful beaches and a crystal-clear sea, on top of enchanting beaches and a fabulous sea, Sicily and Puglia are also filled with tons of archaeological sites preserving substantial relics of different past ages and civilizations.

If you are seeking less crowded tourist places, where pristine nature, calm and dramatic sceneries dominate the landscape, go for northern Puglia and kick off your honeymoon adventure in Gargano Promontory.

Gargano lies in the northern part of Puglia, featuring a rugged and rocky coastline of bays that alternate with coves of tiny and cosy white cobblestone beaches and a crystal-clear sea. In 1991 this area was declared Protected Natural Reserve in an effort to preserve its pristine and authentic look.

The top towns in this area are VIESTE, Foggia Province, a picturesque seaside village perched high on a clifftop, bordered by beaches equipped with every tourist facility and a vast selection of hotels, guest-houses, camping-sites, kiosks, and restaurants.

Vieste (Gargano)

The southern part of Puglia is definitely worth a stopover. Puglia’s coastline is as fascinating as the hinterland, housing a number of white and fine sandy beaches lined by a ”Caribbean”, like the splendid beaches around the city of LECCE, and the whitewashed cliff-top villages of OTRANTO and OSTUNI.

Other must-see towns are Gallipoli, Otranto, Ostuni, Alberobello, Grotte di Castellana, Castel del Monte, besides Gargano.

Alberobello is a gateway to another must-see place, Matera, in the bordering region of Basilicata.

Matera is internationally renowned for its ancient town, “Sassi di Matera”. Matera is perched on a rocky spur and it’s renowned worldwide for hosting an entire district where houses and shops are carved into the rock. Matera was proclaimed Capital-City of European Culture in 2019 and it belongs to the group of Unesco Heritage Sites.
Moreover, Matera is thought to be the first human settlement in Italy.

Polignano a Mare, Valerio Mei©, 123RF.com

The best year’s holiday time in Puglia is definitely May-June and September. Beyond these months, especially in July and August, accommodation rates can inflate significantly.

Moreover, throughout the whole year, lots of Festivals occur in Puglia, attracting many national visitors and leading accommodation rates to increase dramatically. The months I recommend are also the least picked one by mass tourism, matching the holiday expectations of couples seeking calm and privacy.

MASSERIA is a typical farmhouse in Puglia, dating back to the 16th century when landlords used to build fortified farm complexes to protect the inhabitants and their belongings from Turk attacks. Inside these complexes houses, inhabitants used to store their food and possessions.
Over the centuries these farmhouses have increased popularity for staging some typically local cooking practices, mainly focused on pasta making processes. Some of these practices have survived over time up to our current age, ending up becoming one of Puglia’s star attractions for international tourists.

Most typically a Masseria is built-in chunky limestone and is white painted. Some of them still preserve wine cellars and grow their own olive groves and vineyards.
Since the ’90s a massive trend to converting this rural estate into tourist lodgings took off. Nowadays most of them are used for tourist hospitality, ranging from B&B, boutique hotels, guest houses, to exclusive hotels.

Commonly most exclusive Masseria embed a swimming pool and a SPA, and some provide access to their own beaches. Most of them provide catering services of home-made exquisite local dishes and wine.

Masseria is usually located in rural areas, but you can find some closer to the coast as well. Many summer tourists choose to accommodate in a Masseria to relax enjoying stunning views and to reach the coast fast.

Lots of masserie are situated in the Salento Peninsula, around towns of great interest such as Brindisi, Bari, Lecce, Gallipoli, and Otranto, but also in the hinterland, in particular in ALBEROBELLO (Valle d’Itria) is very common to find Masserie.

Click HERE for reading our guide to the 11 Top Romantic Hotels for a Timeless Honeymoon in Puglia

Please note that due to the considerable amount of pictures displayed on this site, we cannot ensure that every photographer’s name is featured properly or featured at all. Thus, if you realize that your name is not featured or unproperly featured,
please get privately in touch with us using this contact form

Photo cover

Footer Background photo and Wedding Planning Guide cover photo: IVASHStudio

Home cover photo: Goran Bocicevik

MakeloveinItaly is a website designed to help couples wishing to marry,
or renew their vows in Italy, to plan their Perfect Italian Wedding.

VENDOR FORM COUPLE FORM

Planning your Dream Honeymoon in Puglia