Though Bari is quite a small city, there’s still lots to see inside. As such, you may be wondering how many days you’re going to need in Bari. Is one day enough? Are you going to need two, three days or even a week? We’ll examine that today.
Let’s start with the old town of Bari. Given that it’s quite small, certainly no Rome or Milan, you can practically walk everywhere without a car or public transport. It also means you don’t need that much time if the centre is all you’re really interested in. Before we get into the details, a few tips:
- There are a couple of train stations in Bari – make use of them if you want to visit another place once you’re done with Bari
- Plan your lunch well in advance so as not to fall into siesta hours
- You can pack mainly light clothing, given that Bari tends to be a very warm place
What can you see in Bari in one day?
1 day in Bari
Let’s say we only include Bari as one stop on your trip across Italy or you’re really short on time in general and one day is all you can muster. What should you see? We’d recommend such an itinerary:
- Bari’s walls and its promenade
- take a stroll around the promontory
- see the Basilica of Saint Nicholas
- see the Bari Cathedral (Cathedral of Saint Sabinus)
- visit the Romanesque Churches in the centre
- go for a delicious coffee granita next to the Bari Castle
- visit the castle since you’re already there
Just walking through this itinerary without the visits would take you about 2-3 hours. If we add up the visits, it’s probably still no more than 6 hours. If you’ve got spare time, you can see the Teatro Petruzzelli or the Museo Teatro Margherita.
What can you see in Bari in two days?
2 days in Bari
Though we love Bari very much, we think one day is enough for the city itself. Still, this does not mean that that’s all the area has to offer. On the second day, you should take the train and drive to two nearby towns in Puglia: Monopoli and the legendary Polignano a Mare. You can get there in less than 30 minutes by train from the centre of Bari. Both are wonderfully charming and each has its own fair share of sites to see and visit, so you’ll certainly not get bored anytime soon.
What can you see in Bari in three days?
3 days in Bari
If you’ve got a day more, in addition to Bari, Monopoli and Polignano a Mare, you can also add a trip to the town of Ostuni or Otranto – you can also visit one of the beautiful beaches in the Apulian area. You can also visit Puglia’s showpiece, the famous Trulli Houses in Alberobello.
What can you see in Bari in four days?
4 days in Bari
To everything above, we’d add a visit to Castel del Monte and a trip to Matera in Basilicata for one full day with an overnight stay. It’s an incredible place to spend the night in. If you don’t feel like it, you can also visit Florence or the Baroque Lecce.
A week in Bari
A full week in Apulia
Okay, so you may have already visited Bari, Monopoli, Polignano a Mare, Otranto, Ostuni, Castel del Monte, Alberobello, Lecce and Matera. What else to see in Puglia? We’d recommend driving up to Marina Franca and Locorotondo if you’re close to Alberobello. If you’ve got spare time, see Cisterino too. You can also drive up north to Trani or, even further, to Manfredonia and Monte Sant’Angelo on the Gargano peninsula. Finally, if you’re there overnight, there’s also the seaside town, Vieste.
How many days should you take in Bari?
How many do you need?
Though you could make the case that you can spend a month in Puglia and still find things to see, we’d argue you don’t need that much. Unless you’re a diehard completionist and you just want all the little towns in Puglia off your list, we’d say that three days is enough if you just want to see Bari and a few places around it. As for Bari itself, as we’ve said, one day is perfectly fine for it.
See also:
