Polignano a Mare gets photographed from the water, but staying here makes more sense when you look inland too. Behind the cliffs, the landscape quickly gives way to olive groves, old masserie and farms where breakfast still involves things grown or made on the property. That is where most of our hotel choices sit. You can swim beneath the old town in the morning, drive back through the fields for lunch and spend the hottest part of the afternoon beside a pool with barely anything around it. The best hotels near Polignano a Mare give you access to the Adriatic without forcing the entire trip to revolve around the busy streets above it.
The obvious reason is the sea. Polignano sits directly above the Adriatic, with limestone cliffs dropping into clear water and coves tucked between them. But the better reason to stay for a few days is how easily the coast and countryside fit together. Swim early, before the streets fill, then leave town behind for olive groves, farm lunches or an afternoon doing very little at the masseria. Monopoli is close enough for dinner by the harbour, while Capitolo and the beaches further south give you more options when Polignano feels busy. You get the coast when you want it, without having to live in the middle of it.
Why stay here
Best for
Why stay here
Best for
Why stay here
Best for
Why stay here
Best for
Why stay here
Best for
Why stay here
Best for
Right beside the harbour in Monopoli, La Risacca has the kind of atmosphere that tells you locals trust it. Tables often fill with Italian families and groups of friends settling in for long seafood lunches, sharing crudo, grilled fish, and bottles of white wine. The catch changes daily. It’s easy to see why it remains one of the seafood restaurants in Puglia people return to.
Polignano puts the sea first. Swimming can become part of the morning rather than something you drive across the region to do, and Monopoli, Capitolo and the Adriatic coast are easy to move between. Ostuni pulls you further inland, towards olive country, masserie and the hill towns of the Valle d’Itria. It also has more of an evening life of its own once the day-trippers leave. Choose Polignano when the trip starts with the question of where to swim tomorrow. Choose Ostuni when you are more interested in where to eat, drive and disappear for the afternoon, with the sea still close enough when you need it.
Baroque towns, Primitivo country and two very different seas at the end of Puglia.
White walls, ancient olive trees and the Adriatic waiting at the bottom of the hill.
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