Southern Italy turned out to be the ideal destination this winter. I’ll admit I was totally ‘influenced’ by this Instagrammer’s post…as soon as I saw her videos of the Christmas decorations in Locorotondo I was sold. The itinerary seemed a little intense to do with small children (I have 5 year-old-twins), but I’m happy to report we genuinely loved the experience! I’d recommend the following trip to anyone looking for a low-stress visit to Italy in November or December (with or without kids). 😉 Below I’ll share why this is a good time to visit Italy, top tips for your trip, and the exact itinerary we followed. ▶️ Check out video highlights from our trip.
Locorotondo lived up to the hype!
Reasons why we chose these destinations:
- Matera: The Sassi of Matera were recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. The Sassi originated in a prehistoric troglodyte settlement, and these cave dwellings are likely the earliest human settlements in what is now Italy. Plus, Matera apparently looks like Bethlehem from biblical times (Mel Gibson’s The Passion of Christ was filmed there) which works nicely with the Christmas vibe.
- Monopoli: Located on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, Monopoli was the best positioned city to base ourselves along the route. We enjoyed the local Christmas festivities, scenic boat tour and ate great food—it’s an easy city to explore with kids too.
- Locortondo: You cannot miss Locorotondo if you visit Puglia in December. Locals go above and beyond when decorating the streets of town to create a magical Christmas atmosphere. People travel from all over to see it!
- Polignano di Mare: Like me, you’ve probably seen the viral ‘most romantic restaurant in the world’ on social media…I couldn’t pass up the chance to see what the fuss was about. While we opted to not eat at the exorbitantly expensive Grotta Palazzese, we did enjoy exploring the town on foot and taking in the beautiful views.
- Alberobello: This town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 thanks to the unique and beautiful trulli; they are remarkable examples of mortarless construction (a prehistoric building technique). During the holiday season the trulli are especially beautiful, with Christmas decorations and projections covering their iconic white walls.
- Bari: We couldn’t miss the Pontifical Basilica of Saint Nicholas (the real Santa Claus) and we loved walking the streets of the old town, eating pasta, and checking out the huslte and bustle of the city’s Christmas market.
This is the route we followed
Exploring Matera
Travel tips to keep in mind:
If you’re planning to follow this itinerary, here’s what I’d recommend:
- We didn’t bring a stroller; it would have been difficult to use a stroller in Matera (old town) and Alberobello—but you could use it in the other locations on the list.
- I’m glad we were based out of Monopoli for two days, it was the perfect location between all the places we wanted to see (I didn’t want to waste hours in the car).
- You will definitely need to rent a car. We were happy with our Autovia rental (I found the cheapest deal through Orbit)—I rented an MG EHS which fit 2 booster seats + my mom in the back seat. The SUV was a little big but we were on large roads most of the time. The pickup/dropoff location is a 5 minute walk from the airport terminal.
- If you want to avoid crowds, plan to visit during weekdays, especially the days you want to see Locorotondo and Alberobello—we encountered a decent number of Italian tourists in those locations so I imagine the weekends are quite busy.
- Start your trip in Matera, it’s the farthest from the airport, and end the trip in Bari so the day you fly out you’re only a 20 minute drive away.
- Some parking garages work differently in this region; at the parking garage in Bari we handed the guy 20€ and he kept our keys overnight. I was freaked out about having the car stolen but our local friend told us this was normal, and that we overpaid. 😂
The weather was nice enough for a boat trip in Monopoli
Recommended itinerary: Southern Italy in December
Day 1 – Fly into Bari & drive to Matera
Matera is only an hour or so from Bari. Try to rent a place within walking distance of the Sassi (we were happy with our rental). In my opinion, a full day in Matera is all you need to see most of the old town, however you might need more time if you’re planning to do cave tours etc.
Day 2 – Matera to Monopoli (evening excursion to Locortondo)
The next day we woke up, grabbed breakfast and explored a little more of Matera. Then we jumped in the car and drove to Monopoli for lunch. We spent the afternoon walking around town and took a boat excursion around the coast. Once it started to get dark we drove 25 minutes to Locorotondo and marveled at the decorations for a few hours before heading back to Monopoli for the night.
Day 3 – Monopoli (excursion to Polignano di Mare & Alberobello)
We headed to Polignango di Mare in the morning and wandered around the streets. We loved the beautiful views and did a bit of shopping. For lunch we headed to Alberobello to see the adorable trulli (limestone dwellings found in the southern region of Puglia) and check out their Christmas decorations. Note Alberobello’s Christmas displays don’t turn on until 5pm – 6pm, the town is quite small and the kids got restless around 4pm so we headed back to Monopoli—I would recommend going to Alberobello after lunch so you can stick around long enough to see the lights. My kids loved Monopoli’s Christmas village! You should plan to spend at least one evening there to take advantage of ice skating, rides and illuminated swings in the plaza.
Day 4 – Monopoli to Bari
We drove to Bari after breakfast and checked in to our rental. We spent the morning visiting the old town in Bari and the St. Nicholas Basilica. After lunch we headed to the Christmas markets and shopping district where most of the locals had gathered.
Day 5 – Bari to home
On the last day we woke up and headed to the airport. Four full days was the perfect amount of time for us to see everything we wanted on this trip.
We spotted Santa Claus (Babbo Natale) several times on this trip!
Alberobello was adorable at Christmas
Why you should visit southern Italy in December:
- Fewer tourists: This area is a hot spot in summer, but in the off season the majority of tourists we encountered were Italians, and they were few and far between.
- Good weather: The climate in southern Italy is similar to where we live in Spain; we had sunny, mild weather between 50 – 60°F (10 – 16°C). Keep in mind it can be rainy this time of year so bring raincoats!
- Holiday festivities: We couldn’t have asked for a more festive vibe between the Christmas markets, fairy lights, ice skating rinks, kids activities, etc. We also spotted Santa a few times.
- Close proximity: All the places we visited on this trip were within an hour or less of each other, this made it easy to see multiple towns in one day.
- Low stress: Every day we had one or two places to visit, but there was no strict schedule. This made the trip relatively stress free because we could just pop over whenever we wanted, check things out and head back when we were ready.
I hope you found this post helpful. If you follow this route let me know in the comments! 😊
Getting lost in Bari
Monopoli’s port at night
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