Exploring Monopoli

Man, what a year 2025 has been up until now.

I’ve been working almost non-stop since the beginning of the year, only stopping back in April for three weeks in Spain, to support my partner through a major surgery (which I am not counting as a holiday¹).

By late September I was 100% burned out.

Luckily, we were invited to a wedding in Italy. Two of my partner’s good friends were getting married, and we decided that, given we were paying for flights, we might as well stay longer to make it into a holiday.

Monopoli

#

The wedding was just outside of Torre Canne in Puglia, and a coach had been booked to pick guests up from either Monopoli or Bari. So we had a choice of where to stay.

Bari looked nice, but we decided to stay in Monopoli², as it came highly recommended as a particularly beautiful coastal town.

This turned out to be a great decision, as the town was perfect for exploring on foot, had a broad selection of restaurants, and was just a very pretty place to be. If we ignore the absolute chaos of renting a car from the airport³, and trying to park it on narrow Italian streets, the town was a good base of operations for exploring the local area.

We stayed at the B&B Casa Cimino, which was a charming little B&B. The room was spacious, the hosts were friendly, but I will not miss the stairs up to our room on the second floor.

Over the ten days we were in Italy, coming back each day to Monopoli meant that we had lots of time to relax and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

I have a particular love of architecture, and the narrow, often labyrinthine streets of Monopoli were a joy to explore.

Every street you came to was picturesque, in its own way. Day or night, each street gave an impression of the lives of the people living, and working there.

Similar to Madrid, I loved the mixed usage of buildings. The way that shops, restaurants, workshops, and homes are all intermingled between one another, astounds me.

Sure, being woken up by the sound of a carpenter sanding a door is not the most fun thing in the world. But it was unique⁴.

Grotte di Castellana

#

First on our list of things to see in the area was the Grotte di Castellana. It is a famous cave system that was a short drive away from Monopoli.

My first impression of the area was that it reminded me of a small American town’s main street. Open-fronted stores and cafés ran along each side of the road, from the car park to the Grotto.

I won’t repeat the Wikipedia page for the caves⁵, but I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed the tour. It took about an hour to make our way along the one and a half kilometres of caves on the ‘complete tour’ to the ‘White Cave’ at the end. Then, it was another hour to make our way back to the start.

We were not allowed to take photos or videos once we got into the main part of the caves, so I don’t have any pictures of the most impressive parts. However, the tour was well worth the money, and I would recommend it to anyone who is in the area.

Take grippy shoes. It gets slippery in there. If you are from the UK however, don’t worry about bringing a coat. It is 14–18 °C in the caves. Basically summer.

★★★★☆ 4/5 - A fun tour if you love caves (and who doesn’t love caves?).

Alberobello

#

Next up on our far-too-brief tour was Alberobello. Famous for its unique ’trullo’ buildings, it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is known as one of the most beautiful villages in Italy.

Naturally we had to take a look.

A small section of the city is made up of ’trulli’, traditional huts with conical roofs. Interspersed with actual homes, many of these buildings have been converted into tourist shops, mostly selling the same fifty items.

A couple of unique stores selling many items I couldn’t put in my luggage were dotted around. These may or may not have been the source of all the Limoncello we brought back with us.

We went twice; the first visit was abandoned due to torrential rain. On the second, it was a lovely place to walk around, and it was good to see the unique architecture of the area.

★★★★☆ 4/5 - Unique architecture you can’t see anywhere else.

Grottaglie

#

The region of Puglia is known for its ceramics, and Grottaglie has been called the ‘Ceramic City of Puglia’.

So, we had to go and see what the fuss was about.

The old town was similar to many in the area, with narrow streets, winding up a steep hill to a place of note at the top. In this case, it was the Ceramics museum, which had a selection of historical and modern ceramics on display.

Unfortunately, we had a habit of leaving the hotel, and getting somewhere just as it was closing for the midday break. We entered the museum thirty minutes before it closed, but I felt like I could have spent at least an hour or so browsing the exhibits.

The town is full of ceramic shops, some selling reasonably cheap tourist items, however many were by actual artists, showing off their beautiful artwork. I was far too poor to afford anything that could be considered ‘art’, but it was nice to look at.

★★★☆☆ 3/5 - It was really out of our way, and I felt like you need a decent amount of money to pick up anything unique. I only saw the Ceramic Quarter, so maybe the rest of the city is worth exploring.

Ostuni

#

Now, by this point in the holiday we had established a pattern of picking a parking place which charges for the day. Street parking was a thing in most of the towns, but it was not normally worth driving in circles waiting for a space to free up. So we would just find somewhere on the map that had ‘your car will not be broken into’ vibes, and park there.

Yes, it was more expensive because we were paying for the whole day, but only staying a couple of hours. But, at around €10, the stress of trying to find a spot was not worth the extra €5 we might have saved.

I mention this because in Ostuni, I found a place that had reviews saying “Owner is very friendly”, and “The owner is very welcoming”. Alright, why not.

True to the reviews’ word, this guy was a character. He was very friendly, and very welcoming.

10/10 would park there again.

After he gave us directions to the town, we came to a large avenue that runs along the outside walls of Ostuni. The panoramic view of the Puglian countryside and the sea beyond was breathtaking⁶.

Ostuni is famous for its tall, whitewashed walls, but I will always remember it as the town of tiny cars driving through impossibly narrow streets.

Italy has to be the only legitimate place to own a Citroën Ami. I saw maybe ten of them in Ostuni alone.

We had lunch at ‘Borgo Antico Bistrot’, which had a lovely view out over the countryside. I dig a charcuterie board, and this one did not disappoint.

If only they could have held off the rain, which dampened the atmosphere a touch.

★★★★★ 5/5 - Ostuni was a wonderfully unique place to walk around. You have to be okay with hills, but the views are worth it.

Wine Tasting

#

With only a couple of days left before we were due back at the airport, we met up with some of our friends to do some experiences.

As the region is known for its wine, olive oil, and cheese, we looked for tours in the area which would give us some insight into how they are made.

Unfortunately, we could not find an olive oil making tour/experience at short notice, but we found a vineyard tour and a cheese making experience.

First up was a wine tasting at Tenute Girolamo.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to drive to this one. We were going to be tasting seven wines, which is seven more wines than you should have when driving.

The tour was well run, and the guide was very knowledgeable about the wine making process. He was a local who had grown up in the area, and evidently wine was a passion of his.

We didn’t get to tour the vineyard itself, only the vats and the cellars, but it was interesting to hear the history of the building and the company.

The main event was the wine tasting, which was good enough to make up for the short tour. I have never been to a wine tasting before, and I mostly stick to quite sweet wines. Jammy Red Roo (or ’the gateway wine’ as I call it) is my go to, so a range of reds with varying flavour profiles was quite the experience.

Each wine was paired with a cheese, which was a nice touch. I’m a massive fan of cheese, and a fan of wine. No notes.

After the experience we were given the opportunity to buy some bottles. To our horror, the taxi was going to take forty minutes to arrive, so we had no choice but to buy a bottle of the ‘Conte Giangirolamo Gold Edition’ to drink while we waited⁷.

★★★★★ 5/5 - The staff were friendly and incredibly knowledgeable. The wine and cheese were delicious.

Cheese Making

#

Next up was a perfect finale for the holiday. The region is well known for its cheese (isn’t all of Italy?), so a cheese making experience was a must before we went home.

A long‑time friend of the groom started a business setting up experiences with local Puglians.

Loliv had lots of different experiences, one being a Make and taste still warm mozzarella with Sara at a local farm, Parcappello.

How would I describe the experience?

“Enchanting”.

Sara has been a milk farmer and cheese maker for basically her whole life. Although she didn’t speak English, our guide Claudio was able to translate the passion she had for her work, and the love she had for the craft.

In the UK — even though the UK is known for its dairy — most of the cheese you find is Cheddar⁸. I’m not knocking Cheddar, but I like a bit of variety.

Sara showed us how Mozzarella, Ricotta, Caciocavallo, and ‘Primo Sale’ (to name a few) were made. We got to ‘help’ with the process, and we got to tie and taste the Mozzarella while it was still warm.

It may sound cliché, but tasting cheese straight from the pot, while it was still warm, was an experience I will never forget.

After the cheese making, we sat down with Sara and Claudio for a cheese tasting of the cheeses we had just made, paired with some fruit and veg that Sara had also grown on the farm (and some delightful focaccia).

It was quite far out of our way to drive here for the day, but it was worth it. I would recommend this experience to anyone who loves cheese. Or anyone who loves seeing how things are made.

★★★★★ 5/5 - A truly unique experience — the highlight of the holiday (excluding the wedding of course).

Food

#

And I couldn’t write anything about my time in Italy without mentioning the (frankly obscene) amount of fantastic food we ate.

Not a single bad meal in ten days. Even when we went to ‘bad’ places which were considered cheap tourist traps, the food was better than most meals out I have had in the UK.

Main courses were in the region of €15–€25, which is incredibly reasonable for the quality of food you are getting.

A lot of seafood, a lot of cheese, and a lot of pasta.

Did I put on four kilograms in ten days? Yes. Was it worth it? Also yes.

Travel Advice

#

There are a couple of things I wish I had known before going to Italy.

1. Parking: Don’t bother trying to find on-street parking. Even outside the tourist season, it isn’t worth your time.

   Look for places within a ten minute walk of where you are going. Best case it is free (like in Monopoli), worst case you pay €10 for the whole day. It is worth the extra money to not have to stress about finding a spot.

2. Speeding: Almost everyone ignores the speed limits (including the Police). The best advice I got was “Don’t be the fastest car on the road”.

   If you are the only car on the road, do the speed limit. You don’t know where the speed cameras are, so you will get caught. If there’s a ’local’ in front of you, follow them. They will likely know where the speed cameras are and slow down for them.

3. Maps: I’ll be honest, Google Maps does a bad job of translation when searching for things. Learn some basic Italian and search in Italian.

   “Car Park” is “Parcheggio”, for example.

4. Language: I learnt ’table manners’ Italian before going. Hello, goodbye, please, thank you, excuse me, where is the toilet, etc. And it made a huge difference. 95% of people we met spoke English, but making the effort to speak in Italian first was appreciated.

5. Money: Not everywhere takes card (like the parking places I mentioned), so make sure you always have cash on you.

Fin

#

If you haven’t been to Puglia, I would recommend it as a place to visit.

I’m still ‘feeling out’ travel blogging. This one is within a month of me actually going on the trip, so that’s an improvement on the last one.

Thanks for reading!