Valle d’Itria: caves, trulli and white towns

Route description

Leave Bari south-east and drive about 40 km inland to Castellana Grotte. The caves open with the Grave, a huge natural shaft lit by daylight, and the long tour ends in the White Cave, full of glittering crystals. Tours leave at set times and the caves stay at about 16 degrees all year. From there, head down to the coast at Monopoli, a working port with a walled old town.

South along the coast, the archaeological park of Egnazia shows the remains of a Messapian and Roman town, with the Via Traiana running through it and a good museum. The coast here has small rocky coves and stretches of sand. Then turn inland and climb onto the low plateau of the Valle d’Itria, where the countryside is dotted with trulli, the round stone houses with cone roofs.

Locorotondo is built in a circle on a hilltop, with whitewashed lanes and a balcony view over the valley; it is also known for its white wine. The SS172 dei Trulli leads on to Martina Franca, a larger town with Baroque palaces and a summer opera festival. Cisternino, a few kilometres east, is a small white town known for its butchers who grill meat to order in the evening.

The route ends at Ostuni, the White City, on a ridge that looks down over olive groves to the sea. Its old town is a maze of whitewashed lanes and steps around the cathedral; park below and walk up. Distances on this route are short, but the country lanes between trulli are very narrow and bordered by dry stone walls; stick to the main roads in a large vehicle.