“It’s not about the destination. It’s getting there that’s the good part.” – Morgan Matson

I thought, considering I’m going on my summer holidays today to Murcia in the South of Spain (keep an eye out on my snapchat for updates all about it), I would talk about some previous summer holidays I went on. Also, while I was walking the camino, I happened to meet a man called Antonio from Bari, Italy and we got talking. It reminded me of the wonderful time I spent there in 2014. Antonio wasn’t walking the camino but instead was going from town to town enjoying the food and drink in each town along the route. He was basically doing what I did in Bari, but in Galicia!

In 2014, Ryanair opened up a new route from Dublin to Bari in Puglia, Italy and we decided to take advantage of the cheap flights. We flew into Bari city and then we travelled all over the province on a mini roadtrip. I would highly recommend it. The weather is stunning, the beaches are to die for, the towns are adorable and of course, it’s Italy, so the food is out of this world. Italian food is my favourite type of food along with Thai. I can never and will never be able to pick an absolute favourite between the two! I flew to Paris straight after this trip to Italy and I was about a stone heavier than I had been leaving Dublin the week prior when I landed in Paris. Then, I’d say I put on another stone in Paris. I’m sorry but the boulangeries on every corner are impossible to resist.

Anyway, if you’re flying to Bari, I would one hundred percent recommend renting a car and visiting the towns all along the coast. We stayed near a place called Ostuni in a beautiful villa-style Air B’n’B. Ostuni is just outside the province of Bari but all within Puglia. From there we visited the towns Lecce, Monopoli and Polignano A Mare.

Here are some pictures to pique your interest in this underrated part of la bella Italia!

Our Air B’n’B

Lecce

Just one of the stunning beaches

Monopoli

Polignano A-Mare

As you can see the scenery is breathtaking. I didn’t want to give any recommendations for restaurants or cafés because it’s Italy and no matter where you go, the pizza is always dreamy! But I would recommend doing the roadtrip style visit we did. If not, I think if I was going to stay in one place, I would definitely try to get a place near to Polignano A Mare. It’s out of this world.

As previously mentioned, I am on the way to Murcia (as this post goes live) so if you want to see how I get on down there, follow me on snapchat (imperfectlyfree). Otherwise, you can see what I’m up to and get updates everyday on my other social networks – facebook, instagram and twitter!

Winging it,

R x