Explore Bari

Bari is the raw, unpolished gem of Puglia. For years, it was just a transit port for ferries to Greece, ignored by tourists flocking to Lecce. Big mistake. Bari has a dual personality: the French-influenced, grid-like Murat quarter with its grand boulevards and shopping, and Bari Vecchia, the medieval heart sitting on a peninsula.

Bari Vecchia is a sensory labyrinth. Here, grandmothers sit outside their doorways making Orecchiette (ear-shaped pasta) by hand at lightning speed, drying them on mesh screens in the street. The smell of clean laundry and slow-cooked tomato sauce (“ragù di brasciole”) is everywhere. It’s loud, close-knit, and authentically Southern. Doors are left open; life is communal.

The city connects the West to the East. The Basilica of San Nicola holds the bones of St. Nicholas (Santa Claus), making it a major pilgrimage site for both Catholics and Orthodox Christians from Russia. You will hear Russian chanted in the crypt alongside Italian.

Bari is about the sea. The Lungomare (promenade) is the longest in Italy, a fascist-era grandeur of streetlamps and sea spray. In the mornings, fishermen sell raw octopus (polpo crudo) at the old port, and locals eat it right there, tenderized by slamming it against the rocks.