Bari: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Bari Vecchia is a knot of white lanes on a small peninsula, built so tightly that cars barely get in. For centuries it was the whole city, and many families still live here, cooking and talking in the street. This walk crosses it from the castle to the basilica and out to the sea wall. About two hours on foot; easy to get lost, which is half the point.
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A short history of Bari
Bari was already a port city in the Roman period. From 847 to 871 it was ruled by a Muslim emirate, and after that it was held by the Byzantines for almost two hundred years, for part of that time as the seat of the Byzantine governor of southern Italy. In 1087 sailors from Bari stole the bones of Saint Nicholas from Myra in Asia Minor, and the basilica named after him was built for them; it still draws Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims, many of them from Russia. In the Middle Ages an important Jewish community lived in the city, of which it was said: 'For out of Bari shall go forth the Torah, and the word of the Lord from Otranto.' In 1930 the Fiera del Levante opened in the city, and since then it has been the commercial centre of Apulia.
The ten best sights in Bari
1Basilica di San NicolaThe reason Bari is on the map; go down to the crypt, where the saint lies
2Cattedrale di San SabinoPlain Romanesque inside, cool on a hot day; five minutes from San Nicola
3Castello Normanno-SvevoThe castle at the edge of the old town; good for parking the car nearby and starting on foot
4Teatro PetruzzelliOpera house on Corso Cavour; a guided tour shows the hall when there is no show
5Teatro MargheritaArt exhibitions in a theatre standing over the sea
6Pinacoteca Corrado GiaquintoVenetian and southern Italian painting on the top floor of the seafront Palazzo della Provincia
7Museo Archeologico di Santa ScolasticaAt the very tip of the old town; layers of the city under glass floors
8Chiesa di San Nicola (Russian church)Onion domes in the middle of an Italian neighbourhood, 2 km south of the centre
9Chiesa di San Marco dei VenezianiSmall church in the old lanes, a few steps from the basilica
10Arco BassoThe lane where women make orecchiette by hand at their doors; buy a bag to cook later
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What is an audio walk?
Tours in Bari →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Bari:
Free walking tours in Bari
Bari Vecchia
Bari Vecchia is a knot of white lanes on a small peninsula, built so tightly that cars barely get in. For centuries it was the whole city, and many families still live here, cooking and talking in the street. This walk crosses it from the castle to the basilica and out to the sea wall. About two hours on foot; easy to get lost, which is half the point.
- Castello Normanno-Svevo · In 1156 the Norman king William I razed Bari as punishment for a revolt, and the castle went down with it. The emperor Frederick II rebuilt it in the 1230s, and the Aragonese later added the outer bastions and moat.
- Cattedrale di San Sabino · The diocesan museum next door keeps an 11th-century Exultet, a long parchment scroll sung from at Easter. Its pictures are painted upside down relative to the text, so the congregation could see them right way up as the deacon let the scroll hang over the pulpit.
- Arco Basso · Orecchiette, the ear-shaped pasta of Puglia, are made here by dragging a small piece of dough with a knife and turning it over the thumb. The women work at tables outside their doors and sell by the bag, which is why the lane is nicknamed the street of orecchiette.
- Chiesa di San Marco dei Veneziani · In 1002 a Venetian fleet under Doge Pietro II Orseolo broke a Saracen siege of Bari. Tradition links this small church to the Venetian merchants of the town, who dedicated it to their patron, Saint Mark.
- Basilica di San Nicola · In 1087 sailors from Bari sailed to Myra in today's Turkey and carried off the bones of Saint Nicholas, the saint behind Santa Claus. The basilica was built to hold them, and every 9 May a clear liquid called manna is drawn from the tomb and given to pilgrims.
- Piazza Mercantile · In the corner of the square stands the Colonna della Giustizia, a marble column with a stone lion at its foot. Debtors who could not pay were tied to it and exposed to public shame — the origin of a local saying about ending up at the column.
Murat and the sea
In 1813 Joachim Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law and king of Naples, laid out a new Bari beside the old one, on a grid of straight streets. The Murat quarter is where the city shops, goes to the opera and walks in the evening. This route goes from its theatres to the fishermen's pier and down the long seafront to the city beach. Half a day on foot, or drive the last stretch.
- Teatro Petruzzelli · The Petruzzelli brothers, merchants from Trieste, built the theatre with their own money and opened it in 1903. On the night of 27 October 1991 it burned down in an arson attack, and it reopened only in 2009 after a long legal fight.
- Teatro Margherita · The theatre stands on piles over the water of the old harbour, and in its present form dates from 1914. After decades closed it was restored and now hosts contemporary art exhibitions.
- Molo San Nicola · On this pier fishermen still prepare octopus the old way, beating it against the stones and rinsing it in sea water until the tentacles curl. Bari people eat it raw on the spot, with sea urchins and a cold beer.
- Pinacoteca Corrado Giaquinto · The gallery is named after Corrado Giaquinto, an 18th-century painter born in nearby Molfetta who worked in Rome and at the royal court in Madrid. Its collection includes a Saint Peter Martyr by the Venetian Giovanni Bellini.
- Lungomare Nazario Sauro · The promenade was built in the 1920s and 1930s, and the large public buildings along it, like the Palazzo della Provincia, are in the style of that era. It is named after Nazario Sauro, an Istrian naval officer executed by Austria in 1916.
- Pane e Pomodoro · The beach takes its name from the simple lunch that families used to bring here: bread rubbed with tomato and olive oil. It is the free city beach, with lifeguards and showers in summer.
Cliffs, caves and trulli
South-east of Bari the coast turns to limestone cliffs, and inland the plateau of the Murge is full of caves and round stone houses. In one day by car you can swim below a cliff town, go 70 metres underground and sleep, if you like, in a trullo. This loop drives down the coast to Monopoli, up into the Itria Valley and back by the caves. About 150 km in all; start early in summer, the cove fills by ten.
- Lama Monachile · Above the cove stands a statue of Domenico Modugno, born in Polignano in 1928. He wrote and sang Nel blu dipinto di blu, the song the world knows as Volare, which won the Sanremo festival in 1958.
- Grotta Palazzese · Polignano's old town sits on top of the cliff, and the sea has carved caves right underneath its houses. In one of them, Grotta Palazzese, a hotel serves dinner at tables inside the cave, just above the water.
- Basilica Cattedrale Maria Santissima della Madia · According to the legend, in 1117 an icon of the Virgin drifted into Monopoli's harbour on a raft of beams. The bishop had been waiting for timber to roof his new cathedral, and the beams of the raft were used for it.
- Locorotondo · The name means round place: the old town is laid out in rings on top of a hill over the Itria Valley. Many of its white houses have cummerse, steep pitched roofs of stone slabs found almost only here.
- Trullo Sovrano · It is the only trullo in Alberobello with a true second floor, built in the 18th century for a wealthy priest's family. The trulli of Alberobello, dry-stone houses with cone roofs, became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996.
- Grotte di Castellana · The caves were first explored in 1938 by the speleologist Franco Anelli, who was lowered into the great open pit called La Grave. The long tour ends at the Grotta Bianca, a chamber of white alabaster-like formations.
Getting to Bari and getting around
- Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport · About 20 minutes from the centre; a train runs from the terminal to Bari Centrale
- Bari Centrale · Main station, on the edge of the Murat quarter; a 20-minute walk to the old town
- Terminal Bus Bari · Long-distance and regional buses, just behind the station
Cheap eats in Bari
Bari eats on the street: focaccia from the bakeries of the old town, panzerotti, and raw seafood standing at the pier. A quick lunch is a slice of focaccia and a drink for a few euros. Prices are well below Tel Aviv, a little higher in Murat and on the waterfront.
- Panificio Fiore · Focaccia barese by the slice in the old town, about 2-4 €
- Panificio Santa Rita · Focaccia and panzerotti near the castle, about 2-4 €
- MastroCiccio · Filled panini and fried snacks to go, about 5-9 €
- El Chiringuito · Bar on the fishermen's pier: raw seafood and a beer, about 5-15 €
- Pasticceria Mercantile · Pastries and coffee by Piazza Mercantile, about 1.50-4 €
Museums in Bari
- Pinacoteca Corrado Giaquinto · Painting from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, on the seafront
- Museo Archeologico di Santa Scolastica · Finds from Bari and the province in a former monastery
- Museo Civico di Bari · Small museum of the city's history in the old town
- Teatro Margherita · Contemporary art over the water
- Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Altamura · The story of the Altamura Man, 45 minutes inland
- Castel del Monte · Frederick II's octagonal castle, 50 minutes west
Nature and day trips near Bari
- Pane e Pomodoro · Sand and shallow water at the edge of the city
- Parco 2 Giugno · Bari's big green park, with playgrounds and shade
- Parco Naturale Regionale Lama Balice · A limestone ravine on the way to the airport
- Pulo di Altamura · A giant sinkhole in the Murge plateau
- Torre a Mare · Small fishing village south of the city, rocks for swimming
- Lama Monachile · The pebble cove of Polignano under the cliffs
Holy places in Bari
- Basilica di San Nicola · The tomb of Saint Nicholas in the crypt
- Cattedrale di San Sabino · Bari's cathedral, with a round rose window over the façade
- Chiesa di San Nicola (Russian church) · Russian Orthodox church and pilgrims' house
- Chiesa di San Marco dei Veneziani · Small Romanesque church in the lanes
- Cattedrale Santa Maria Assunta, Altamura · Cathedral founded by Frederick II, with a carved portal
- Basilica Cattedrale della Madia, Monopoli · Baroque cathedral above Monopoli's harbour
Where to eat in Bari
- Al Sorso Preferito · Long-running trattoria in Murat; seafood and pasta
- Osteria delle Travi · Old-town osteria where the antipasti keep coming
- Terranima · Puglian home cooking in Murat
- Mercato del pesce · Raw seafood at the pier before dinner
- Piazza del Ferrarese · Evening drinks between the old town and the sea
Frequently asked questions about Bari
What is there to see in Bari?
The top sights in Bari are Basilica di San Nicola, Cattedrale di San Sabino and Castello Normanno-Svevo. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Bari?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Bari without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Bari?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Bari, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Bari Vecchia.
How do you get to Bari and get around?
The main ways are Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport, Bari Centrale and Terminal Bus Bari. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Bari, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Bari that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Bari for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.