# Seven days in Puglia by car, from Bari

> Castel del Monte admits 120 people per slot for 45 minutes and Castellana runs 3 km underground. A week by road from an airport of 7,977,881.

URL: https://myitalia.it/itineraries/7-days-puglia-by-car
Last updated: 2026-09-02

Seven days by road from Bari, with the first appointment fixed before anything else: Castel del Monte admits 120 people per time slot and holds you to 45 minutes inside.

## Bari, the car, and the rule that costs money

Bari Karol Wojtyla handled 7,977,881 passengers in 2025, up 9.7% on 2024, tenth in Italy, and it is where this route starts. The rental desks are there and the road network fans out south from it.

Before the first town, the rule that catches drivers: the historic center of an Italian art city is almost always a limited traffic zone, entered only by authorized vehicles in defined hours, watched by cameras that read every plate, with the penalty issued automatically to anyone passing without a registered permit. Nothing stops you at the boundary.

With a rental car the sequence has an extra step, because the company charges an administrative fee for handing over your details and that charge often arrives before the fine does. Park outside the walls. Prices in this section are in euros.

## Day 1: Castel del Monte, 120 people and 45 minutes

Castel del Monte opens 9:00 am to 5:45 pm from October 1 to March 31, with last entry at 5:00 pm, and 10:00 am to 6:45 pm from April 1 to September 30, with last entry at 6:00 pm, closed December 25 and January 1.

Entry is capped at 120 people per time band and the visit is limited to 45 minutes. That is the least publicized and most useful thing to know about this building, and in summer it means buying online rather than driving up hopefully.

The ticket is €9 full and €2 reduced, or €12 and €3 combined with the castle at Trani. A Puglia Musei Card at €20 covers every site of the regional state museums directorate for six months, with the Mattinata museum and the Castello Carlo V in Lecce excluded.

## Days 2 to 4: Alberobello, and 1,500 roofs on 10 hectares

The trulli of Alberobello were listed in 1996 under criteria (iii), (iv) and (v), across 10.52 hectares in the Rione Monti and Rione Aia Piccola districts, taking in over 1,500 buildings. The technique is dry stone with limestone chiancarelle, no mortar, a double wall with a loose core and buried cisterns to collect rainwater.

The town expanded after 1620, though trulli in Rione Monti date from the mid 16th century, and construction of new ones fell away after 1797, when Ferdinand IV granted Alberobello the status of royal town. Parts of the settlement were declared national monuments between 1909 and 1936.

The Trullo Sovrano is a €2.50 single ticket, open 10:00 am to 12:45 pm and 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm from November to March and 10:00 am to 12:45 pm and 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm from April to October. It keeps a midday closure that the shop trulli of Rione Monti do not, which is the classic way to arrive at a locked door.

## Day 5: Castellana, 122 meters down

The Castellana caves run 3,348 m and reach 122 m below the surface at a constant 16.5 degrees, on a partial route of 1 km in 50 minutes or a full route of 3 km in 100 minutes that includes the Grotta Bianca.

The visit itself descends to about 70 m. Franco Anelli found the system on January 23, 1938 through the Grave, the collapse doline that still forms the entrance, and the site is 1.5 km from the center of Castellana Grotte.

We do not publish 2026 prices here because the operator does not publish them either: the ticket page redirects to an online box office and the alternative pages return errors.

## Days 6 and 7: south into the Salento

Two nights at the southern end of the route gives you the baroque towns and the two seas without a daily drive back north. The distances are short and the summer traffic is not.

Every one of these centers restricts vehicle access on the same camera and plate model described above, verified by the city councils of Rome, Florence, Milan, Naples and Bologna. Assume any Puglian old town works the same way until you have checked, and use the paid lots on the ring roads.

For the region as a whole, see [Puglia](/regions/puglia).

## FAQ

### Do I need to book Castel del Monte in advance?

In high season, yes. Entry is capped at 120 people per time slot and the visit is limited to 45 minutes. Opening is 9:00 am to 5:45 pm from October 1 to March 31 and 10:00 am to 6:45 pm from April 1 to September 30, closed December 25 and January 1.

### How long is the Castellana caves tour?

Two options: 1 km in 50 minutes, or the full 3 km in 100 minutes including the Grotta Bianca. The system runs 3,348 m in total, reaches 122 m below the surface and holds a constant 16.5 degrees, so bring a layer even in August.

### How many trulli are protected at Alberobello?

Over 1,500, across 10.52 hectares in the Rione Monti and Rione Aia Piccola districts, listed in 1996 under criteria (iii), (iv) and (v). They are dry stone construction with limestone slabs, no mortar, and buried cisterns for rainwater.

### Is a car worth it in Puglia?

For this route, yes, and it is a liability in every historic center. Italian art city centers are camera controlled limited traffic zones where an unauthorized passage generates an automatic fine by post, so park outside the walls and walk in.

### Which airport serves Puglia best?

Bari Karol Wojtyla, IATA code BRI, handled 7,977,881 passengers in 2025, up 9.7% on 2024, and it is the tenth busiest in Italy. It sits at the north end of this route, 45 km from Castel del Monte, so pick up the car there.

## Sources

| Fact | Source | Confidence | Valid until |
|---|---|---|---|
| L'aeroporto di Bari Karol Wojtyla (codice IATA BRI) ha registrato 7.977.881 passeggeri nel 2025 (+9,7% sul 2024). | [Assaeroporti](https://data-upload.assaeroporti.com/download-export/2025/12); [ENAC](https://www.enac.gov.it/app/uploads/2024/04/Dati-_di_traffico_2021_220914.pdf) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Castel del Monte apre 9:00-17:45 dal 1° ottobre al 31 marzo e 10:00-18:45 dal 1° aprile al 30 settembre (2026), con ingressi contingentati a 120 persone per fascia oraria e visita limitata a 45 minuti; chiuso il 25 dicembre e il 1° gennaio. | [Castel del Monte - Ministero della cultura](https://casteldelmonte.cultura.gov.it/orari-di-apertura/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Castel del Monte ad Andria costa 9 euro intero e 2 euro ridotto (2026); il cumulativo con il Castello di Trani costa 12 euro intero e 3 euro ridotto. | [Castel del Monte - Ministero della cultura](https://casteldelmonte.cultura.gov.it/tariffe-e-informazioni/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| I Trulli di Alberobello sono iscritti alla lista del Patrimonio mondiale UNESCO dal 1996 con i criteri (iii), (iv) e (v); la zona tutelata copre 10,52 ettari nei rioni Monti e Aia Piccola e comprende oltre 1.500 trulli. | [Ministero della cultura - Ufficio UNESCO](https://unesco.cultura.gov.it/projects/i-trulli-di-alberobello/); [Commissione Nazionale Italiana per l'UNESCO](https://www.unesco.it/it/unesco-vicino-a-te/siti-patrimonio-mondiale/trulli-di-alberobello/) | high | 2099-12-31 |
| Il Trullo Sovrano di Alberobello si visita con biglietto unico da 2,50 euro (2026), aperto 10:00-12:45 e 15:30-18:00 da novembre a marzo, 10:00-12:45 e 15:30-18:30 da aprile a ottobre. | [Trullo Sovrano - Alberobello](https://www.trullosovrano.eu/ingresso-biglietti/); [doc 2](https://www.trullosovrano.eu/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Le Grotte di Castellana si sviluppano per 3.348 metri e raggiungono 122 metri di profondita' dalla superficie, con temperatura costante di 16,5 gradi; si visitano con un percorso parziale di 1 km in circa 50 minuti o completo di 3 km in circa 100 minuti che include la Grotta Bianca. | [Grotte di Castellana S.r.l.](https://www.grottedicastellana.it/) | medium | 2028-12-31 |
| La Puglia Musei Card costa 20 euro (2026) e da' accesso per sei mesi a tutti i siti della Direzione regionale Musei nazionali Puglia, esclusi il museo di Mattinata e il Castello Carlo V di Lecce. | [Direzione regionale Musei nazionali Puglia - Ministero della cultura](https://museipuglia.cultura.gov.it/ticket/) | medium | 2027-06-30 |
| Nelle citta' d'arte italiane il centro storico e' quasi sempre una Zona a Traffico Limitato (ZTL): l'ingresso e' consentito solo ai veicoli autorizzati in determinate fasce orarie, i confini sono presidiati da varchi con telecamere che leggono automaticamente le targhe e la sanzione e' emessa d'ufficio a chi transita senza permesso registrato (2026). | [Roma Servizi per la Mobilita' (Roma Capitale)](https://romamobilita.it/infomobilita/ztl-orari-citta/); [Comune di Firenze](https://mobilita.comune.fi.it/muoversi/muoversi/ztl.html); [Comune di Milano](https://www.comune.milano.it/aree-tematiche/mobilita/area-c); [Comune di Napoli](https://www.comune.napoli.it/articolo_tematico/trasporti-mobilita/ztl-e-aree-pedonali/ztl-del-centro-antico/) | high | 2027-09-01 |

## Image

https://media.myitalia.it/media/region.puglia.1600.jpg
Author: acediscovery. License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0).
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Panorama_Polignano-a-Mare.jpg

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