5 Villages Near Ostuni That Most Tourists Never Find
Puglia has become more popular in recent years - and with good reason. But the places that make it onto most travel lists are the same handful of towns: Alberobello, Lecce, Polignano a Mare. They're beautiful. They're also increasingly crowded.
The Puglia I fell in love with is the one most visitors drive past on the way to those places. Here are five villages near Ostuni that are worth slowing down for.
1. Cisternino
Cisternino sits on a hilltop about 20 minutes from Ostuni and feels like what Puglia looked like before anyone had heard of it. The centro storico is all white lanes and flowering balconies, and the town is famous throughout the region for its fornelli pronti - butcher shops where you choose your meat and they grill it for you on the spot. It's one of the best meals you can have in southern Italy and it costs almost nothing.
2. Locorotondo
The name means "round place" and from above you understand why - the town sits in a perfect circle on a hilltop in the Valle d'Itria. It's known for its white wine, its views over the trulli valley, and its almost complete absence of tourist infrastructure. There's not much to do here except walk, eat, and sit. That's exactly the point.
3. Martina Franca
Larger than the others on this list but still overlooked by most itineraries, Martina Franca has an extraordinary baroque centro storico that rivals Lecce in quality if not in fame. The Piazza Plebiscito is one of the most beautiful squares in Puglia. The local capocollo - a cured meat made in the traditional way - is worth the trip alone.
4. Ceglie Messapica
Ceglie is considered by many food writers to be the culinary capital of Puglia, which is saying something in a region this serious about food. It's a small, quiet town that gets almost no tourist traffic despite having some of the best restaurants in southern Italy. If you're serious about eating well, make time for Ceglie.
5. Fasano
Fasano sits between Ostuni and Bari and is most famous for the Fasanolandia zoo - not exactly a hidden gem. But the old town above the modern city is genuinely lovely and almost completely tourist-free, and the coastline around Torre Canne just below is one of the quietest stretches of Adriatic beach in the region.
The best version of Puglia isn't the one on Instagram. It's the one you find by slowing down and going slightly off route. These five villages are a good place to start.
For a deeper guide to the region - where to stay, what to eat, and what to skip - grab my free Puglia Insider Guide.
