The city quickly became one of my favorites thanks to its walkability, nightlife, and beach access.
I also love that Bari can serve as a base for day trips to stunning towns, like Polignano a Mare.
I've been in a love affair with Italy since my first visit there 20 years ago. After over 13 trips to Il Bel Paese — ticking Rome, Florence, Venice, and other popular destinations off the list — I yearned to explore different Italian destinations.
For my April 2025 trip, I landed on Bari, the capital of Puglia in southern Italy. I had never been despite already visiting nearby towns in the region like Lecce and Alberobello.
After nine glorious days there, I left smitten.
Here's why the port city is currently my favorite place in Italy and why I've already started recommending it to fellow tourists.
Bari is a walkable city that's easy to reach by plane or train.
Mark Marino
Bari is a major city with its own airport, the Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport, and a well-connected train station called Bari Centrale. I arrived by plane after a brief visit to London and took a 20-minute train into the heart of the city. The whole experience was so easy.
As someone who doesn't drive, I loved how accessible Bari is by foot, train, or bus. From Bari Centrale, I was able to walk everywhere I wanted to go, and Giardini di Piazza Umberto I, a beautiful park, is right outside the station.
It took me 10 minutes to walk to Murat, a modern neighborhood in the heart of Bari. I was immediately impressed by its beauty and took time to admire its Art Nouveau architecture. From Murat, it took only three minutes to reach Bari Vecchia, the historic old town.
A few blocks east is Lungomare e Murat, a scenic promenade that runs along the Adriatic Sea, and Porto Vecchio, a harbor where fishermen dock their boats and sell their catches of the day.
Being able to access different neighborhoods and landmarks directly from the train station without worrying about driving or taking public transportation made the entire trip seamless.
Cafés, shops, wine bars, and nightlife line Bari's streets.
Mark Marino
By day, the Murat district buzzes with people catching up at outdoor cafés, streaming into the iconic restaurant Mastro Ciccio for an octopus sandwich, and shopping at local boutiques. I love drinking coffee, so I treated myself to a mint-green Moka pot from Bialetti during my trip.
By night, the city comes alive. It has restaurants for a range of budgets, including L'Assassineria Urbana, which specializes in spaghetti all'assassina, a Barese dish that's charred in a skillet in a fiery tomato sauce. Urbana offers 14 variations on the spicy spaghetti. To this day, I still dream about the meal I had there.
Murat also has plenty of wine and cocktail bars. I mellowed out with a glass of red at a restaurant called Milo and also popped into Chinato, a cocktail bar dedicated to vermouth. It offers a wide variety from different distillers.
The cocktail options are endless, but I stuck with a classic Negroni — its cool bittersweetness made it a perfect nightcap.
There's an old town that exudes character and charm within walking distance.
Michele Ursi/Shutterstock
Entering Bari Vecchia is like traveling back in time. I loved wandering the winding cobblestone alleys lined with medieval buildings.
When I was there, one particular alleyway — Strada Arco Basso — was lined with nonnas (Italian for "grandmothers"), who sat outside making and selling orecchiette, an ear-shaped pasta. I was mesmerized by how swiftly they rolled, cut, and shaped each piece.
There are also many lovely churches in the old town, but I was most excited to see Basilica San Nicola, where the relics of Saint Nicholas — who inspired the legend of Santa Claus — are entombed in a crypt.
On top of all the culture, Bari has plenty of beaches and natural beauty.
Mark Marino
For a change of scenery, I walked 40 minutes from my Airbnb in the Murat district to a beach called Pane e Pomodoro.
I strolled along the Lungomare e Murat, a promenade lined with palm trees, art deco street lamps, and plenty of benches where I could stop and rest.
When I visited the beach on an April morning, there were a lot of locals sunbathing, playing games, and swimming.
I'd mostly seen pebbled beaches frequented by tourists in my travels throughout Italy, so I was glad to see Barese families and friends enjoy time together in the soft white sand.
The city is a fantastic launchpad for day trips to stunning towns.
Mark Marino
Beautiful towns like Ostuni, Monopoli, Trani, and Polignano a Mare are all within a 45-minute train ride from Bari Centrale station.
Ostuni took my breath away. I climbed up and down countless stairs to explore the hilltop city. I found myself surrounded by a maze of churches and white buildings, with splashes of vibrant color on their doors and window shutters.
Monopoli is tiny, but I loved ambling through the old alleys, which often had intricately detailed arches at their entrances, and walking the small stretch of the port to a red-and-white-striped lighthouse.
My favorite spot is Polignano a Mare, a coastal town with ancient white buildings perched atop a limestone cliff.
From there, I could spend hours taking in the spectacular views of the Adriatic Sea. For a closer look at the water, I walked under the Ponte Borbonico, an iconic bridge, to the picture-perfect pebble beach.
As the final stop of the day, I grabbed a caffè speciale — a coffee with cream, amaretto, and lemon peel — at a famous ice cream and coffee shop called Il Super Mago del Gelo before making my way back to Bari.
Nearly a year later, I still haven't stopped thinking about my time in Bari. Although I made a rule not to revisit the same location twice on my annual Italy trip, I will absolutely make an exception for Bari.