The 12 essential things to do in Puglia.

Perched on limestone cliffs above the Adriatic, Polignano a Mare is one of Puglia's postcard images. Below the old town, the small Lama Monachile cove (Cala Porto), framed by high walls, is reached on foot via a bridge. The white alleys of the old quarter, dotted with terraces and overhanging balconies, look out over the sea; it's also the birthplace of the singer Domenico Modugno.

Alberobello is famous for its trulli, the dry-stone houses with conical roofs listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The town has over a thousand, concentrated in two districts: the Rione Monti, the most visited and lined with shops, and the Aia Piccola, still residential and quieter. Wandering from one alley to the next, among the whitewashed gables and the symbols painted on the roofs, immerses you in a rural architecture unique in Italy.

Nicknamed "the Florence of the South", Lecce is the baroque capital of Puglia, carved into the soft golden local stone. The Santa Croce Basilica, completed in 1695, unfurls a façade crowded with figures, animals and plant motifs. At the centre, Piazza Sant'Oronzo holds a half-buried 2nd-century Roman amphitheatre. Between churches, palazzi and cartapesta (papier-mâché) workshops, the city is explored on foot through its alleys.

The lively capital of Puglia, Bari is best discovered in its old town, Bari Vecchia, a maze of white alleys where the San Nicola Basilica has held the relics of Saint Nicholas since 1087. In the morning, on Arco Basso street — nicknamed "orecchiette street" — locals hand-shape fresh pasta in their doorways. Between the harbour, the seafront and the terraces, the city makes a lively gateway to a trip around the region.

Standing alone on an inland hill, Castel del Monte is an octagonal castle built in the 13th century by Emperor Frederick II, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Everything follows the number eight: eight sides, eight corner towers, eight rooms on each floor. Its rigorous geometry and its still-enigmatic purpose — residence, hunting lodge or symbolic object? — make it one of Italy's most singular medieval monuments.

Nicknamed "the white town", Ostuni rises over an inland hill, its whitewashed houses tumbling down to the ramparts. In the fortified old town, the sloping alleys wind between stairways, vaulted passages and terraces, up to the Gothic cathedral at the top. From the ramparts, the view stretches over the plain of centuries-old olive trees running down to the Adriatic.

Just across the border, in Basilicata (not in Puglia), Matera is well worth a day trip from the region. Its Sassi — districts of cave dwellings carved into the limestone rock, inhabited since prehistory — and its rock churches are a UNESCO World Heritage site. At dusk, the amphitheatre of stone houses lighting up above the ravine offers one of the most striking panoramas in southern Italy.

Neighbouring Polignano, Monopoli lines up a white old town around an old harbour where colourful fishing boats (gozzi) are moored. Between the baroque cathedral, the Charles V castle and the alleys lined with palazzi, the town keeps a more authentic, less crowded feel than its neighbours. All around, the coast is dotted with small coves for a summer swim.

The Castellana Caves form the largest publicly accessible cave network in Italy, carved into the limestone over several kilometres. The guided visit crosses galleries, stalactites and vast underground halls, all the way to the Grotta Bianca, a dazzlingly white alabaster cavern often considered the most beautiful cave in the country. The route descends tens of metres underground, in a cool, mineral atmosphere.

The spur of Italy's boot, the Gargano National Park combines white cliffs, turquoise coves and the ancient Foresta Umbra, a vast beech and oak forest. On the coast, Vieste and Peschici look out over the sea from their headlands, and the Baia delle Zagare lines up its famous sea stacks. It's also the departure point for the Tremiti islands. A land of nature, away from the region's main tourist routes.

A port city facing east, Brindisi marked the end of the Via Appia, the great Roman road from Rome. At the top of the staircase running down to the harbour stands a Roman column; its twin collapsed and its capital is kept in Lecce. Now a lively stopover and the departure point for ferries to Greece, the city makes a good pause between two legs of the trip.

Off the Gargano, the Tremiti islands form a small archipelago designated a marine protected area, with clear waters popular with divers. San Domino, the largest, is covered in pines and fringed with coves; San Nicola keeps its fortified abbey. It's a nature escape, mainly in summer, away from the bustle of the mainland — a detour for those with time.