Southern Italian towns, coastal stays, and regional dining
The Destination Brief
Explore Puglia & Matera Region through its linked communities: Lecce, Fasano, Bari, Ostuni, Polignano a Mare, Monopoli, Alberobello, and Matera. This regional destination brings together restaurants, bars, hotels, and other places across the area.
Awards in Puglia & Matera Region
Hover any badge for the full award name. Counts reflect venues holding each accolade in Puglia & Matera Region.
Puglia & Matera Region
Selected entries from the current guide for Puglia & Matera Region.
Fasano, Italy
Due Camini sits within Borgo Egnazia on the Apulian coast, serving vegetable-forward Puglian cuisine under chef Domingo Schingaro with a Michelin star to its name. Candlelit and quietly formal, it draws on kitchen garden produce and local heritage varieties to present the region's flavours at their most considered. Open Tuesday through Saturday evenings, it is the resort's most serious dining proposition.
Ostuni, Italy
Cielo occupies the rooftop of La Sommità hotel in Ostuni's whitewashed hilltop quarter, holding a Michelin Plate and consecutive Opinionated About Dining recognition across both its North and South American ranking lists. Chef Juan Manuel Barrientos Valencia works with Puglian ingredients reframed through a modern lens, with dining options spanning a terrace aperitif at dusk to a full tasting menu beneath vaulted ceilings. Price range sits at €€€€.
Fasano, Italy
Set inside the Grand Hotel Fasano on Lake Garda's western shore, Il Fagiano holds a Michelin star for contemporary Italian cooking that bridges chef Maurizio Bufi's Puglian roots with the produce rhythms of the lake region. A handful of tables, evening-only service, and a format that spans tasting menus and à la carte make it one of the more considered dining rooms at this end of the lake.
Polignano a Mare, Italy
Set in a 14th-century farmhouse in the Puglian countryside outside Polignano a Mare, Pashà holds a Michelin star for chef Michele Spadaro's modern take on Apulian cuisine, offered across five- and seven-course tasting menus. A cellar of over a thousand wine labels and tightly restricted service windows make advance planning essential for one of Puglia's most serious dining addresses.
Lecce, Italy
Among Lecce's Michelin-starred tables, Primo Restaurant occupies a distinct position: a kitchen shaped by deep Puglian roots and a youthful creative voice. Chef Solaika Marrocco offers three menu formats, including a seven-course surprise menu and an eight-course regional tasting, all within the characterful streets of one of southern Italy's most storied baroque cities.
Matera, Italy
A former cave in Matera's Sassi district, converted into a Michelin-starred dining room, Vitantonio Lombardo sits at the summit of the city's creative restaurant tier. The kitchen draws from Lucanian tradition, reinterpreting regional recipes and ingredients with contemporary technique..
Ostuni, Italy
Among Ostuni's Michelin-recognised tables, Osteria Piazzetta Cattedrale occupies a distinct position: Bib Gourmand-awarded for two consecutive years (2024 and 2025), it delivers considered Apulian cooking at a price point that undercuts most of its white-city peers. A husband-and-wife operation steps from the cathedral, it reads as the antithesis of the region's grand masseria format.
Alberobello, Italy
Il Poeta Contadino on Via Indipendenza sits at the serious end of Alberobello's dining scene, pairing regional Puglian cooking with a wine list of 2,800 selections and 25,000 bottles in inventory. Lunch and dinner service runs at a mid-range price point, while the cellar prices into premium territory.
Polignano a Mare, Italy
Da Tuccino sits outside Polignano a Mare on the Adriatic coast, ranked #279 in Opinionated About Dining's Casual Europe list for 2025 and holding. Chef Enzo Florio runs a focused seafood operation where the catch drives the menu rather than the other way around. For serious fish cooking in Puglia, it occupies a tier of its own.
Lecce, Italy
A Lecce pizzeria that has built its reputation on a wood-fired oven running at 400°C and a firm commitment to local Apulian ingredients. Founded in 2014, 400 Gradi occupies a clear position in Lecce's casual dining scene: serious about dough, sourcing, and technique in a format that keeps the focus on the pizza itself rather than the surroundings.
Matera, Italy
On Via Domenico Ridola, steps from Matera's Sassi district, ARTEMA works within the farm-to-table tradition that defines particularly serious southern Italian kitchens today.
Matera, Italy
The kitchen draws on the agricultural traditions of Basilicata while working in a clearly modern register, creative plating, seasonal thinking, mid-range pricing. One of the more considered addresses in Matera's old town dining scene.
Ostuni, Italy
Set within Vista Ostuni, a hotel converted from a former tobacco factory, Berton al Vista brings chef Andrea Berton's modern technique to Puglian ingredients, with rooftop aperitivo and panoramic views of the White City and the Adriatic as backdrop. The kitchen frames Mediterranean cooking through the sourcing logic of the region's farming and fishing traditions, placing it in the upper tier of Ostuni's dining scene.
Polignano a Mare, Italy
Set on the first floor of the Palazzo del Suono del Mare in Polignano a Mare's historic centre, Casanova brings Puglia's coastal larder into formal focus, pairing mosaic floors and Venetian chandeliers with sea views and a panoramic terrace. The kitchen reinterprets the gastronomic traditions of Puglia and broader Italy with contemporary results. It represents the more considered, setting-conscious end of dining in this clifftop town.
Lecce, Italy
Classé La Dogana Restaurant sits on Viale della libertà in Lecce's southern Puglia, earning a White Star recognition from Star Wine List in early 2026, a signal that the wine program commands as much attention as the kitchen. It occupies a tier of Lecce dining where the cellar shapes the menu conversation, positioning it as a reference point for the city's more wine-forward restaurants.
Matera, Italy
A Michelin Plate-recognised address in Matera's upper Sassi, DA MÓ serves regional Basilicata cuisine with a contemporary sensibility. Run by a family who relocated from Venosa, the restaurant pairs tasting menus and à la carte options with a considered wine list. At the €€ price point, it represents one of the more approachable routes into serious southern Italian cooking in the city.
Matera, Italy
Set in a restored palazzo on Via Pennino with a summer terrace overlooking the Sassi, Dimora Ulmo holds Michelin Plate recognition for 2024 and 2025 and serves Basilicata cuisine across three tasting menus. At the €€€ tier, it sits between Matera's casual regional trattorias and the starred fine-dining bracket, making it the direct entry into the city's structured tasting-menu format.
Lecce, Italy
A Michelin Plate-recognised address on Via Garibaldi, Duo Ristorante brings Apulian culinary tradition into an intimate, low-lit setting suited to serious dining. Tasting menus and a concise à la carte draw on Puglian regional recipes, often with a creative reinterpretation that keeps the food grounded in place rather than abstracted from it.
Alberobello, Italy
At the entrance to Alberobello's historic trullo district, Evo Ristorante pairs a garden terrace setting with creative tasting menus built entirely around Puglian ingredients. Two consecutive Michelin Plate awards (2024 and 2025) signal consistent technical ambition at the €€€ price point, making it a strong case for the town's growing reputation as a serious dining destination beyond its architecture.
Lecce, Italy
Housed in a former Dominican monastery built in 1442, Gimmi brings a contemporary dining sensibility to one of Lecce's most architecturally charged settings. The minimalist interior, stone columns, vaulted ceilings, a wine cabinet framed like a showpiece, sets the stage for a kitchen that has held the Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025. The cooking draws from Pugliese coastal ingredients reframed through a modern technique.
Polignano a Mare, Italy
A Michelin Plate-recognised restaurant in Polignano a Mare, Jamantè sits close to Lama Monachile beach and brings creative technique to the deep Puglian tradition of raw seafood and coastal produce. The room is formal enough for a serious dinner, with well-spaced tables and an atmosphere pitched at the elegant end of the Adriatic dining scene. Price range is €€€.
Bari, Italy
La Bul holds back-to-back Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) for creative cooking rooted in Puglia's ingredient-specific pantry, from the Adriatic coast to the inland plains. Chef Antonio Scalera works traditional regional recipes into something more formally considered, and the wine list, specifically cited by Michelin as intelligently chosen, treats southern Italian producers with the seriousness they deserve. It sits at the €€€ bracket in central Bari's Murattiano grid.
Ostuni, Italy
Set on a working masseria in the Apulian countryside outside Ostuni, Masseria Moroseta holds a 2024 Michelin Plate for its vegetable-forward Mediterranean menu priced at €90. Chef Giorgia Eugenia Goggi sources primarily from small organic gardens nearby, and the property offers six guestrooms for those who want to extend their stay into the olive groves.
Polignano a Mare, Italy
A Michelin Plate-recognised address in Polignano a Mare's clifftop old town, Meraviglioso Osteria Moderna sits steps from the sea-facing balcony above the Adriatic. Chef Andrea Vicario builds a predominantly seafood menu around charcoal cooking, placing this contemporary osteria firmly within the town's growing reputation for serious, ingredient-led dining at a mid-to-upper price point.
Puglia & Matera Region
Selected entries from the current guide for Puglia & Matera Region.
Fasano, Italy
Borgo Egnazia is a full-scale rural resort on the Puglian coast, built around vernacular stone architecture that closely follows traditional village form. Its Vair Spa, San Domenico Golf course, multi-venue dining, and Local Adviser program give it a depth of programming that places it above the masseria tier.
Lecce, Italy
A ten-suite palazzo hotel in central Lecce, La Fiermontina Palazzo Bozzi Corso occupies a 1775 city-centre building and carries both a Michelin Key (2024) and 94 points from La Liste Top Hotels (2026). The property doubles as a private art collection, with suites dedicated to figures including John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Fernand Léger. Breakfast is the only in-house dining, but Lecce's old town puts a strong restaurant scene within walking distance.
Fasano, Italy
A Michelin Key-awarded five-star boutique hotel on the Adriatic coast of Puglia, Canne Bianche Lifestyle Hotel pairs 49 rooms finished in Italian marble and locally crafted ceramics with direct beach access and two distinct dining formats rooted in regional ingredients. Membership in Small Luxury Hotels of the World since 2020 places it in a specific tier of independently minded coastal properties that trade scale for material quality and culinary depth.
Matera, Italy
Sextantio Le Grotte della Civita occupies eighteen cave rooms carved into Matera's ancient sassi, offering one of Italy's most architecturally committed stays at around $367 per night. It operates within the albergo diffuso model, placing guests inside the hillside rather than adjacent to it.
Lecce, Italy
Patria Palace occupies an 18th-century palazzo directly opposite the sculpted façade of Santa Croce, placing guests at the geographic and architectural centre of Lecce. A recent renovation introduced Belle Époque furnishings and contemporary art across 60 rooms without erasing the original building fabric. The hotel holds Leading Hotels of the World membership and operates a beach shuttle to the Adriatic in summer.
Matera, Italy
A Relais & Châteaux cave hotel carved into Matera's ancient Sassi district, Vetera Matera sits inside one of UNESCO's most closely studied rock-cut settlements. Rooms integrate exposed tufa stone with contemporary comfort, a spa occupies a hollowed chamber in the cliff face, and the views across the ravine read as a living cross-section of 9,000 years of continuous habitation. Rates start from US$343 per night.
Ostuni, Italy
Paragon 700 Boutique Hotel & SPA earns its place among Ostuni's most discussed addresses not through whitewashed minimalism but through deliberate provocation. Fifteen rooms mix rough-hewn and refined across eclectic global interiors, a subterranean spa occupies the original cistern, and Restaurant 700 functions as an active part of the town's evening scene. La Liste ranked it 92 points in 2026; Michelin awarded it one Key in 2024.
Lecce, Italy
A 17th-century estate in the heart of Lecce's Baroque quarter, La Fiermontina Luxury Home operates across 19 rooms in a property whose architectural bones date to the 16th century. The interiors layer contemporary Italian design furniture against original Pugliese vaulting, while the Zèphyr restaurant serves modern Puglian cooking in a courtyard framed by citrus groves.
Ostuni, Italy
The address on Via Giosuè Pinto positions guests within reach of the old city's limestone lanes while capturing the refined views that define what Ostuni's upper town offers at this price tier.
Fasano, Italy
A 17th-century masseria on 24 acres of Puglian countryside, Masseria Calderisi holds a Michelin Key (2024) and 24 rooms spread across a historic main building, tower, and former stables. Halfway between Fasano and the Adriatic coast, it positions itself in the quieter register of southern Italian boutique hospitality, with olive groves, a pool terrace, and a restaurant drawing on local Puglian produce.
Fasano, Italy
Forty rooms and suites designed by Olga Polizzi occupy the whitewashed estate, with a private beach club, nine-hole golf course, and a 14-metre yacht separating it from the wider Savelletri masseria field.
Fasano, Italy
A 16th-century fortified farmhouse on a sun-bleached Adriatic hillside, Masseria Torre Coccaro holds a Michelin Key (2024) and 44 rooms ranging from barrel-vaulted suites to limestone caves with private pools. Olive groves, a beach club, an Aveda spa, and a cooking school place it firmly inside Puglia's emerging premium hospitality tier, within an hour's drive of both Bari and Brindisi airports.
Bari, Italy
Michelin Selected for 2025, Bra Hotel occupies a central address on Via Abate Giacinto Gimma in Bari's urban core. The property sits within a city whose dining scene has drawn serious editorial attention in recent years, positioning it as a considered base for guests arriving to explore Puglia's food culture from a Barese starting point.
Lecce, Italy
For travellers seeking a Salentine base that combines architectural character with considered service, it occupies a clear position in Lecce's premium accommodation tier.
Fasano, Italy
A 15th-century fortified tower converted into a Leading Hotels of the World property, Masseria San Domenico sits among century-old olive groves within 700 metres of the Adriatic coast. The 40-room adults-oriented resort anchors its dining programme in Apulian produce grown on surrounding land, and houses one of southern Italy's more medically rigorous thalassotherapy spas.
Monopoli, Italy
La Peschiera occupies a converted masseria on the Adriatic coast outside Monopoli, holding Small Luxury Hotels of the World membership since 2025. The property sits within the broader Puglia coastal hotel tier that includes Borgo Egnazia and Il Melograno, positioning it as a design-led alternative for travellers seeking direct sea access with boutique scale. Contrada Losciale places it close to the water, away from the town centre.
Matera, Italy
A Michelin Selected palazzo in Matera's Sasso Caveoso, Palazzo Del Duca Hotel & Restaurant occupies a historic noble residence carved into the ancient sassi district. The property sits within one of southern Italy's most architecturally arresting urban environments, where stone-cut lanes and cave churches date back millennia. For travellers who want proximity to the sassi at hotel level rather than as a day-trip detour, this is a considered address.
Matera, Italy
Positioned on Piazza San Pietro Caveoso in the heart of the Sassi di Matera, Sant'Angelo Matera occupies one of Southern Italy's most architecturally arresting addresses. Church facades and ancient cave dwellings frame every sightline, while the hotel's al-fresco terraces give guests a direct conversation with the UNESCO-listed ravine below. For travellers serious about place, this is where Matera's stone-carved character becomes the primary experience.
Monopoli, Italy
A masseria turned boutique hotel on the Puglian coast, Il Melograno trades in the sensory grammar of southern Italy at its most deliberate: whitewashed stone, centuries-old olive trees, and courtyard architecture that reads as living heritage rather than set design. It sits within the broader Monopoli accommodation tier that prizes character over volume, placing it alongside the region's most considered agrarian retreats.
Lecce, Italy
A Michelin Selected property on Via 47 Reggimento Fanteria, Casa 300Mila occupies the kind of historic Leccese address where Baroque stone and contemporary sensibility operate in close conversation. The selection places it inside a small tier of Lecce accommodations recognized for design and atmosphere rather than scale. For travellers arriving in Puglia's most architecturally concentrated city, it offers a considered base within walking distance of the old town's limestone facades.
Lecce, Italy
A Michelin Selected dimora storica set within a former Dominican convent in central Lecce, the Chiostro dei Domenicani occupies one of the city's most architecturally significant addresses. The property sits inside the baroque quarter where Lecce's golden pietra leccese stone defines every facade. For travellers treating Salento as a serious destination rather than a summer stopover, this is one of the more considered hotel choices in the city.
Matera, Italy
Corte San Pietro occupies a restored dwelling in Matera's Sasso Caveoso, the older and quieter of the two sassi districts. Selected by the Michelin Guide Hotels 2025, it sits within a neighbourhood where cave architecture and layered stone streets define the guest experience before a single service interaction takes place. For travellers who want proximity to Matera's UNESCO fabric without the scale of a palazzo hotel, this is a considered address.
Monopoli, Italy
A MICHELIN Selected hotel occupying a restored historic palazzo on Monopoli's old town seafront, Don Ferrante sits at the premium end of Puglia's boutique accommodation tier.
Matera, Italy
A Michelin Selected residence and winery set within the Sasso Barisano, Matera's living cave district, Il Palazzotto I Residence & Winery combines lodging with an on-site winemaking operation in one of southern Italy's most architecturally singular addresses. The property sits along Via Sette Dolori, placing guests within walking distance of the sassi's principal churches, belvederes, and trattorias.
Puglia & Matera Region
Selected entries from the current guide for Puglia & Matera Region.
Lecce, Italy
Ranked #311 in the Top 500 Bars 2025, Quanto Basta has put Lecce firmly on Italy's cocktail map. Located on Via Marco Basseo in the Baroque heart of Puglia's southern capital, the bar draws a local and travelling crowd to among the more credentialed drinking addresses in the Salento region. It is the kind of place where the drinks programme earns serious recognition without the bar losing its neighbourhood footing.
Lecce, Italy
Ranked #421 in the 2025 Top 500 Bars list, Laurus operates from a tight vicolo in Lecce's historic centre, placing it among a small number of internationally recognised bars in Italy's deep south. The address on Vicolo Boemondo puts it within the layered baroque streetscape that defines this part of Puglia, making it a reference point for serious drinking in the Salento region.
Fasano, Italy
Lecce, Italy
Bar Cotognata Leccese occupies a narrow address on Via G. Marconi in the heart of Lecce's baroque centre, where the Salento aperitivo tradition and a more considered approach to mixed drinks converge. The bar draws a local crowd that returns for its grounding in regional ingredients and an unhurried pace that resists the pressures of tourist-facing venues elsewhere in the city.
Fasano, Italy
Bar del Portico belongs to the slower end of Savelletri di Fasano’s evening rhythm, where aperitivo culture meets the Adriatic pace rather than big-city cocktail theatre. With only its address confirmed in the public record, the useful reading is contextual: expect a bar whose value lies in setting, timing, and local pre-dinner habits, not a published awards trail or chef-led narrative.
Ostuni, Italy
Bar Library sits in Ostuni’s library area rather than on a coastal promenade, which places it in the quieter, town-centred side of Puglian drinking culture. With, the useful read is contextual: treat it as an Ostuni bar to assess by format, bartender confidence, and how well the drinks hold their own before or after dinner in the white city.
Lecce, Italy
Barba's Natural Lounge belongs to Lecce’s smaller-format bar culture, where terraces, piazzette and late-evening pacing matter as much as the glass.
Lecce, Italy
On Piazza Sant'Oronzo, the living room of Lecce's old city, Caffè Alvino has occupied its corner long enough to function less as a bar and more as a civic institution. The coffee program runs deep into Salentine ritual, and the back-bar selection places it well above a standard piazza café. For anyone reading the Lecce drinking scene seriously, this is a reference point.
Lecce, Italy
Nobile sits in San Cataldo, on the outer edge of Lecce's bar scene, at a remove from the baroque centro storico where most visitors congregate. The address alone signals a venue oriented toward a local crowd rather than passing tourists, placing it in a different register from the well-worn aperitivo circuit closer to the cathedral.
Polignano a Mare, Italy
On Polignano a Mare's main piazza, Super Mago del Gelo Mario Campanella has served generations of locals and visitors from one of the Adriatic coast's most recognisable town squares. The gelateria occupies a position where the social ritual of the evening passeggiata meets the craft tradition of artisan Italian gelato. For the full picture of drinking and eating in the area, see our full Polignano restaurants guide.
Puglia & Matera Region
Selected entries from the current guide for Puglia & Matera Region.
Alberobello, Italy
Cantina Museo Albea puts Alberobello’s wine culture inside a working stone cellar and museum, with rock-carved vats, antique agricultural tools, and guided tastings focused on native Puglian grapes. The draw is not luxury gloss but context: Primitivo, Negroamaro, Nero di Troia, Verdeca, Fiano, Bianco d’Alessano, and Maresco explained through the dry, calcareous soils of the Itria Valley.
Lecce, Italy
Vallone gives Lecce a serious Salento wine reference point: family-run, quiet in tone, and built around a 500-hectare estate base spread across three properties. Its interest lies in how Negroamaro, Primitivo, Susumaniello, Fiano, and Ottavianello are used to argue for Puglia as a place of precision rather than simple warmth and volume.
Lecce, Italy
Vigneti Reale reads as a Salento winery shaped by flat clay soils, Mediterranean heat, and a family agricultural line dating to 1921. Its appeal is less about trophy collecting than about a broad regional portfolio: Primitivo, Negroamaro, Malvasia, Susumaniello, Chardonnay, rosé, white, red, sparkling wine, and olive oil held together by a clean, modern cellar style.
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