Polignano a Mare, perched on a cliff above turquoise water

Polignano a Mare is known as the Pearl of the Adriatic. When we arrived in Bari and were waiting for our train we had a chat to a Scottish lady married to an Italian, who mentioned three or four places to visit. The top of her list was Polignano a Mare.

Polignano a Mare is easily accessible thirty minutes from Bari. We drove there from San Vito and the road on the way to the coast was olive tree-lined.

Then we saw the sea and it was this beautiful turquoise, deep blue colour. We had to pull off and have a look. This gentleman tanning in the sun looked very relaxed.

We were hungry and went to a recommended seafood restaurant. It was full of locals and we ate delicious calamari and swordfish. The setting is very pretty next to a bay with old fishing boats.

The meal was one of our more expensive ones in Italy at 50 Euros but the seafood was fresh.

The famous Instagrammed view of Polignano a Mare is taken from the Roman Bridge onto the white pebble beach Lama Monachile, also known as Carla Porto.

Legend has it that cliff divers jump from the limestone cliffs into the waters of Carla Porto.

It is believed that the name Polignano comes from Neapolis, an ancient sea colony which was in the same area where Polignano was built.

We then crossed into the old city and wandered around. It was just very pretty with typical stairs, arches, washing hanging out of windows, and lovely plants.