When visiting Puglia (this was my itinerary) and having done a little bit of research, Alberobello is probably on top of your list. The cute trulli houses are probably the hot spot of Puglia. Take this into account when visiting, because it can get extremely busy! Within this quick travel guide to Alberobello, you’ll find a photographic overview including some “what to do in Alberobello” tips and the trullo we’ve stayed in during our visit.
Alberobello can be visited perfectly as a day trip and we found to not need the full day. We arrived early to try and beat the crowds, even though we were visiting in October during COVID times. I have to say, we were lucky, as it was pretty quiet. After about 2 to 3 hours of walking around, a cup of coffee, and visiting the little viewpoint over the village, we already felt it was time to continue. When visiting later during the day, there are enough locations for lunch or a nice glass of wine in/near one of the Trulli’s.
Alberobello is part of the Valle d’Itria, also covering the cute villages of for example Locotorondo. You have to explore this whole region a little bit more when in Puglia. Check out my guide about the Valle d’Itria here. Cool, let’s dive in with this Quick Guide to Alberobello.
The Trullo came up around 1500. The houses were designed to avoid having to pay taxes, as the houses are built without concrete, which allowed them to be broken down quickly. The trulli you currently see are more solid than they used to be and completely safe.
Currently, most citizens of Alberobello don’t live in a Trullo and they are mainly used for touristic purposes such as shops, restaurants and accommodation.
During our Puglian road trip, we had access to a car. That’s why we could easily drive to Alberobello by ourselves. As it was early and less touristic than normal, we could park very close to the houses on one of the Alberobello parking lots (Google Maps shows plenty of parking opportunities when using the term “Alberobello parking”). There also is a train station in Alberobello which is around 10 minutes walk from the Trulli Area.
In my opinion, the best thing to do in Alberobello is to just stroll around and make sure to catch a glimpse of every corner. We visited some of the little shops, had a cup of coffee with a typical Puglian snack (Pasticciotti) and visited the viewpoint (Belvedere Santa Lucia) that can be found on the other side of the parking lot when leaving the Trulli area of town. You can also visit Trullo Solvano, which is a small museum.
I can imagine that in the afternoon it also is fun to have a drink at one of the ‘bar tables’ that you see in front of the bars located in some of the trulli. Especially on the Via Monte S. Michele, there seemed to be quite some nice places!
We only stayed in the area for 1 night. The Masseria where we stayed (Masseria Montenapoleone) was located in the same area, which already allowed us to visit part of the Valle d’Itria on our way to the accommodation located there. For the full experience, we booked a night at Trulli Caroli, which is a Trulli used for accommodation. Unfortunately, we were based in the house next to it, so weren’t able to get the full trulli experience. We have been sitting inside most of the time, because of the rain, but I still liked the place. And, it was very cheap! We only paid 15 euros per person for one night. You can find Trulli Caroli here. If you are looking to spend your night in Alberobello itself, B&B C’era una volta (€120 for 2 persons) might be the place for you.
