What is the best month to visit Puglia?

June for the best balance of warm sea, long days and space; September if you want the sea at its warmest and the towns quiet. May is the most beautiful for the countryside, with a sea that is still cool.

How hot is August in Valle d’Itria?

Usually 30 to 35 degrees in the afternoon, with the occasional day hotter. Nights fall to around 22. The thick walls of a trullo keep the inside far cooler, and both our houses have a pool and shade for the afternoons.

San Rocco in Locorotondo on 16 August, with fireworks; Sant’Oronzo in Ostuni on 25 to 27 August, with the Cavalcata; the Festival della Valle d’Itria opera season in Martina Franca from mid July to early August. Each town also has its patron saint’s day and a summer of smaller sagre, village food festivals.

The valleyGuide

When to visit Valle d’Itria

The best months in Valle d’Itria are May, June and September: warm days, a sea you can swim in, and towns that are lively without being full. July and August are high summer, hot and crowded, with the feasts and the opera festival. October brings the olive harvest and the new oil. Winter is quiet, mild and mostly yours.

Spring: April to June

April is green and flowering, with wild orchids in the olive groves, Easter processions in the towns, and days around 20 degrees; the sea is still cold. May is the month the valley is at its most beautiful, warm enough for lunch outside every day and cool enough to walk at noon, with the first brave swimmers at the end of the month. June is early summer: the sea reaches 22 degrees, the beach clubs open, the evenings are long and the towns fill on weekends but not yet in the week. If you can choose, choose June.

Summer: July and August

July is hot, 30 degrees and more by early afternoon, and this is when a trullo earns its walls. Mornings are for the sea and the towns, afternoons for the pool and the shade, evenings for eating out. The Festival della Valle d’Itria opens in Martina Franca in the middle of the month. August is all of that with the whole of Italy on holiday: the feast of San Rocco in Locorotondo on the 16th, Sant’Oronzo in Ostuni on the 25th to 27th, and full restaurants every night. Book everything early and come for the atmosphere.

Autumn: September and October

September is the local secret: the sea is at its warmest, around 24 degrees, the crowds go home after the first week, and the light turns gold. The grape harvest is under way in the vineyards around Locorotondo. October is still warm, about 22 degrees in the day, with the first rain and the olive harvest beginning: the nets go down under the trees, the frantoi open, and the new oil, green and peppery, arrives on every table. The sea is possible until the middle of the month.

Winter: November to March

The valley in winter is white towns under grey skies, fires lit in the trulli and almost no one about. Some restaurants and most beach places close, and the days are short, but they are rarely cold: 12 to 15 degrees is normal, and the almond trees flower in February. Christmas brings luminarie in the streets and nativity scenes in the old towns. It is the season for people who want the valley itself, not the summer.

Good to know

What is the best month to visit Puglia?: June for the best balance of warm sea, long days and space; September if you want the sea at its warmest and the towns quiet. May is the most beautiful for the countryside, with a sea that is still cool.
How hot is August in Valle d’Itria?: Usually 30 to 35 degrees in the afternoon, with the occasional day hotter. Nights fall to around 22. The thick walls of a trullo keep the inside far cooler, and both our houses have a pool and shade for the afternoons.
When are the feasts?: San Rocco in Locorotondo on 16 August, with fireworks; Sant’Oronzo in Ostuni on 25 to 27 August, with the Cavalcata; the Festival della Valle d’Itria opera season in Martina Franca from mid July to early August. Each town also has its patron saint’s day and a summer of smaller sagre, village food festivals.

What is a trullo

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