LOCATION : Polignano a Mare, Italy, 40.9949° N, 17.2225° E

OCEAN : Adriatic Sea in the Mediterranean

WHEN : August

Peak tourist season in Italy, but it actually wasn’t too bad. After being used to crowded Biarritz in the summertime, we didn’t mind the crowds and loved watching all the Italians enjoying their summer holidays.

KNOWN FOR : This is a stop during Red Bull’s famous annual European cliff diving competition where divers jump off this famous view into the crystal clear water of the Adriatic Sea.

TRAVEL : We got there via a direct flight from Bordeaux to Naples, then rented a car and drove down to Polignano a Mare for the start of our two week roadtrip around Southern Italy.

STAY : Relais Del Senatore Bed And Breakfast

Brent found this B&B (of course) located in the center of town. Our room was underground surrounded by stone walls, which was great for keeping us cool on the very hot and humid August days. Wifi was slow, which was a bit stressful for me since I was working full time during this trip, but we made it work. If you’re just there for vacation and don’t need to be uploading large files, it’s fine! (aka everyone else in Italy but me). While we did not have a view from our room, we did have full access to the hotel patio all day. Breakfast was served on a sunny patio built into the cliffs of this famous town, overlooking the beautiful water and cliffside village views. The breakfast views from this spot was one of our favorite parts of the trip. We could also come up to the patio and enjoy local wine and products during sunset, which was also when I got a lot of work done.

EAT : Our favorite thing we ate in Polignano a Mare were Panzerotti, and the best ones we had were from La Rotellina. There was always a line out the door, but they were definitely worth the wait. We also enjoyed foccacia from La Focacceria di Delle Noci Marco as well. It was SO hot when we were here, it was hard to eat, so we had a lot of gelato while we were there, as well.

WHAT TO DO : We enjoyed some time on the very crowded beaches, explored the rustic cobblestone streets, but the best thing we did was to rent a paddle boat and take in the views from the water. We rented a paddle boat for two hours from a little stand down on the beach and paddled the length of the cliffside town and swam a ton. This was a great way to escape the crowds and enjoy the views from a new perspective, we highly recommend doing this!