In Monopoli, there are some lovely beaches: small and sandy, surrounded by rocks or standing at the end of a walk in the meadow. There is a beach for everyone!
Monopoli Skyline
Monopoli is a beautiful Apulian town in Bari province, on the southern Adriatic coast.
There are various theories concerning the origin of the town's name. Some refer to the term “Manopoli” (mano meaning hand) because of the 'hand shape' of the promontories and indentations of the urban coastline. This word had already been used by the Piedmontese cartographer Giacomo Gastaldi and even in a map from the Florence state archives dating back to 1400.
Its Old Town, with almost all the houses painted in beautiful white, can easily compete with more famous towns within the same region.
Its proximity to fabulous destinations such as Polignano a Mare - it only takes five minutes by train! - or Alberobello, makes Monopoli the ideal base for the tourist willing to visit a little piece of Apulia, also by public transport.
The small harbour of Monopoli
The creeks
The real hype of Monopoli is the presence of evocative and beautiful beaches, called “calette”.
Here are the most famous ones.
Cala Porta Vecchia
This small cove is setting right at the entrance to the 16th century fortified walls in the historic centre of Monopoli. It has a sandy bottom and shallow water. Walking around Monopoli, it is just impossible to resist the temptation to take a dip!
Cala Cozze
The history of this cove is peculiar. It seems to have existed in the past and then 'disappeared'. Its recent formation looks to date back to 2013. Here too the water is crystal clear and the seabed is shallow and sandy.
Porto Bianco
This cove also has a shallow, sandy seabed. The origin of its name, referring to white - like that of the other coves marked by a colour - derives from its correlation with the beach of Porto Rosso (red), an area that was once linked to animal slaughter. The other coves, therefore, depending on their distance from Porto Rosso, got more or less clean waters and different colours.
Porto Rosso
One of the most popular beaches in Monopoli, due to its size and convenient location. The seabed is always shallow, up to a considerable distance from the shoreline. Right next to it, there is also a bar where you can have delicious aperitifs after a day spent at the beach.
Porto Nero (black)
This is a strip of sand surrounded by rocks. This cove can be accessed in two ways: by walking along Porto Rosso and continuing on foot, or through the "Perla nera" beach. To the visitor's eyes, this cove looks like a sort of very special natural swimming pool. Porto Nero is ideal for those seeking relaxation and tranquillity, far from the most crowded beaches in the area.
Porto Verde (green)
Also here, we are in the presence of a small beach surrounded by a wall of rocks, covered with beautiful vegetation. Access to the beach is from the columns of Santo Stefano Castle, along a short path.
Cala Paradiso
The public beach is relatively small, while the bulk of the space is occupied by the bathing establishment. The place is a beautiful hollow: the waters are green and create a beautiful lagoon effect. To get to this cove, you have to walk along the football fields preceding the town.
How approaching Monopoli
By train
On the Bari-Lecce line, we recommend the stations of Polignano a Mare, Monopoli, Fasano and Ostuni. The inland towns are served by the Ferrovie Sud-Est line.
By plane
Monopoli is less than an hour away from Brindisi and Bari airports.
Main connections with BARI airport:
- From Barcelona and Florence with the Vueling airline.
- From Berlin with the Airberlin airline.
- From Bologna, Brussels Charleroi, Cagliari, Dusseldorf Weeze, Frankfurt Hahn, Genoa, Karlsruhe - Baden Baden, London Stansted, Malta, Milan Bergamo, Paris Beauvais, Pisa, Rome Ciampino, Turin, Trieste, Venice - Treviso with Ryanair.
- From Bari to Bucharest, Budapest, Prague with Wizz.
- From Catania and Palermo with Blue Express by Blue Panorama.
- From Cologne and Stuttgart with the Germanwings airline.
- From London Gatwick, Milan Malpensa with the Easyjet airline.
- From Rome Fiumicino, Milan Linate, Turin, Tirana with Alitalia.
- From Munich with the company Airdolomiti.
- From Venice and Verona with the Volotea airline.
By car
- From the A14 Bologna-Bari motorway, exit at Bari Nord and take the SS 16 in direction of Brindisi. Along the way, you can find Monopoli among the various towns of the Trulli Coast.
- From Brindisi - Lecce: SS 16, in direction of Bari you will find signs for the various towns on the Costa dei Trulli, including Monopoli.
