A Week of Camping in Southern Italy
- Carolina Grace
- 17 hours ago
- 4 min read
July 20, 2025- July 27, 2025
Summer is the season of adventuring, so I decided to start my adventures with a week long camping trip to Southern Italy. In one week, I was able to explore Alberobello, Locorotondo, Matera, Polignano a Mare, Bari, and Manfredonia with nothing but a backpack and a tent.
My first stop of the trip was Alberobello. This white-walled, fairytale-like town has been on the top of my “must visit” list ever since knew I would be moving to Italy for college, and it did not disappoint.
It truly does look like its pictures which can often be misleading, especially today, but every corner I turned I was met with reflective white walls engulfed in green twisting vines and vibrant summer flowers.
In one day, I was able to leave feeling as though I had seen the best parts of Alberobello. I particularly enjoyed the evenings because the temperature dropped, the restaurants began opening up, musicians started singing on the streets, and the warm lights illuminated the homes of the townspeople. My campsite was conveniently located about 30 minutes by walking from Alberobello town center, so it was easy for me to tear myself away from the beautiful town knowing that I would be passing through every day.
The morning of my secodn day was spent in Locotrotondo, Italy whihc truly won my heart over. Italy is a prime hub for tourism, so often many of its towns during the summer are flooded with people, standing shoulder to shoulder in 100 degree heat, but Locorotondo was far from this mainstream havoc.
I had never heard of Locorotondo before this trip and it’s simplicity, vacancy, stillness, and empty streets added so much more to its beauty.
Finding places like this in Italy that are not dominating the world’s tourism market has honestly become difficult, so I found my slow, peaceful, quiet morning to be quite refreshing to experience especially after the hustle and bustle of Alberobello.
My third day checked off a really big “want to visit” mark for me after visiting Matera because not only is it one the oldest cities in Europe, but it is the oldest in Italy.
Matera felt otherworldly. It felt as though there were infinite winding streets to roam around. There is a sort of charm to Matera that many places I have visited do not manage to capture. I am not sure if its the history of it all or the architecture, but regardless of whatever it may be, I found it to be truly fascinating. The panoramic build of Matera allowed you to feel fully enveloped in its ancient history as you were truly completely surrounded by historic buildings, architecture, and museums.
I mentioned earlier that “summer is the season of adventuring,” but truly summer is the season of swimming. So, of course, I had to dedicate a day to the beach and it happened to be the one and only, Polignano a Mare.
I saw and heard great things about this beach in particular, and although very crowded, it was a relaxing day.
The water was clear and refreshing, the people were happy and kind, and the day was sunny and bright. There was plenty to do in Polignano and I found myself particularly enjoying lying in the sun, cliff jumping, and going on a boat tour.
The boat tour was an unexpected addition to my beach day, but getting to ride into all the caves along the sides of the cliffs was such an amazing experience. When stopping for a swim in the deeper waters, I was given snorkeling equipment that made the experience 10x more appealing because I was able to see the fish, rocks, moss, and more up close.
My final two destinations on this week long camping trip were very quickly squeezed onto the end of it, and those were Bari adn Manfredonia. I only spent one day passing through Bari while on my way to Manfredonia and found it to be entertaining, but much more subtle than the rest of the towns in Southern Italy. It had a bigger city feel to it which it not particularly my favorite, but I will say, the food I ate there on the beach did not disappoint.
After my day excursion to Bari, I headed to Manfredonia for my final night camping. I was led here simply because it had the cheapest train back to Rome the folllowing day, but once again I found this “off the beaten path” town to be lovely in its stillness. The black sand beach and southern hospitality at my final campsite really sold me on it, thus making it one of my favorite stops of the whole trip.
This trip meant a lot to me. It was an impromptu solo trip I planned simply put myself back in a space where I knew I would thrive and be happy, and I am so glad I did. I am so glad I went through with it, so glad I completed it, and so glad I ultimately decided to take charge of my own summer and do something that I have wanted to do for years. It’s a bittersweet feeling growing up, but I know the younger version of me would be more than happy to see her grown up self doing what she once thought she only dreamed of.
Be sure to check out my YouTube Video attached above to see more about my camping trip!
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