Easily overlooked for its more popular neighbours of Alberobello and Martina Franca, there are many beautiful things to do in Locorotondo that deserve a spot on your Puglia itinerary.
Known as the White City, it sits atop a hill, offering some of the best views in the entire region. The town has a historic walled old town known as Centro Storico.
Here you’ll find a tangle of pedestrianised streets and alleyways, filled with charming boutiques, white-washed walls, and balconies crammed with potted plants.
Whether you choose to spend the day or stay overnight, this guide covers what to do in Locorotondo, along with some more practical information about visiting.
You’ll find FAQs about Locorotondo parking, transport and accommodation at the bottom of this blog.
Locorotondo Things to Do: at a Glance
Top 3 Things to Do: Ride through the vineyards on an e-bike tour, shop the famous White City boutiques, take a guided tour.
Don’t Miss: A sunset wine tasting experience in the vineyards at Azienda Agricola Bufano.
Where to Stay: 1783 Dimora d’Epoca – a luxuriously charming white-washed B&B in the heart of town, with a rooftop terrace and underground spa.
Top Tip: The shops close in the afternoon, so visit in the morning or evening for the best boutique buys.
When to Go: April – October for warm weather. The San Rocco firework festival takes place on the 16th and 17th of August.
Top 10 Best Things to Do in Locorotondo
1. Go Wine Tasting
Wine tasting as the sun sets over the vineyards is one of my favourite things to do in Locorotondo.
Located just underneath the famous Via Nardelli, the vineyard has sandbag seating areas scattered amongst the vines, all with stunning vistas of the Apulian countryside.
There’s a bar in a booth at the entrance, where you purchase three tokens per person, to be exchanged for three small glasses.
You can choose what type of wine to sample, including sparkling, white, red, and rose, including the famous Locorotondo doc. If you want to stay longer, more tokens can be purchased.
Just to be clear, this isn’t a traditional wine-tasting experience where you’ll learn about the grape and hear about the business of production.
It’s more of a self-guided tasting, where you can sample the local flavours at your leisure and enjoy stunning panoramic views at the same time.
You can’t book in advance, since the vineyard is sometimes closed for private events. If that’s the case during your visit, there are several bars up on Via Nardelli where you can sit with a sunset drink instead.
2. Shop the Charming Boutiques
Despite being a tiny and historic hilltop town, one of the most popular things to do in Locorotondo might surprise you.
People come from towns and villages all around Puglia to shop in the independent boutiques and stores that line the maze-like streets.
This is an authentic Southern Italy shopping experience – you won’t find any big chain stores or mass-produced goods here. It’s all about hand-painted ceramics, locally produced olive oil, and buttery soft leather goods – making it easy to pick up the perfect artisanal souvenir.
3. Visit the Villa Communale Viewpoint
On a sunny day, there’s nothing quite like the views from the small park and viewpoint at Villa Communale.
This leafy community garden is home to a war memorial and some benches where you can take a moment in the shade of the trees to enjoy an ice cream or coffee.
There’s not too much to see here but it’s worth taking a moment to stroll through the trees and snap pictures of the Itria valley sprawling out before you.
4. Photograph the Maze-Like Streets
If you came to Puglia for the photos, you won’t be disappointed in Locorotondo.
This gorgeous little town is a photographer’s paradise, with charming doorways, cobbled alleys, and picturesque churches around every corner.
Head out early in the morning to have the place to yourselves in a soft morning light, and enjoy the peace of a sleepy Italian town as church bells ring and vendors set out their wares.
You could easily spend a few hours just wandering around and snapping things you see, but if you’re short on time, head to these spots for photography:
- Palazzo Morelli
- Piazza Vittorio Emanuele
- The streets around Chiesa Madre di San Giorgio
- Via Giuseppe Verde
5. Stop by the Chiesa Madrea di San Giorgio
Like any town in Italy, you’ll find a high concentration of churches and chapels in Locorotondo.
The biggest and most central is the Church of Saint George Martyr (Chiesa Madrea di San Giorgio).
Its creamy white dome and bell tower protrude from the top of the whitewashed walls of Locorotonodo and can be seen from miles around.
It’s free to pop inside, and you can make a donation to light a candle or just admire the ornate Catholic altars.
Other churches that are worth seeing include San Nicola di Myra Church, with its fresco roof, and the Romanesque Chiesa Rettoria Madonna della Greca, which is just outside the Centro Storico.
6. Pop inside the Miniature Chiesa di Santa Maria del Soccorso
Along with a wealth of churches, the winding alleyways of Locorotondo are also home to some tiny chapels, with hardly enough room for a congregation of two.
The Chiesa di Santa Maria del Soccorso is one of the most famous, built on the intersection of two streets.
You can poke your head in and read about the chapel’s history – but if nothing else, it makes for a great photography spot.
7. Explore the Surrounding Countryside
If you stay overnight, you might be looking for more things to do in Locorotondo to fill two or three days. I recommend getting out into the countryside surrounding the town to get a real flavour of rustic, rural Puglian life.
There’s a fantastic e-bike tour that takes you from the White City to nearby Martina Franca, passing by vineyards, old farms, and traditional trulli homes along the way.
The guide will give you some background on the Itria Valley, including some of the local stories and legends from the region, as well as a short guided tour of each town you visit.
Homemade ice cream rounds off the perfect morning or afternoon in Puglia.
8. Watch the Suneset on Via Nardelli
As the sun starts to set in Locorotondo, locals and travellers alike flock to one place to watch the sky turn pink. Via Nardelli, a road that runs along the southern edge of the historic centre, offers the most spectacular views at dusk.
There are a handful of bars here, but you may need to get there early in the high season to secure a front-row seat.
9. Sample Local Specialties at Osteria Il Rosone
There are lots of lovely traditional restaurants to sample in Locorotondo, but for a meal people often queue out the door for, I recommend Osteria Il Rosone.
In the summer, quaint wooden tables decorate the cobbled street like stepping stones, and in the colder months, a stone-walled, white-washed interior really captures the atmosphere of the old town.
The owners of the restaurant cook fresh, authentic Puglian specialities with vegetables from their own garden and locally sourced meat from the Itria valley.
I recommend trying one of the local favourites, orecchiette pasta with ragu or polpo in Pignata – a traditional and surprisingly tasty octopus stew cooked in a terracotta dish.
10. Watch the Incredible Firework Festival OF San Rocco
For a couple of days in August, the small hilltop town of Locorotondo is taken over with street festivities and a spectacular firework festival over the Itria Valley.
The festival takes place on the 16th and 17th of August, in honour of San Rocco, one of the town’s patron saints.
**You may also be interested in reading 10 Unmissable Alberobello Attractions and Things to Do.**
Locorotondo Things to Do: FAQs & Travel Tips
Is Locorotondo worth visiting?
If you love quaint hilltop towns, charming cobblestone old towns and gorgeous independent boutiques, then Locorotondo deserves a spot on your Puglian itinerary. It’s definitely worth visiting for the day, but you could also consider staying overnight to get the full experience.
The White City’s privileged hilltop position treats you to stunning sunset views over the olive groves of Puglia, and the maze-like streets come alive at night with tables from authentic osterias spilling out onto the cobbles.
Where to stay in Locorotondo?
There aren’t too many classy places to stay in Locorotondo, apart from 1783 Dimora d’Epoca, a chic farmhouse B&B with exposed stone suites, an underground spa, and a beautiful rooftop terrace.
How to get to Locorotondo?
Like most of Puglia, Locorotondo is not particularly well connected by public transport. Depending on your itinerary, you might be best off hiring a car for a Puglia road trip, as we did. Car hire is typically inexpensive, and its possible to find parking in many of the towns and villages (more on that below).
Compare car rental prices here.
If you can’t hire a car for whatever reason, Locorotondo does have a small train station. Its about a 15-minute walk from Centro Storico.
If you’re travelling from Bari, you can catch a train from Bari Centrale to Locorotondo, changing at Putignano. The whole journey takes about 2 hours. View your transport options and buy tickets here.
There is also a train that runs from Alberobello to Locorotondo every hour or so. Timetables and tickets can be found here.
Where is the best Locorotondo parking?
You may be able to find some roadside parking in town, but you’ll have to pay by the meter and it can get expensive depending on how long you plan on staying. We found a spot right outside the Chiesa Rettoria Madonna della Greca when we visited Puglia in October.
There is some free Locorotondo parking here, a 10-minute walk from the centre of town, but spots fill up fast in the high season.
Alternatively, there is paid Locorotonodo parking at this underground lot near the historic centre for around €1 an hour.
Have more questions about visiting Locorotondo? Let me know in the comments!
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