Bari is two cities side by side. On the point that juts into the sea lies Bari Vecchia, a tangle of alleys enclosed by the Muraglia, with the cathedral of San Sabino, the castle of Frederick II and the basilica where San Nicola rests, whose relics sixty-two sailors from Bari carried away from Myra, in Lycia, and landed here on 9 May 1087. Since then the city has been a destination for pilgrims from East and West: in the crypt one apse is reserved for Orthodox worship, and in May the Russians arrive. Beyond corso Vittorio Emanuele begins the Murat, the new town laid out on a grid in the nineteenth century, with the Teatro Petruzzelli and the shopping streets. In front of both runs the monumental lungomare of the 1920s and 1930s. For those travelling by motorhome Bari is also a port: from the Varco della Vittoria the ships leave for Igoumenitsa, Patras and Durrës, and the city is worth the half day you spend waiting to board.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
Bari has no municipal area for motorhomes. The stopovers are two equipped private car parks in Japigia, the district south-east of the centre, and a campsite by the sea at Giovinazzo, twenty kilometres further north. Neither car park publishes a price list: the rates are those paid in the summer of 2026.
Hobby Park Wash
Via Carabiniere Giovanni del Conte, 70126 Bari
a private car park next to a car wash, in Japigia, two hundred and fifty metres from the sea. It is the stopover closest to Bari Vecchia: on foot you get there in twenty or thirty minutes along the sea, and AMTAB buses pass nearby. There are about ten places, for motorhomes up to eight metres, and at the end of summer 2026 it was always full: phone ahead, or stop by to ask
The operator does not publish a price list; in August and September 2026 people who stayed there paid 25 euros a night, plus 5 euros for electricity, with water filling, emptying and hot shower included
a motorhome storage yard with about fifteen places for stopping over, fenced and guarded, in Japigia, towards the ring road. It is handy the night before or after the ferry. The bus stop is a hundred metres away, and the centre is a quarter of an hour away. The gate closes in the evening: if you arrive late, phone ahead, because in May 2026 a crew who arrived at 21:30 found it closed until the morning
The operator does not publish a price list; in 2026 people who stayed there paid from 20 to 25 euros for 24 hours, electricity included, and water 1 euro for every fifty litres · 347 7270705
a campsite by the sea at Giovinazzo, run since 1980, with shaded pitches for motorhomes and animals welcome. Bari is twenty kilometres away, and you get there without moving the motorhome: the station and the bus stops are close by, and along the sea runs a cycle and footpath that leads to Giovinazzo, to Molfetta and towards Bari. The website does not give the opening months: ask before you set off
ElectricityWaterGrey waterShowerWi-Fi
The website does not publish the rates, which come with the booking request · 080 3948259 · campinglabaiagiovinazzo.it
In Bari the motorhome stays at the stopover and you go into the centre on foot or by bus: Bari Vecchia is entirely closed to traffic, and around it there is nowhere to stop a long vehicle.
The ZTL of Bari Vecchia: the whole old town, inside corso Vittorio Emanuele, piazza Massari, piazza Isabella d'Aragona, corso De Tullio, the lungomare Imperatore Augusto and piazza IV Novembre, is a limited traffic zone, with seven camera gates. Only authorised vehicles enter the blue streets, at all hours; the through streets are open to everyone on weekdays from 6:00 to 21:00. The rules do not mention motorhomes, and for a tourist Bari Vecchia is closed: with a motorhome avoid piazza Federico II di Svevia and piazza Massari
The buses are run by AMTAB: a single ride costs 1 euro, the ninety minute ticket 1.20, the day ticket 2.50; bought on board 1.50 euros. Tickets can also be bought with the MUVT app. From the port run line 50, the port circular, and the 20; on the lungomare, near the Palazzo della Provincia, the 2 and the 12
Park & Ride: the Comune's interchange car parks, Vittorio Veneto, Pane e Pomodoro and Largo 2 Giugno, cost 1 euro a day with the shuttle to the centre, from 5:15 to 23:30; Pane e Pomodoro is closed on Sundays. Vittorio Veneto admits vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes and without a trailer. They close at night, and they are not stopovers for sleeping
The port: the ships for Greece and Albania board from the Varco della Vittoria, on the lungomare Starita, next to the Fiera del Levante, three and a half kilometres from Bari Vecchia. From the motorway take the Bari Nord exit and follow the signs for the port, Terminal Crociere e Traghetti
The ships: for Greece Superfast goes to Igoumenitsa and Patras, and at some times of year calls at Corfu. With the 2025 timetable it left in the evening at 19:30 and arrived at Igoumenitsa at 5:30 and at Patras at 13:00 the next day; on Sundays it left at 13:30. For Albania GNV goes to Durrës, in ten or eleven hours, usually leaving around 22:00, and every day there is also Adria Ferries
Boarding: GNV and Superfast ask you to show up three hours before departure, with or without a vehicle, and GNV closes check-in one hour before. The GNV ticket office is in Colmata di Marisabella, Monday to Saturday 9:00-21:00 and Sunday 9:00-13:00 and 16:00-21:00
Camping on board, staying in your own motorhome during the crossing, is offered by Superfast from 1 April to 31 October, but not on the sailings to Corfu: on board there are electricity, a shower and a toilet, and gas, stoves and any flame are forbidden. The places are few and are booked early
From the airport: the Ferrotramviaria train takes you to Bari Centrale in seventeen minutes, and the ticket costs 5.30 euros
On foot: Bari Vecchia is small, and from the castle to the basilica of San Nicola it is four hundred metres; the Murat begins just outside, beyond corso Vittorio Emanuele, and the lungomare Nazario Sauro starts from the Teatro Margherita heading south
Seeing
Sights
A walk that starts from the castle, crosses Bari Vecchia to the basilica, comes back along the Muraglia by the sea and ends in the Murat and on the lungomare. It takes a day, museums included. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
Castello Normanno-Svevo
Castle · paid entry · 41.12826, 16.86661
Piazza Federico II di Svevia 4, 70122 Bari
the first fortress was built by Roger II the Norman, in 1131 or 1132 according to the sources, on top of Byzantine buildings. William the Bad destroyed it in 1156 together with the city, and Frederick II had it rebuilt in 1233. In the sixteenth century Isabella of Aragon and her daughter Bona Sforza, later queen of Poland, turned it into a Renaissance residence, and Bona died there in 1557. Under the Bourbons it was a prison and a barracks, and it opened to the public in 1957. The hours are those of the Ministry updated to June 2026.
Opening hours closed on Monday. From 1 October to 31 March Tuesday to Saturday and the first Sunday of the month 9:00-19:00, other Sundays 9:00-13:30; from 1 April to 30 September Tuesday to Sunday 9:00-19:00. The ticket office closes at 18:00 · 10 euros, reduced 2 euros; free on the first Sunday of the month · 080 8869304 · museipuglia.cultura.gov.it/musei-puglia/castello-svevo-di-bari · cs-ba.castellodibari@cultura.gov.it
the street that runs down behind the castle, towards the cathedral, is the street of orecchiette: in front of the doorways of the houses women make them by hand on wooden boards and set them out to dry, and sell them to passers-by. The official tourism portal puts it like this: "in the maze of narrow streets it is easy to stop and admire the women making orecchiette by hand, just as they used to".
the Romanesque cathedral of Bari, with the rose window on the façade and the bell tower that can be seen from the sea. Bishop Bisanzio began it in 1034; partly destroyed by William the Bad in 1156, it was rebuilt by Bishop Rainaldo, and the solemn consecration dates from 4 October 1292. Under the nave, in the succorpo, the 1960 excavations found the floor mosaic of the early Christian cathedral. Here the icon of the Madonna Odegitria, the city's patron saint, is venerated. On the afternoon of 21 June the light from the rose window falls on the mosaic rose in the floor. The Archdiocese publishes only the times of the masses: for the succorpo and the diocesan museum ask on the spot.
the church built for the relics of San Nicola, which sixty-two sailors from Bari carried away from Myra, in Lycia, and landed in Bari on 9 May 1087. Abbot Elia had work begun at once, and the crypt was the first part finished: in 1089 Pope Urban II laid the relics there, under the altar where they still rest. On the central portal the columns stand on two stone oxen. Inside, behind the altar, is the throne of Abbot Elia, one of the masterpieces of Apulian Romanesque sculpture. In the crypt, which has twenty-six columns, one apse has been reserved for Orthodox worship since 1969. Next to it is the Museo Nicolaiano, opened in 2010, for which the basilica does not publish hours or prices.
on the tip of Bari Vecchia, where the Muraglia turns towards the port, an early medieval Benedictine monastery with a sixteenth century bastion. Since 2021, with the restoration finished, it has housed the Archaeological Museum of the Città metropolitana, founded in 1875, and beneath the complex you can see the layers of two thousand five hundred years of the city. The joint ticket with the Pinacoteca is valid for two days according to the Città metropolitana, for twenty-four hours according to the Pinacoteca.
Opening hours Tuesday to Saturday 9:00-19:00, last entry at 18:30; Sundays and holidays 9:00-13:00, last entry at 12:30; closed on Monday · 5 euros, reduced 2 euros between 18 and 25 years; free under 18 and on the first Sunday of the month. With the Pinacoteca the joint ticket costs 8 euros · 080 0990882 · museoarcheologico@cittametropolitana.ba.it
the twelfth century walls that close Bari Vecchia on the sea side, once rising sheer from the water and today separated from the sea by the lungomare. On top runs the promenade from Santa Scolastica to the Fortino di Sant'Antonio, with the houses of the old town on one side and the port and the sea on the other: it is where the people of Bari stroll in the evening.
the bastion at the end of the Muraglia, which takes its name from the little church of Sant'Antonio abate. It is mentioned from the fourteenth century, the people of Bari destroyed it in 1463 and it was rebuilt in the sixteenth century at the wish of Isabella of Aragon. From the terrace you look over the old port, the Teatro Margherita and the lungomare.
the main square of Bari Vecchia, with the Palazzo del Sedile, the clock tower and the loggia, which was the seat of the city government. In one corner stands the column of justice, called the colonna infame, from the sixteenth century: the lion at its base, with the collar that reads Custos Iusticie, is a reused Roman piece, one of the few Roman remains in the city. It is said to have served as a pillory for debtors, but the documents do not confirm it.
the square that opens Bari Vecchia towards the sea and the Murat, joined to piazza Mercantile. Facing it is the Spazio Murat, a hall for contemporary art exhibitions which, with the Teatro Margherita and the former fish market, forms the Polo del Contemporaneo. For the feast of San Nicola in May the square fills with festive lights, and on the evening of the 8th the statue of the saint arrives here in procession from the sea.
the theatre built on the water, on piles, between 1912 and 1914, to get round the agreement with the Petruzzelli family that forbade the Comune to build other theatres on municipal land. It is Art Nouveau, by Francesco De Giglio, the first reinforced concrete building in Bari, and it opened on 22 August 1914 as the Kursaal Margherita. Since December 2018 it has been a museum of contemporary art: hours and tickets change with the exhibitions.
the pier of the old port in front of the Teatro Margherita, which the people of Bari call N'derr a la lanze, ashore by the boats: the fishermen moor their colourful boats and sell fish and seafood, which here is eaten raw, standing up, with a beer. From 8 to 10 May, for the feast of San Nicola, the pier is closed to traffic: it is from here that the statue of the saint goes out to sea.
the theatre of the brothers Onofrio and Antonio Petruzzelli, merchants and shipowners, opened on 14 February 1903 with Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots: with more than two thousand seats it is the fourth largest theatre in Italy. It burned down on the night between 26 and 27 October 1991, after a performance of Norma, and was rebuilt and handed back to the city on 7 September 2009. The guided tour takes you into the foyer and the stalls; tickets are sold at the box office from half an hour before, while they last.
Opening hours guided tours on some days of the month, with the calendar on the Fondazione's website; the tour lasts about half an hour · guided tour 7 euros, reduced 2 euros for students, children and disabled visitors · 080 9752810 · fondazionepetruzzelli.it
the new town of Bari, with straight streets crossing at right angles, whose first stone was laid on 24 April 1813, when Joachim Murat was king; the walls of the old town were pulled down in 1820. Corso Vittorio Emanuele marks the boundary with Bari Vecchia, with the Town Hall, the Prefecture and the Teatro Piccinni; the streets for strolling and shopping are via Sparano and via Argiro.
the monumental seafront of the 1920s and 1930s, with the street lamps, the palm trees and the buildings of the period, which runs south from the Teatro Margherita. The tourism portal says that Bari's is the longest seafront in Italy. The building with the clock tower is the Palazzo della Provincia, finished in the mid 1930s: on the fourth floor is the Pinacoteca Corrado Giaquinto, with painting from Puglia and southern Italy from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. The entrances are at via Spalato 19 and lungomare Nazario Sauro 27.
Opening hours the Pinacoteca Tuesday to Saturday 9:00-19:00, last entry at 18:30, Sunday 9:00-13:00, last entry at 12:30; closed on Monday, 1 January and 8 May · the Pinacoteca 5 euros, reduced 2 euros between 18 and 25 years, free under 18 and on the first Sunday of the month; with Santa Scolastica 8 euros · 080 5412420 · pinacotecabari.it
Bari's feasts belong to San Nicola, twice a year: in May for the arrival of the relics, in December for the liturgical feast. In between, the patron saint in March, Holy Week in Bari Vecchia, the film festival in spring and the Fiera del Levante in September.
Next: San Nicola in December · 6 Dec
6Dec
San Nicola in December
6 December
the liturgical feast of the saint, with the solemn mass in the basilica in the evening, preceded by a triduum and, from October, by the Mercoledì maggiori, the pilgrimages of the parishes. In recent years on 6 December the Comune has also switched on the Christmas tree in piazza del Ferrarese, opening the programme of the festive season
2Mar
Festa della Madonna Odegitria
the first Tuesday of March
the feast of the patron saint, the icon of the Madonna who shows the way, which according to tradition came from the East in the eighth century and is venerated in the cathedral. It is a church feast more than a street one: the archbishop's solemn mass and, for the following week, the pilgrimages of the parishes
to be confirmed
26Mar
Processione dei Misteri
Good Friday, in the evening
the eighteenth century statues of the Passion carried on the shoulders of the confraternities through Bari Vecchia, among the bands and a dense crowd. Since 1825 the procession has set out in alternate years from two churches: from the Vallisa in even years, from San Gregorio in odd ones
to be confirmed
10-17Apr
Bif&st, the film festival
one week in spring
the Bari International Film&TV Festival, a week of screenings, premieres and meetings with directors and actors at the Petruzzelli and in the city's other theatres and cinemas
7-9May
Festa di San Nicola
from 7 to 9 May
the feast of the translation of the relics, which arrived on 9 May 1087, the biggest in the city. On the 7th the painting of the saint arrives by boat at the small harbour, and in the evening the historical procession in costume goes from the castle to piazza San Nicola. On the 8th at dawn the statue leaves the basilica, crosses Bari Vecchia and goes out to sea on a fishing boat followed by the other boats, and in the evening it comes back ashore and arrives in procession in piazza del Ferrarese, where the festive lights are switched on; then the fireworks. On the evening of the 9th the manna is drawn from the tomb. From 7 to 10 May the seafronts and the molo San Nicola are closed to traffic: the motorhome stays outside the centre. On 22 May the Orthodox pilgrims arrive, for the same feast according to the Julian calendar
to be confirmed
This year's dates are not out yet
The solstice in the cathedral
21 June, in the afternoon
on the afternoon of the summer solstice the light entering through the rose window on the façade falls almost exactly on the mosaic rose in the floor. The sacristan noticed it by chance in 2005, and since then the cathedral parish has made it an event with music and dance, with free entry: the church fills up, so arrive early
Fiera del Levante
in September
Bari's trade fair, nine days in September in the exhibition grounds on the lungomare Starita, since 1930. The grounds are next to the Varco della Vittoria, and on the days of the fair the road to the port is busier
Christmas in Bari
from December to Epiphany
the Comune's programme for the festive season, with the tree in piazza del Ferrarese, the market of little wooden huts on the Muraglia, the nativity scenes and the concerts in the neighbourhoods
Remember
Useful tips
The motorhome cannot enter Bari Vecchia: the ZTL has cameras day and night, and there is a gate in front of the castle too. Leave it at a stopover in Japigia and take the bus, with the 2.50 euro day ticket
The two stopovers in the city have few places and do not publish a price list: phone before you arrive, especially in summer and on the evening before a ferry
For the ferry, arrive at the Varco della Vittoria three hours before departure; camping on board with Superfast should be booked early, and is only available from 1 April to 31 October
On Monday the castle, the Pinacoteca and Santa Scolastica are closed; the basilica of San Nicola is open every day, on Sunday until 22:00
On the first Sunday of the month the castle, the Pinacoteca and Santa Scolastica are free, and that day the castle stays open until 19:00 even in winter
The Pinacoteca and Santa Scolastica have a joint ticket for 8 euros
For the feast of San Nicola in May the seafronts and the pier are closed for four days and the city fills up: arrive early and sleep outside the centre
Guided tours of the Petruzzelli take place only on some days of the month, which change every month: check the calendar on the Fondazione's website before going
Turnip tops are in season from November to March: that is the right time for the orecchiette of Bari
Bari · part two
and then?
What to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
Taste
In Bari you eat in the street and on the pier. In Bari Vecchia there is focaccia barese, thick, made with semolina, boiled potatoes in the dough, cherry tomatoes and olives, fried panzerotto and cones of sgagliozze and popizze, fried polenta and dough fritters. At the molo San Nicola raw seafood is eaten; sea urchins, on the other hand, are no longer fished in Puglia, because the Region has banned it since 2023. The home dish from the oven is rice, potatoes and mussels, the tiella. But the symbol is orecchiette, made of durum wheat semolina and water, which women still make by hand in front of the houses of Bari Vecchia. The classic sauce is turnip tops, a traditional product of Puglia, harvested in winter.
Bari Vecchia seen from the sea at sunset, with the bell tower of the cathedralPhoto: Pakycassano, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Castello Normanno-Svevo, with the moat and the towerPhoto: Alessio Talamo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the boards of handmade orecchiette, outside the houses of Bari VecchiaPhoto: Maddy16869, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the cathedral of San Sabino at the end of the street, with the rose window on the façadePhoto: Andreasciacqua00, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the rose window of the cathedral of San SabinoPhoto: Phyrexian, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the nave of the cathedral of San Sabino, with the columns and the archesPhoto: karel291, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0the light of the rose window inside the cathedral, on the afternoon of the solsticePhoto: Mikibari990, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the façade of the basilica of San Nicola, between the two towersPhoto: Andreasciacqua00, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the two stone oxen holding up the columns of the basilica's portalPhoto: Phyrexian, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the basilica of San Nicola from above, with the roofs of Bari Vecchia and the bell tower of the cathedral behindPhoto: Pakycassano, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a show in front of the basilica, on the evening of 7 May, for the feast of San NicolaPhoto: Mikibari990, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Fortino di Sant'Antonio above the old port, with the fishing boatsPhoto: Enzo65ph, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0piazza Mercantile, the main square of Bari VecchiaPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Palazzo del Sedile on piazza Mercantile, with the clock towerPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the festive lights of the feast of San Nicola over piazza del Ferrarese, in May 2012Photo: Hajotthu, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the Teatro Margherita on the water, seen from the molo San Nicola with the fishing boatsPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the old port lit up for the feast of San Nicola, at the blue hour, with the Fortino in the backgroundPhoto: Cinzia la fotografa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the façade of the Teatro PetruzzelliPhoto: Benjamin Smith, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the auditorium of the Teatro Petruzzelli, with the boxes and the stagePhoto: Vob85, Wikimedia Commons, pubblico dominiothe lungomare Nazario Sauro at sunset, with the tower of the Palazzo della ProvinciaPhoto: Distefanoangelo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the ferries for Greece and Albania moored in the port of BariPhoto: DomenicoC96, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
