Saturday 30th May 2026. Trani, Puglia, Italy
Leaving the lovely site this morning, we set a destination for Monopoli. We were going to visit after Polignano al Mare but as the weather was rubbish we drove on by.
Anyway, halfway there, we changed our minds…again….and chose Trani instead.
Trani is a little further up the coast and is featured in one of our guide books we have been consulting on this trip – Lonely Planet Road Trips of Italy.
Most of today’s travel has been on motorways that were in dire need of resurfacing. We haven’t missed these roads at all, and were very glad to turn off for Trani.
Parking in a private Sosta on the edge of the old town, we hung around for a few hours waiting for the heat of the day to dissipate, eventually heading in at about 4.30pm.
What a pretty place Trani is.
Nearly every building is built in white/light stone and most of the lanes and roads are flagstone.
It was very quiet at this time of day but made for a good time to sight see.
The cathedral is on the water’s edge facing the old castle (afternoon light meant I couldn’t get a great pic of said castle), and is huge! There’s a crypt and then another crypt under that! It’s so cool and calm with many marble pillars and surprisingly lots of light considering it’s below ground.
There’s a huge Piazza outside and today we were serenaded by an accordian player.
Walking round to the harbour we stopped for a gelato and a drink, its a very popular area with Italians in the summer apparently, lots of restaurants and bars just reopening for the evening session.
Continuing round the harbour, on the water’s edge there’s a lovely city park. Under a thick canopy of trees, there are busts on plinths, a bandstand, ponds with fish and aviaries of birds to while away a warm afternoon.
A cafe and a couple of restaurants take care of any developing hunger. What a fab place for the locals and visitors 
Returning to the old town centre we looked for a fish restaurant for dinner. Tucked up a lane was a great little spot, though it wasn’t actually little! Out the back there was a square and there were many more tables for us to chose from.
The square was busy too. A big group were celebrating a little one’s birthday, once again europeans making the most of their lovely spaces.
For dinner we shared fried calamari and prawns, an octopus salad, oven roasted potatoes and a whole sea bream. Wow! Delicious 
, we left some to take home for Meg.
As we wandered back through the lanes Trani was coming back to life. Shops and bars were busy and lights were on as the sun set.
One thing we’ve noticed is that Meg seems to always know the way home! Even though we practically move on every day or so. Bless her, once she thinks we’re heading back its as if she is in a race to get there as quick as possible 
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Well, what a little delight Trani turned out to be. We are so glad we changed our mind and chose this little gem 
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