Polignano a Mare is a postcard town settled on Puglia’s Adriatic coast. Its old town clusters on a clifftop, with the newer part of town unfolding behind. The limestone cliffs on this part of the coast are honeycombed with caves. You can swim to some of them straight from the white-pebble beach of Cala Porto; to see those further away, hire a kayak to paddle along the coast.
The old town’s maze of narrow streets are edged with whitewashed houses. Radiating out from the café-lined Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, they twist and turn before emerging out onto panoramic terraces overlooking the coast (perfect spots for watching the cliff divers jumping and somersaulting into the clear waters).