What is the Bari self-guided walking tour?
The Bari self-guided walking tour is an audio walk from the new town into Bari Vecchia, with narration on your phone where a guide would normally be. Allow about 3 hours: 32 minutes of that is walking, the route is 2.4 km long, and the 10 stops are where you pause and listen. You choose the day and the time, and nobody waits for you.
At the Teatro Petruzzelli you hear how two merchant brothers built one of Italy's largest opera houses, lost its interior to fire in 1991 and saw it reopen only in 2009. By the sea the narration tells the story behind the Teatro Margherita and its piles sunk into the seabed. On Piazza Mercantile comes the Column of Justice, where debtors were tied up and mocked according to tradition, and at the Basilica of St Nicholas the story of the sailors who brought the saint's relics from Myra in 1087. At the castle you meet Isabella of Aragon and her daughter Bona Sforza, later Queen of Poland, who held court there.
- Durationabout 3 hours
- Walkingabout 32 min · 2.4 km
- Stops10
- LanguagesEnglish, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
What you do on the walking tour
Listen
The audio tells each place's history, its legends and the details hidden in plain sight. If you prefer to read, the text is on your screen.
Walk on
Between stops, Google Maps finds the way through the lanes of the old town: 32 minutes on foot across 2.4 km.
Take a break
Stop for a coffee by the sea or an hour in a museum, then continue later the same day or on another one.
Eat and shop
Tips for food and local shops near the route come with the stops, and the app lets you change the first stop and the order.
See the route and attractions →
How it works
- Book online Choose the number of people. Your booking reference arrives by email straight away.
- Get the app Download the World City Trail app from the App Store or Google Play and enter your booking reference.
- Walk when you like Start whenever you are ready, walk at your own pace and pause any time. No guide, no fixed schedule.
Who the walking tour is for
A first visit
One walk joins the straight streets of the Murat district to the tangle of Bari Vecchia and tells you what you are looking at.
An evening out
Set off in the late afternoon and the walk ends on Largo Albicocca just as its outdoor tables fill up.
Anyone who avoids groups
No flag to follow and no fixed departure: stay where something interests you and move on when you want.
Good to know
- Bring a charged smartphone with mobile data; a power bank helps.
- No entry tickets needed: everything happens outside the buildings. Going inside is optional and paid separately.
- Family friendly; children must be accompanied by an adult.
- Not suitable for wheelchair users and difficult with strollers.
- Groups of up to 5 work best; larger groups split up, one ticket per person.
- Every purchase helps support stray cats and dogs in Greece.
The walk stop by stop: Murat district, seafront, Bari Vecchia, Largo Albicocca
10 stops · about 32 min walking · start: Piazza Umberto I Gardens · finish: Largo Albicocca
You set out from the palm-shaded gardens of Piazza Umberto I, beside the Palazzo Ateneo, and follow Corso Cavour to the Teatro Petruzzelli. The Teatro Margherita marks the seafront, and Piazza del Ferrarese, with its stretch of Roman road under glass, is the way into the old town. Along the walls you reach the Fortino di Sant'Antonio, then Piazza Mercantile, the Basilica of St Nicholas, San Sabino Cathedral and the Castello Normanno-Svevo, and the walk closes on Largo Albicocca. The app lets you change the start and the order, and all the stops are free.
Open the route map ↗
1Piazza Umberto I GardensStart
This large garden square lies in the Murat district, the grid-plan new town laid out from 1813 under Joachim Murat, King of Naples. Palms shade its paths, and on one side stands the Palazzo Ateneo, the historic seat of the University of Bari.
Read the full story →
2Teatro Petruzzelli
Opened in 1903 on Corso Cavour, the Teatro Petruzzelli was built by the merchant brothers Onofrio and Antonio Petruzzelli and is one of the largest opera houses in Italy. A fire destroyed its interior in 1991, and it only reopened in 2009 after a long reconstruction.
Read the full story →
3Teatro Margherita
The Teatro Margherita stands on piles over the sea at the end of Corso Vittorio Emanuele and opened in 1914 in Liberty style. It is said to have been built on the water because an agreement with the Petruzzelli family stopped the city from allowing a new theatre on its land. After decades of neglect it has been restored as an exhibition venue.
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4Piazza del Ferrarese
This square at the edge of the old town opens onto the seafront and is said to be named after Stefano Ferrarese, a merchant from Ferrara who lived here in the 17th century. Under glass in the paving you can see a stretch of an ancient Roman road.
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5Fortino di Sant'Antonio
This small fort on the old town's seafront was part of the walls that once protected Bari from attacks by sea. It takes its name from a chapel of St Anthony Abbot, and from its terrace you look out over the waterfront and the old harbour.
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6Piazza Mercantile
For centuries this was the main market square of Bari's old town. On one side stands the Sedile dei Nobili, the former seat of the noble council, with its clock tower. In a corner rises the Column of Justice with a stone lion, where, according to tradition, debtors who could not pay were tied and publicly mocked.
Read the full story →
7Basilica of St Nicholas
The basilica was begun in 1087 to house the relics of St Nicholas, which sailors from Bari had taken from Myra in Asia Minor that year, and was consecrated in 1197. Its plain Romanesque front became a model for churches across Apulia, and the saint's tomb in the crypt draws Catholic and Orthodox pilgrims.
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8Bari Cathedral (San Sabino)
The cathedral, dedicated to St Sabinus, was rebuilt in Apulian Romanesque style from the late 12th century, after King William I of Sicily had destroyed the city in 1156. Look up at the large rose window on its white stone front. The crypt holds the relics of St Sabinus.
9Castello Normanno-Svevo
The castle was founded by the Normans and rebuilt by Emperor Frederick II around 1233. In the 16th century it was strengthened with bastions and became the court of Isabella of Aragon and her daughter Bona Sforza, later Queen of Poland. A moat still runs around much of it.
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10Largo AlbicoccaFinish
Largo Albicocca is a small square among the narrow lanes of Bari's old town. Locals also call it Piazza degli Innamorati, the lovers' square, and in the evening it fills with people meeting at its outdoor tables.
Read the full story →
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Margherita– Italy –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Era organizzato molto bene, peccato solo non poter ri-organizzare i luoghi sulla mappa a piacimento e che le foto fossero un po’ datate. Per il resto esperienza piacevolissima e che mi ha permesso di guardare con occhi diversi la città!
Czech Republic –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Phil– United Kingdom –
Collected on GetYourGuide
Easy to follow and did the job.