Puglia · Barletta-Andria-Trani
Andria
The city Frederick II carved in stone as his faithful Andria, the birthplace of burrata, ruling the Murge plateau eighteen kilometers north of its most famous castle.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Andria is on our list
It holds UNESCO, Spighe Verdi and Città dell'Olio.
Subscribe and you get Andria's letter the day it comes out.
Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 45 min from Bari
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 96,750
- J13°
- F15°
- M16°
- A19°
- M24°
- J29°
- J33°
- A32°
- S28°
- O24°
- N18°
- D15°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Andria sits on the Murge plateau, ten kilometers from the Adriatic, the fourth-largest city in Puglia, after Bari, Taranto and Foggia. It was made a fortified civitas in 1046 under Peter the Norman, with twelve towers, three gates and a citadel; Frederick II raised it again in the thirteenth century and built his most famous castle on a hilltop eighteen kilometers south of the city walls. The city and Castel del Monte read as two expressions of the same Frederician ambition, one a working civitas of towers and gates, the other a solitary geometric exercise on an open plateau with no town around it at all.
The other claim Andria makes is burrata, invented around the early twentieth century by the Bianchino family as a way to use leftover mozzarella scraps. A fortified city, an unfinished castle, and a cheese born from kitchen thrift: the Murge produced a walled seat of power and, separately, an object meant to be looked at rather than defended, and a food born of nothing more than not wanting to waste the scraps.
How to get there
From Bari (BRI), about 42 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 2 h 41 min away.
By car from the center of Bari 45 min, Lecce 2 h 33 min or Salerno 2 h 40 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Bari?
Coming by train into Bari Centrale? Andria is about 50 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Bari airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Castel del Monte
An octagonal prism with eight octagonal towers, standing alone on a Murge hilltop and visible for fifty kilometers in any direction. Never finished, never used for war.
Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta
Romanesque cathedral founded in the twelfth century, rebuilt over the centuries, holds the crypt and the relics of San Riccardo, the city's patron.
Chiesa di Sant'Agostino
Gothic-Romanesque church founded by the Teutonic Knights around the mid-thirteenth century as San Leonardo, with a sculpted portal that is one of the finest in Puglia.
Porta Sant'Andrea
Norman gate of the eleventh-century walls, also called the Arco di Federico II for the verses the emperor had carved on it, still framing an entrance to the centro storico.
Parco Nazionale dell'Alta Murgia
National park on the Murge plateau around the castle, dolines and pseudosteppe, with one of the largest populations of lesser kestrels in Europe.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
Antichi SaporiTrattoria
Antichi Sapori has a Michelin Bib Gourmand, three Gambero Rosso prawns and a Slow Food snail, among other nods.
Confetteria Mucci Giovanni con annesso Museo del ConfettoPasticceria
Confetteria Mucci Giovanni con annesso Museo del Confetto has a place on Italy's historic-locali register to its name.
Il TuraccioloRistorante
Il Turacciolo carries a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
Could you live here?
Andria is a city.
- A city of 96,750 people, and a provincial capital: the services are here, not a drive away.
- A station of its own, so the rest of Italy is a train ride away.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
- Population 96,750, down 3.5% since 2015
- Train station in the comune
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,100 to €1,400 per m² to buy, €3.70 to €4.70 per m² a month to rent
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- A local hub
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 98% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 3, low hazard
- Bari airport (BRI), 42 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bari, 45 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
2% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Nigeria and China, against 9% across Italy. 21 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly France. There are 165 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 23% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Barletta-Andria-Trani province ranks 86th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
There is an emergency room in the comune. The nearest major one is in Bari, 48 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in Barletta, 10 km away. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 325 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is International School of Brindisi, 152 km away.
Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.
Taxes
A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax, with nothing due on income under €7,500. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.
Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.
What it costs
The average household in Puglia spends about €1,500 a month, €440 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €545 a year for water, on the Puglia average.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone C, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 15 to March 31, up to 10 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 1% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 4% in a high or medium one. 5% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.
These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.
Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.
Known for
CASTEL DEL MONTE
Frederick II's octagonal Murge castle of the 1240s, UNESCO 1996, the image on the back of the Italian one-cent euro coin.
BURRATA
Invented in Andria in the early twentieth century by the Bianchino family; the soft mozzarella shell filled with cream and stracciatella now travels worldwide.
OLIVE OIL
Coratina cultivar from the surrounding Murge, one of Italy's most-planted varieties, the backbone of Terra di Bari DOP.
LENTICCHIA DI ALTAMURA
The commune also lies inside the Lenticchia di Altamura IGP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Andria known for?
- Andria is the city Frederick II carved in stone as his faithful Andria, the birthplace of burrata, ruling the Murge plateau eighteen kilometers north of its most famous castle.
- Where is Andria?
- Andria is a comune in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani, in Puglia, at 151 meters above sea level.
- What is the nearest airport to Andria?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Bari (BRI), about 42 min by car.
- Can you get to Andria without a car?
- Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
- How long is the drive from Bari to Andria?
- About 45 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Andria?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 33 degrees, and November the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Andria?
- Lecce, San Severo and Nardò.
- How many people live in Andria?
- 96,750 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Andria a good place to live?
- Andria is a city of 96,750 people, the kind of place Part 3 of our Where to Move in Italy series is about. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 98% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
The numbers
- Elevation: 151 m
- Population: 96,750
- Surface area: 402.89 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
The ranked lists
Lists Andria appears in
- The best olive oil towns inside a national park in PugliaPugliaolive oilinside a park6 towns · smallest 5,876 residents
- The best olive oil towns that eat well within 90 minutes of BariNear Bariolive oilwithin 90 mineats well6 towns · smallest 19,156 residents · closest 31 min away
- The 7 best towns inside a national park that eat well in PugliaPugliainside a parkeats well7 towns · smallest 4,276 residents
- The best hill towns inside a national park in PugliaPugliahill towninside a park7 towns · smallest 1,275 residents
- The best towns known for what they grow within 75 minutes of BariNear Bariwithin 75 minproduce zone7 towns · smallest 1,275 residents · closest 39 min away
- The best hill towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of BariNear Barihill townby trainwithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 5,908 residents · closest 22 min away
Featured on
Andria appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Andria
What all six share with Andria: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · near sea level · have a railway station in the comune
The letter
Andria is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Andria comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Scheggino, 331 km away. Read its letter →
Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.