Puglia · Bari
Locorotondo
The round white town on the Itria valley ridge, with cummerse roofs the rest of Puglia does not have.
Picked by Peter Benei
Letter to come
Why Locorotondo is on our list
It holds Borghi più belli d'Italia, Bandiera Arancione and Città dell'Olio.
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Visiting
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 56 min from Bari
- By train
- Station in the comune
- Population
- 13,859
- J11°
- F13°
- M13°
- A17°
- M22°
- J28°
- J31°
- A31°
- S26°
- O21°
- N16°
- D13°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Locorotondo sits on a natural terrace, the high edge of the Valle d'Itria looking south over the trulli countryside between Alberobello, Cisternino and Martina Franca. The name means round place: the centro storico is a perfect circle of whitewashed houses, and the architecture is unique to this town. The cummerse are stone houses with steep pitched roofs covered in two thin layers of limestone slabs, a profile that exists nowhere else in Puglia.
The streets between them run in concentric arcs and are narrow enough to lose the sun by mid-afternoon. Both the Borghi più belli d'Italia and the Touring Club's Bandiera Arancione recognize the place. The town also makes a white DOC wine from Verdeca and Bianco d'Alessano grapes, grown on 1,650 hectares of vineyards across the surrounding plateau, plus a Città dell'Olio membership for the oil that comes off the same hills.
How to get there
From Bari (BRI), about 1 h 8 min by car.
Naples (NAP) is about 4 h 1 min away.
By car from the center of Bari 56 min, Lecce 1 h 20 min or Salerno 3 h 53 min.
There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.
Coming from Bari?
Coming by train into Taranto? Locorotondo is about 44 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Bari airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Centro storico
Circular old town of whitewashed cummerse, an architectural type with double-pitch limestone-slab roofs found only here.
Villa Garibaldi
Public garden on the ridge with the widest panoramic view over the Itria valley and its trulli countryside.
Chiesa Madre di San Giorgio
Eighteenth-century parish church on the highest point of the historic center, with a neoclassical façade and a tall central nave.
Locorotondo DOC vineyards
1,650 hectares of Verdeca and Bianco d'Alessano on the plateau around the town, the source of the local white DOC wine.
From the guides
Where to stay
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.
Leonardo Trulli ResortHotel
A place in the Michelin hotel guide, at Leonardo Trulli Resort.
Ottolire ResortHotel
Ottolire Resort carries one Michelin Key.
Living here
Could you live here?
Locorotondo meets all 3 of our rules for a small town.
- 13,859 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
- Taranto, a city of 186,011, is 49 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
- A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.
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 13,859, down 2.6% since 2015
- Nearest city Taranto, 49 min drive
- Train station in the comune
- Nearest national health service hospital Martina Franca, 8 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
- Homes in the center: €1,000 to €1,400 per m² to buy, €4.00 to €5.20 per m² a month to rent
Weighing a move here? See the moving year.
All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.
More about living here
- In-between
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- Full fibre reaches 94% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 4, very low hazard
- Brindisi airport (BDS), 56 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
- Regional capital Bari, 56 min drive
If you are moving here
Who lives here
4% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Albania, Romania and China, against 9% across Italy. 34 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands. There are 230 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 35% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Bari province ranks 67th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.
Health and schools
The nearest emergency room is in Martina Franca, 8 km as the crow flies, and it is a major one. The nearest IB school is St. Stephen's School, 423 km as the crow flies. The nearest school listed as international is International School of Brindisi, 52 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. 7% pensioner tax: this town qualifies, for someone with a foreign pension who has lived abroad for five years: 7% on foreign income, for ten years.
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. In Bari, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.21, a meal in a pizzeria €11.13 and a man's haircut €14.53.
Climate and risk
It is in climate zone D, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from November 1 to April 15, up to 12 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. The national maps show no residents in a high or medium flood zone. They show no residents in a high landslide zone.
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
CUMMERSE
Whitewashed houses with double-pitch limestone-slab roofs, an architectural type unique to Locorotondo's centro storico.
VALLE D'ITRIA BALCONY
Terrace town at 410 meters looking south over the trulli countryside toward Alberobello, Cisternino and Martina Franca.
LOCOROTONDO DOC
White DOC wine from Verdeca and Bianco d'Alessano, made still or sparkling, from 1,650 hectares around the town.
MOZZARELLA DI GIOIA DEL COLLE
The commune lies inside the Mozzarella di Gioia del Colle DOP production zone.
Common questions
- What is Locorotondo known for?
- Locorotondo is the round white town on the Itria valley ridge at 410 meters, with cummerse roofs the rest of Puglia does not have.
- Where is Locorotondo?
- Locorotondo is a comune in the province of Bari, in Puglia.
- What is the nearest airport to Locorotondo?
- The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Brindisi (BDS), about 56 min by car.
- Can you get to Locorotondo 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 Locorotondo?
- About 56 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Locorotondo?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 31 degrees, and March the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Locorotondo?
- Alberobello, Castellana Grotte and Conversano.
- How many people live in Locorotondo?
- 13,859 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
- Is Locorotondo a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Locorotondo is a small town that meets all 3 of our rules. The nearest city, Taranto, is 49 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Martina Franca, 8 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 94% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 410 m
- Population: 13,859
- Surface area: 48.19 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 Locorotondo appears in
- The 7 best towns worth staying overnight that you can reach by train within 90 minutes of TarantoNear Tarantoby trainwithin 90 minworth staying overnight7 towns · smallest 11,906 residents · closest 38 min away
- The best hill towns worth staying overnight in PugliaPugliahill townworth staying overnight7 towns · smallest 11,040 residents
- The best cheese towns within two hours of LecceNear Leccewithin 2 hourscheese zone8 towns · smallest 10,102 residents · closest 80 min away
- The 9 best hill towns you can reach by train in the province of BariBari provincehill townby train9 towns · smallest 5,908 residents
- The best hidden olive oil towns in PugliaPugliaolive oilhidden9 towns · smallest 2,594 residents
- The best olive oil towns in the province of BariBari provinceolive oil10 towns · smallest 5,908 residents
Featured on
Locorotondo appears on this themed pick from our Collections:
Similar
Towns like Locorotondo
What all six share with Locorotondo: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
Alberobello
Province: Bari
both have a railway station in the comune
Castellana Grotte
Province: Bari
both have a railway station in the comune
Conversano
Province: Bari
both have a railway station in the comune
Martina Franca
Province: Taranto
both have a railway station in the comune
Matera
Province: Matera
both have a railway station in the comune
Cassano delle Murge
Province: Bari
1 h 17 min apart by road
The letter
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