Things to do in Taranto
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Taranto
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months: warm sea, full opening and long light, with September water the warmest and beaches emptied.
Spring turns on Holy Week; come for the rites deliberately or avoid those exact crowded days.
High summer is hot and humid, beaches peak in July and August is the most crowded and expensive month.
Winter is mild, quiet and cheapest for culture and food, but boats and beaches become weather lotteries.
What's on
- Settimana Santa Holy Week, March or April
Night long Addolorata and Mysteries processions with hooded barefoot penitents moving at a shuffle through the city.
- Festa di San Cataldo 8 to 10 May
Patronal feast with the statue carried through the streets and embarked for a sea procession, ending in fireworks.
- Medimex Mid to late June
Puglia's international music festival on the Rotonda del Lungomare, with major international headliners and showcases.
- Palio di Taranto July
Historic district rowing regatta in ten oared boats off the lungomare, raced in front of a local crowd.
Best things to do in Taranto
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto - MArTA
One of the largest Magna Graecia collections anywhere, with the Gold of Taranto and the Athlete tomb as its astonishments.
Castello Aragonese
A 15th century Aragonese fortress on the channel, visited on Navy guided tours to its towers and San Leonardo chapel.
Isola del Borgo Antico
The island old town walked end to end, fishing port, Piazza Fontana, Via Duomo and street art among older palazzi.
Cattedrale di San Cataldo
Puglia's oldest cathedral, Romanesque and Baroque in layers, with the marble chapel of the city's patron saint.
Ponte Girevole
The steel swing bridge over the channel, and with the lungomare the city's signature walk between its two seas.
Museo Ipogeo Spartano di Taranto
A guided descent into a layered hypogeum where Greek, Roman and medieval Taranto are stacked in one rock complex.
Colonne Doriche
Two standing Doric columns of a 6th century BC temple, the most eloquent five minutes in Spartan Taras.
Lungomare Vittorio Emanuele III
The flat seafront promenade past the Sailors Monument and Rotonda, the best free late afternoon walk in the city.
Where to stay in Taranto
Citta Vecchia
atmosphere and a first trip with romance in mind
Sleep on the island among the fishing port, cathedral and castle, accepting cobbles, steps and limited parking.
Borgo Umbertino
all round base and arrivals by train
A flat, lit 19th century grid by the museum and swing bridge, with cafes, shops and buses and an easy walk home.
Mar Piccolo
luxury, calm and travellers with a car
Olive country and water views 15 minutes from the centre, home to the city's only resort grade luxury stay.
South Taranto
drivers, beach weeks and modern comfort
Newer larger hotels with pools, spas and parking on the coast road, trading a central location for facilities.
Think twice about
- Tamburi
Workers quarter immediately beside the ILVA steelworks, with a documented history of dioxin and dust contamination. Do not base here.
- Western Mar Piccolo shore by the steelworks
Industrial shore under the works and its slag heaps. Not countryside for picnics or paddling; the visitor Mar Piccolo is the eastern shore.
Best restaurants in Taranto
Ristò Fratelli Pesce
The city's mark the occasion fish restaurant, where you choose your fish and wine for the full Tarantine repertoire.
Al Canale
A bright terrace beside the channel for fish carpaccio and hot seafood salad, Puglia food writers' lunch splurge.
Gente di Mare
A fishing family's old town restaurant serving the Mar Piccolo repertoire of mussels, prawns and octopus.
La Paranza
A calm, spacious fish restaurant facing the fleet on the Mar Piccolo, built for group dinners and celebrations.
Locanda San Giuseppe
A small island locanda for gratinated mussels, fried salt cod and rice potatoes and mussels near the castle.
La Pignata
A popular, consistent Taranto restaurant away from the port circuit, the change of pace from a third seafood night.
Il Porto
A dependable, high volume port side room for seafood standards and the wider Italian menu, lunch and dinner.
Trattoria L'Orologio
The city's value legend, big simple plates of mussels, meatballs and pasta at some of Italy's lowest prices.
Outdoor things to do in Taranto
Jonian Dolphin Conservation
A research catamaran trip with marine biologists to the Gulf's striped dolphins, run non intrusively since 2009.
Taranto Boat Charter
A private skippered boat past the castle to swim stops off the Cheradi Islands and Capo San Vito.
Boat Trip Taranto
Shared sailing and motor trips to the Cheradi Islands with swimming, dolphin encounters and optional sport fishing.
Isola San Pietro e San Paolo
The Cheradi Islands swim day, clearer water than the city shore, reached on organised boats from Taranto.
Spiaggia di Campomarino di Maruggio
Long pale sand and dunes south east of the city, the Taranto coast's best full beach day.
Spiaggia di Serrone
A clear water rocky cove with natural pools at Marina di Pulsano, the locals coast for a morning swim.
Riserva Naturale Regionale Orientata Palude La Vela
A WWF wetland on the Mar Piccolo for guided birdwatching and kayaking among reedbeds and seahorse shallows.
Parco Naturale Regionale Terra delle Gravine
Guided hikes into limestone ravines lined with Byzantine cave churches and troglodyte villages inland from Taranto.
Best hotels in Taranto
Hotel L'Arcangelo - Boutique Hotel
A restored palazzo boutique hotel at the old town entrance, with stone rooms and famously helpful local advice.
Hotel Akropolis - Museum Hotel
A medieval palazzo hotel on Greek foundations with its own hypogea below and a terrace over both seas.
Albergo del Sole
The island's value stay, a renovated small hotel with a breakfast room directly on the Mar Piccolo.
Hotel Europa
The Borgo's classic four star facing the swing bridge, castle and port, a short walk from the big museum.
Relais Histò San Pietro sul Mar Piccolo
Taranto's one true luxury stay, a five star masseria estate with pool and spa running down toward the Mar Piccolo.
Salina Hotel
The newest full service hotel in Taranto, with rooftop pool, spa and free parking south of the centre.
Mon Rêve Ecogreen Resort
A low rise green resort with its own beach area and pools, built for the week long summer family stay.
Is Taranto expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €55 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €110 a person |
| Splurge | €240 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto - MArTA: a few days ahead
- Museo Ipogeo Spartano di Taranto: a few days ahead
- Taranto Sotterranea: a few days ahead
- Jonian Dolphin Conservation: a few days ahead
- Taranto Boat Charter: a few days ahead
- Boat Trip Taranto: a few days ahead
- Isola San Pietro e San Paolo: a few days ahead
- Riserva Naturale Regionale Orientata Palude La Vela: a few days ahead
- Book the dolphin research catamaran days ahead and keep a spare morning in case weather moves the sailing.
- Book timed museum tickets on summer weekends and allow a full morning for the collection.
- Book centre hotels weeks ahead for Holy Week, the San Cataldo feast in May and Medimex in June.
- Reserve hypogeum visits, golf tee times, private boats and the splurge fish dinner days ahead in season.
Is Taranto safe?
- Emergency number is 112.
- Leave nothing visible in a parked car; car break ins and petty theft are the visitor crimes most reported.
- In the old town after dark, use the lit main lanes; cobbles and steps make it the harder walk at night.
- Do not base in Tamburi beside the steelworks, whose pollution history is documented in court ordered testing and press reporting.
Taranto travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Always confirm the weight and total price of whole fish before it is cooked, anywhere in the city.
- Skip the city lidos for a beach day; the sea day is Campomarino or Marina di Pulsano.
- Do not build a timed plan around a swing bridge opening, which follows naval movements.
- Avoid August for the worst mix of heat, beach crowds, high prices and a city emptied to the coast.
Getting around Taranto: public transport and more
- Walk the core: Borgo Umbertino, the swing bridge, the island and the museum form one walkable 1.5 km loop.
- Fly to Brindisi (about 75 km) or Bari (about 115 km); Taranto has no commercial airport of its own.
- Keep a car only for the coast, the masseria, golf, Matera and the ravines, and use guarded car parks in the centre.
- Agree taxi fares for out of town runs to beaches, the relais and the airport before setting off.
Who Taranto suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | Not ideal |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Not ideal |
Make Taranto your trip
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