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The coast south of Bari is a craggy stretch, with rock-hewn villages towering above tiny sandy coves. Just ten minutes by FS train from Bari (or bus #12 from Piazza Aldo Moro), TORRE A MARE provides one of the easiest escapes from the city, situated on a rocky ledge high above two large caves, though its ease of access from Bari means it can get quite crowded. There'll be fewer people around another twenty minutes on, at POLIGNANO A MARE , which, despite a newfound popularity remains fairly low-key. It's a small port, with a scuffed, whitewashed medieval centre, perching on the edge of the limestone cliffs, and the kind of place people head for on a Sunday to watch the waves crashing against the rocks or to sunbathe on the clifftops. If you don't have a car it is best reached by train, although there is a bus service, run by FSE, from Largo Ciaia in Bari. If you'd like to stay , the appealing Covo dei Saraceni , Via Conversano 1A (tel 080.424.1177; L120,000-150,000/61.98-77.47) sits right on the rocks with modern rooms - some with large balconies and private terraces - a restaurant with panoramic views, and a laid-back atmosphere. For some fine fish, make your way to the restaurant attached to the hotel Castellinaria , Contrada S. Giovanni, where a full meal will set you back around L65,000/33.57. MONOPOLI , 8km further down the coast, was, like Polignano, once controlled by the Venetians and was a trading centre originally populated by the ancient Egnazians, whose maritime know-how lives on in what is still a large commercial port. Other than the goings-on at the dockside, there's not a lot to see, though the old town is worth wandering through, its steep narrow streets revealing fragments of its Venetian past. A brief scout around might take in the Museo della Cattedrale on Largo Cattedrale (closed at the time of writing, but phone to check tel 080.742.253), which contains some beautiful examples of religious art, including a tenth-century Byzantine reliquary, and the tiny chapel of Santa Maria Amalfitana (if closed, see custodian at the church of San Francesco d'Assisi, near the municipio ) tucked away on Largo Plebiscito - built in the twelfth century by wealthy merchants from Amalfi on the site of an earlier cave-church, which is now the crypt. Camping Santo Stefano lies to the south of town next to the beach, an abandoned abbey and a restaurant (bus 3/S goes there from Monopoli). The Pro Loco is contactable on tel 080.808.533.
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