Monopoli

[desertmum]

Has anyone been? Any thoughts/comments?

Is that Monopoli in Puglia? We stayed there around 12-13 years ago . It seemed to me to be more of a residential town than a resort so it depends on what kind of place you like. We stayed within the old walled town which was very atmospheric. However for us it just wasn't the best holiday - DS was 3 or 4 at the time and it wasn't an easy holiday for us. I can remember a place called the 'Gummi Park' which had bouncy castle type things - but there was no beach apart from a really small piece of sand with cigarette ends on it.

I hope that somebody else has more positive memories of staying there to give a balanced view.

We stayed in a villa 15 mins outside Monopoli 2 years ago - wow just wow. It was such an authentic Italian holiday and I fell completely in love with Puglia. Monopoli has lovely quaint streets that are all pedestrianised with some great restaurants & cafes for gelato . My mouth still waters thinking about the antipasti.
I’m not sure about the beaches in Monopoli as we had a pool & a hire car and went to one about 10 mins south of there - warm seas, clean sand, my kids had a great time.
The only place that felt touristy was Alberobello but it was still worth a visit. The rest of the area just seemed like where Italians went on holiday

I live half an hour from Monopoli. It's a typical Puglian mid size town. There are beaches obvs but for prettier towns you want Polignano or further down the Salento etc. Proper tourist beachy resorts are down in the Salento or up on the Gargano, (N. Puglia) which has hotels catering for international clients etc.