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Apulia! I had been planning this trip to the “heel” of Italy since 2019 when we completed a Grand Tour of northern Italy with our American friends Don and Sue. Delayed twice by COVID we were finally on our way to Puglia – a fairytale land of trullis; rustic olive groves; rolling vineyards; labyrinthine, whitewashed hilltop towns and rugged limestone cliffs plunging to an ultramarine blue Adriatic sea.

We were to spend 7 nights in a trullo outside Locorotondo in the Valle d’Itria in central Puglia and 8 nights in the more southerly dry Salento region close to Otranto.

We hadn’t even left British soil and Geoff was changing my carefully curated vacation plans. We were sitting in Heathrow airport waiting to board our plane to Brindisi when he looked at me with wide, childlike eyes and said “Don’t turn around now but Ian McCulloch is sitting behind us”. I couldn’t quite share his glee since I have no idea who Ian McCulloch is, but Geoff was very excited. I now know that “Mac” (to his friends and followers) is the lead singer of Echo and the Bunnymen – one of Geoff’s favorite 1980’s post-punk New Wave bands. Since Geoff is a dedicated middle-aged groupie to a number of British 80’s bands (he’s been known to fly from Florida to DC to New Mexico to California in the space of a week to attend various gigs) I didn’t expect it would be long before he wandered over to worship at Mac’s feet 😉

Ten minutes later he returned with such a level of animated excitement I knew something was afoot. The Bunnymen were playing one night in Taranto, Puglia on the following evening and, to cut a long story short, he had procured 2 free tickets for he and Don to attend the performance the following night and a couple of back stage passes to meet the gang after the show.

Arriving mid-evening into Brindisi, we spent our first night close to the airport in the old city. We landed in a torrential storm so we didn’t see anything of the city. The Hotel Executive Inn was a great base for our fleeting needs – modern, comfortable and the staff spoke perfect English so there was no need to launch straight into our terrifying attempts to speak Italian before we’d had at least one night to acclimatize. The location of the hotel wasn’t quite so good for parking a rental car, however. Driving in Brindisi is a nightmarish combination of narrow roads, ZTL’s (no-go drive zones for the uninitiated tourist) and locals who thought nothing of abandoning their vehicles at whim blocking junctions and piazzas. 

The following morning we headed straight to our home base for the next 7 nights – Leonardo Trulli Resort in the Valle d’Itria. The resort is absolutely beautiful. A peaceful boutique hotel just outside of Locorotondo, it has a fabulous heated pool, flower gardens with the scent of lavender wafting through the air, fragrant climbing roses and, best of all, it has Alessia who runs the place for the owner, Rosalba, and she speaks impeccable English. We were guided by Alessia to our rooms along a rustic pathway dotted with wild flowers and a small olive grove a couple of minutes stroll from the main house. Geoff and I had booked a trullo with a large sunny patio with outdoor shower, a grassy garden and a lavender and agapanthus flower border. Perfect! The Junior Suite Trullo is the largest of the trullo rooms at the hotel … that said, the gloss began to wear off after a couple of nights. It was rather bijou and awkwardly designed for an entire week. Don and Sue’s trullo was even smaller. Whilst a few nights in a trullo might be an unmissable authentic experience for a night or two (after all … when in Rome …) … but sleeping 7 nights in a residence best suited to a 3 foot hobbit was perhaps a little optimistic …

Anyway, it was our first night in the new digs and the boys had driven to Taranto leaving Sue and I reclining by the pool. Unbeknownst to us Geoff and Don were experiencing a few problems – the road bridge to the concert venue was closed, there was no parking within several miles of it and there were the anticipated linguistic issues which arise when things don’t go quite according to plan in foreign lands. Still, they made it – after a hike of a few miles leaving the car to an unknown fate on a miscellaneous side street somewhere in the city. Apparently it was worth all the stress! The gig was fabulous and, after they had made it through a seemingly never-ending barrier of security guards, they finally got to meet the band backstage where they were offered a snort of cocaine (which for the sake of clarity they graciously declined) by a band member who will remain nameless 😉. Obviously it was a good night!

Back at the hotel, Sue and I quickly discovered that we might face a few problems of our own dining at Leonardo. The culinary delights of the chef weren’t quite as good as anticipated given its reputation and, because they only offered a set menu every night, it was especially difficult for non-meat eaters. The lack of vegetables on offer (non-existent at Leonardo) was disturbing and over the course of the vacation began to irk. In all, we ate there 3 times over 7 nights and the set menu options got progressively worse, repetitive and uninspiring for both meat and non-meat eaters. Breakfast, however, was exceptional (a different chef perhaps?). Everything from bread to focaccia to cakes were homemade and there was a plentiful supply of fresh fruit, a small platter of grilled vegetables and house made cheeses.

It’s a pity that they couldn’t get the plot right with dinner but the dining options in neighboring Locorotondo were plentiful and it was only a 10 minute drive.

As you drive through the Valle d’Itria countryside it is hard not to be enchanted – a terrain of woodlands, vineyards, dry stone walls, olive groves and farmhouses (with very steep stone roofs called cummerse). However, the feature which distinguishes this area of Italy from any other is its trullis. A trullo is a conical stone hut of drywall construction built from limestone boulders. They have corbelled limestone conical or domed roofs. They are whitewashed with distinctive grey slab roofs and are absolutely iconic to this region. You see them everywhere – abandoned in fields desperately awaiting someone to love them, or renovated and turned into luxury homes and hotels.

The town which put the region on the tourist map is Alberobello. In many ways a victim of its own success since it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1996. It has the greatest concentration of trullis in Puglia. Trulli have existed in this region for hundreds of years. During the 1500’s the ruling Acquaviva family in Alberobello ordered their peasants to build dwellings without mortar so that they could be dismantled at will. This allowed them to avoid paying land taxes to the King, should he make an inspection of the area. Understandably the peasant workers weren’t delighted with all of the hard, physical labour this entailed and, ultimately they revolted and the town was granted royal status by the King.

Given it is on the route of every tour bus in southern Italy we arrived bright and early at 9am, parked up in the closest lot near Rio Monte and immediately headed away from the tourist section towards the more authentic Rione Aia Piccola zone to get a flavor of what the town might have been like before it became “postcard, olive oil and cheesy ornament central”. Not that we we were alone by any means. From the Villa Communale Belvedere and from Belvedere Santa Lucia (next to the church) in the quieter side of town you also have the best views over the Rione Monti section. Alberobello is a tourist honeypot (whatever you do go early!) but it is also uniquely spectacular with over 1500 trulli. It is immaculately maintained, pristinely clean and a photographic gem. There are a few famous trulli which can’t be missed – Trullo Siamese with its 2 adjoining domes, Casa d’Amore, and 2-storey Trullo Sovrano.

We left mid-morning as it was getting horribly busy and headed to somewhere infinitely more peaceful – Cisternino. The drive through the country lanes past hay fields and poppy-lined roads to Cisternino was idyllic. This whitewashed hilltop town is very small but has some beautiful courtyards and alleyways bedecked with pink and red geraniums tumbling from balconies and petunias in hanging ceramic pots. Piazza Vittorio Emanuele is also known as Piazza dell’Orolgio, for its 1850’s clock tower. The piazza also has the best gelato in town at Bar Fod. The view from Villa Communale at Piazza Garibaldi stretches for miles. On one side of Piazza Garibaldi there is a Cathedral and on the other is Torre Grande, an 11th century defensive tower. The town is renowned for its Slow Food tradition but since most of the flood for which it is famous is meat, we didn’t stay for lunch.

Over the course of the week, Locorotondo became my favorite town in the Trulli Valley. We found free parking most days at Piazza Antonio Mitrano – except for Friday which is market day – when we had to use the underground parking at Via S Pantaleo (subterraneo). You can stroll through the narrow streets of the pedestrianized historic centre to the “lungomare” and the 19th century Villa Communale gardens. Literally, “lungomare” means seafront – but not in Locorotondo since the town is 10 miles inland. The view from the “lungomare” (along Via Nardelli) is spectacular, especially in early evening when the sunlight casts a warm glow over the vineyards tumbling down the hillside below and over the golden fields, the farmhouses and white-painted trullis dotted across the terrain.

The historic centre of Locorotondo is a labyrinth of streets lined with pristine whitewashed houses, shops and restaurants decorated with colorful ceramic flower pots overflowing with geraniums. Balconies were filled with summer flowers and there were circles of white handmade lace, like dreamcatchers, strung high across the narrow alleyways. At night with the subdued lighting, the courtyards and alleyways were even more magical.

We ate at Casa Pinto – revered for its pizza – but I wasn’t particularly impressed. U Curduun is highly rated for its traditional local food which was good. The restaurant has a beautiful airy interior but, even better, we reserved a table in one of the small courtyards for dinner. My favorite restaurant in the town was Osteria Il Rosone. We sat at the outside tables in the narrow passageway at the side of the restaurant which was a great spot to watch the world go by. Kidor Les Fleurs gelateria on the “lungomare” serves the best gelato in town. Our attempts to communicate must have been excruciatingly bad because the 2 young girls serving there found our accents uproariously funny. Obviously we must work harder upon our dreadful but enthusiastic Italian 😉

Sue has always wanted to visit Pompeii but hasn’t yet made it to the Amalfi coast. To placate her for a while longer Don found the Egnazia Roman site on Google maps and suggested that a visit to these coastal ruins might make up for it. Some planning ahead of time might have been beneficial. We arrived around 12:30pm to discover that the main site along the coast road was closed for longterm renovations, the other expansive walled area of ruins had closed early at midday (for reasons we couldn’t quite ascertain) and, since the museum and grounds in their entirety closed at 1:30pm we had very little time to run around the museum and take a fleeting look at the necropolis (burial site). Although there were some interesting coins, jewelry and the usual collection of broken pots in the museum, the necropolis wasn’t the highlight that I’m sure Don hoped. The burial chambers were largely filled with stagnant rain water, large slimy frogs, hundreds of tadpoles and, unbelievably, someone had managed to use a corner of one of the caves as a personal bathroom facility … I’m fairly sure that this brief encounter with the Roman empire didn’t do anything to dull Sue’s desire to see the ruins at Pompeii 😉

Martina Franca is a lovely town in the valley distinctive for its 18th century ornate Baroque architecture. The old town is accessed by an impressive high-arched Baroque gate. In the centre there is an 18th century Basilica built in Rococo style, a ducal palace, a clocktower and the highlight of the town is the semi-circular Piazza Maria Immacolata whose curved Baroque buildings are embellished by white wrought-iron balconies. I was looking for Caffe Tripoli which was somewhere close to the piazza. We walked past it 3 times before we realized we’d found it because the name was largely obscured by umbrellas. It wasn’t worth the effort in locating it, if I’m honest. The small patio out front was full of smokers and it was hot, stuffy and uncomfortable inside so we passed on staying and ate in a restaurant under the porticos in the piazza which was similarly decidedly nondescript. I’m sure given more time that we would have had greater success in searching out the hidden gastronomic gems of the town. Martina Franca is beautiful and well worth a visit for its unique style – white-painted buildings contrasted with intricate, elegant golden decorative stonework.

A few days later we returned to the countryside just outside of Martina Franca for dinner, upon the recommendation of another guest at Leonardo Trulli Resort. It wasn’t the gastronomic experience we were expecting but it was certainly a memorable evening. It was an AirBnB “local experience” which is a first for us. We were given a phone number and had a very vague idea of what to expect. We texted for availability that evening and made arrangements to meet Fabrizio (our host for the evening) for an authentic locally-sourced 5 course “dinner in the Malvarosa Trullo Garden”. His partner would be cooking and Fabrizio was serving and trying to keep us under control. We met him in a parking lot on the outskirts of the city and we followed Fabrizio in convoy with 2 other much younger couples. We weaved through winding back roads and along tracks which we would never have found alone and parked up alongside a very rustic trullo. There was a table set for 8 on a patio with an absolutely spectacular view over neighboring fields, a small olive grove and other trulli dwellings. Hard to envisage a more romantic location to share with 4 complete strangers! As it turned out we had got lucky and the other diners (young enough to be our kids, if we had any) were very entertaining and the evening flew by in a blur of food, wine and conversation. It was a fun experience and the meal started very well. As it progressed some of the courses were very odd. It did cross my mind that the chef might have been knocking back his own bottle of vino in the kitchen as well because the main course tasted as if he’d accidentally tripped and upended a pound of salt into the saute pan. Geoff and I were extremely thankful that I’d warned Fabrizio ahead of time that we don’t eat meat because the main course for the meat-eaters was pork neck in a roll of fat which no-one seemed to be enjoying 😉 … not that I was faring much better because we were served aubergine rolls. If there’s one vegetable I absolutely loathe, it is aubergine … perfect!

By this stage of the vacation we were acutely aware that it wasn’t possible to eat vegan or vegetarian in Puglia. The staples of the local diet are dairy, meat and fish. Vegetables are an afterthought … if considered at all. I don’t mind eating fish from time to time but I absolutely draw the line at octopus … which limited my options further. The non-existent menu options for non-meat eaters was increasingly tiresome. There is a local bean and bitter chicory dish I found from time to time but the revered vegetable in Puglia is the aubergine … which didn’t help either.

Ostuni, also known as The White City, is an unmissable destination in the Valle d’Itria. We started our exploration of the city from the expansive Piazza della Liberta with its impressive town hall and the Colonna di Sant’Oronzo (a column dedicated to the patron saint of Ostuni). We walked uphill on Via Cattedrale to the golden-hued 15th century Gothic cathedral. Cattedrale Santa Maria Assunta is quite spectacular and has a famous ornate rose window. From the steps of the cathedral you have a perfect view of the beautiful stone archway Arco Scoppa. It started its life as a wooden bridge in the 17th century connecting the Palace of the Seminary and the Bishop’s Palace. It brought to mind Venice’s Bridge of Sighs. We wandered aimlessly for hours through its maze of streets, passing under stone arches, climbing whitewashed staircases, meandering through courtyards decorated with geraniums and cacti, and exploring the narrow residential alleyways of its Lama district. Ostuni is a busy place. We saw ‘apes’ (vintage tuk-tuks) darting through the streets carrying tourists to the main sites. But for us nothing beats the slow pace of exploring by foot. Often we were alone in the back streets which made soaking up the atmosphere so much easier than if you were squeezed into a tiny tuk-tuk with 10 second stops and barely enough time to poke your camera out for a few holiday snaps.

The city is notable for its rustic green and blue-painted doorways, the most famous of which (Porta Azzurra) has become an instagram star in its own right. It is located next to a famous bar, Borgo Antico Bistrot. We didn’t greatly enjoy our mid-morning stop at Borgo Antico Bistrot. The terrace is pretty enough and the view over the valley towards the Adriatic is okay, if you like to sip your Aperol Spritz gazing out over a gigantic factory. But worst of all, the Europop music was blaring at full volume at 10.30am. I know we’re old and cranky but the throbbing nightclub vibe is a bit much with your morning coffee. Ostuni deserved more time. I loved it and would have happily spent a couple of nights there staying in the old city centre.

One Sunday lunchtime we found ourselves in search of somewhere to eat and as we were passing the small town of Noci (which I vaguely remembered from my research) we parked up and went in search of the old city centre. It was quieter than a graveyard. According to Google maps there were only 2 restaurants in Noci which were open on Sunday but we weren’t going to get to eat in either of them. It turns out that Sunday is a popular day for local families to eat out in small towns in the middle of nowhere. So, even though we didn’t see another living being walking the streets on our potter through town, both restaurants were apparently fully booked … either that or the owners didn’t fancy the cut of our jib. Noci might be worth a stop if you’re passing but it isn’t a place to go out of your way for. It is quite pretty and is known for its “gnostre” which are small courtyard areas private on 3 sides with one side open to the street. But it’s not really exciting enough to make a specific detour – unless you’ve booked Sunday lunch way ahead of time at L’Antica Locanda which is supposed to be excellent!

The region is not all labyrinthine white hilltop towns dotted through the countryside. It also has some famous coastal towns, my favorite of which was Monopoli. Polignano a Mare is even better known on the tourist trail but it suffers with the crowds and chaos commensurate with its fame.

Monopoli is a medieval port town with an 18th century Basilica, an 18th century Baroque palace called Palazzo Palmieri in peaceful Piazza Palmieri, and a busy tourist square called Piazza Garibaldi, home to the Palazzo della Dogana (customs palace) and various restaurants and bars. I was tempted to visit the early 18th century church of Santa Maria del Suffragio (also known as Purgatorio) to gawp at the somewhat macabre sight of 8 mummified brothers in the vestments of their brotherhood displayed in glass cases. But, when suggested, I had no takers. Monopoli has a popular town beach called Cala Porta Vecchia with shallow, clear blue waters. The beach makes an impressive sight set against the 16th century stone walls and white buildings of the town. But the highlight of this town is strolling the lungomare, past the early 16th century castle of Monopoli to Porto Antico which is an absolute gem. Blue and red painted boats known as “gozzi” are moored in the historic port. We saw fishermen mending their nets bobbing in the water and boats motoring back from the Adriatic into the safety of the harbor with their haul. Cutting back under an archway into the town from the old port we stopped at Piazza Garibaldi for mid-morning drinks at Nuovo Premiato Caffe Venezia. We returned later to the same piazza for lunch at fish restaurant Almarea – Osteria di Mare with its shaded tables overlooking the impressive 16th century Torre Civica clocktower. Lunch was very good. Bella Blu with its blue arched doorway next to Almarea serves superb gelato. Like Ostuni, Monopoli also deserved more time to fully explore.

Polignano a Mare wasn’t quite as appealing. Another instagram victim, the old town is far too small to cater for the visiting hordes. The super famous Cala Porto/Lama Monochile beach is such a seething mass of humanity you can barely see the stony beach under all of the towels and umbrellas. Goodness knows what it must be like in September when the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series comes to town. There is a famous poet from Bari known as “Guido Il Flaneur” whose poems can be found dotted around town on doors and walls. One of the most famous sights in town are his “poetry steps” at Vicolo della Poesia. If it hadn’t been boiling hot or had been considerably less crowded I might have been tempted to go in search of them but … it was boiling … and unbearably crowded … Polignano is justifiably famous for its rugged coastline where the white and stone buildings of the old town are perched on the vertical limestone clifftops. There are a couple of noteworthy viewpoints along the coast – at Terrazzo Santo Stefano, at Pietra Piatta and at Punto Panoramico Largo Ardito. But once you have navigated through the warren of streets, popping out at various viewpoints, there isn’t much to do other than fight your way through the seething crowds in the tiny old town to find somewhere to eat.

There is a very famous restaurant in Polignano nestled into a cave in the rocks at the Grotta Palazzese Hotel. It might have been worth paying €195 per person for lunch or €275 per person for dinner if it had a better reputation for its food. The general consensus of opinion, however, is that you are paying for the view and the experience of dining in a cave rather than the quality or ingenuity of its gastronomic offerings. So we passed on the opportunity. In any event, I had a far better plan in mind for lunch. The tiny vegan-friendly MINT Cucina with its vaulted stone ceiling and some distinctly quirky decor had great reviews. Since we had arrived in Puglia we were struggling to find anywhere which served many vegetables (other than grilled aubergines, grilled peppers and grilled courgettes … or horribly bitter radicchio salads) so I couldn’t wait to try it. The food was superlative, as hoped, and the passionfruit meringue alone made the visit to Polignano worth the effort. We hadn’t made reservations at MINT but we did arrive outside just before it opened and got lucky with a table by the bar. Soon it was full of people who had made reservations and others were being turned away in droves. It was, without a doubt, one of the better meals of the vacation.

Don found one of the other notable restaurants of the trip by pure fluke. We were getting hungry one lunchtime but had no particular plan. Don was tasked with searching google maps sitting in the back of the car as we drove through the countryside. He found Ristorante La Manna del Pozzo on a main road in a nondescript town called Pozzo Guacito where the locals far outnumber any passing tourists. We were welcomed by the entire staff with open arms into a completely empty restaurant but before long it was packed with local families, couples and groups of friends. It is one of the most outstanding fish restaurants in which we have ever eaten. I ordered the tagliolino pasta with red shrimp, pistachio sauce and stracciatella. I would fly back to Puglia just to eat it again. The attentive service was amazing even though we were strangers in town. Plates of food kept arriving (some of which we hadn’t actually ordered) and the chef came over to check on us several times. He couldn’t speak a word of english but he chatted away and laughed with us. He was very jolly and when we decided not to order dessert he brought one out anyway. When we left he enthusiastically shook our hands, checked again that we had enjoyed our meal and gave a blushing Don an affectionate Italian cheek pinch 😉 All great fun!

Our 7 nights at Locorotondo over, it was time to head south a couple of hours to Masseria Mongio dell’Elefante, a hotel on the coast just north of Otranto in the Salento region. The Salento is far hotter and dryer than the Itrian valley with a spectacular coastline and an interior of dusty scrub, cacti and excruciatingly parched-looking olive groves. The countryside is nowhere near as scenic as the Alberobello region but we were there for the beaches and the dramatic, rocky coastline.

We shared an apartment in the renovated farmhouse complex at Masseria Mongio which would be our home for the next 8 nights. The masseria is located close to one of the most beautiful beaches in Italy, Baia dei Turchi. It was a short 5 minute stroll from the hotel through cornfields, past a small vineyard and wildflower-filled meadows. As you approach the shore you walk through a small pine forest and have to duck low to navigate foliage “tunnels” through the scrubby undergrowth. When you emerge one of Italy’s top coastlines stretches before you. Baia dei Turchi is absolutely beautiful. To access the water you have to keep heading left down the coastal trail through a warren of pathways until you pop out by a white-painted wooden footbridge which takes you onto the sand. You are in the middle of a lido with hundreds of sunbeds for rent. This section is busy and crowded but if you immediately turn back and walk in the direction from which you’ve just come you will find more private bays to lay out your towel under the cliffs. We swam in the shallow turquoise waters, or wandered the coastal trail, most afternoons. Some days it was like a mill pond, on others there were gentle rolling waves but it always crystal-clear and spotlessly clean … the water was even warm enough for Geoff to swim

Guests at the Masseria were in the luxurious position of being able to stroll to the Baia dei Turchi. Most visitors arrive by car and park in the surrounding roads. Unless you’re very early in the morning or you manage to nab a sacred spot on the road in the late afternoon it would likely be a challenge!

Since the Masseria offered the use of bikes to explore the area Geoff and I got up early one morning to get some exercise before the heat of the day set in. There are a few scenic countryside roads close by in the direction of Otranto. We passed a stand of cypress trees, olive groves knee-deep in white Queen Anne’s Lace flowers, wild flowers growing in the hedgerows and fields of crops dotted amongst the vineyards. It was all very picturesque and bucolic!

Otranto is an attractive coastal fortified town with substantial thick defensive city walls. It has been invaded and ransacked by everyone from the Byzantines, the Normans, the Aragonese to the final devastating siege by the Turks in 1480. It has a famous Cathedral with a mosaic floor built in the early 1100’s depicting a Tree of Life with elephants and scenes of biblical stories. Apparently the skulls of 800 martyrs are housed in the chapel. I found no takers for that morbid attraction either! The Aragonese Castello di Otranto is huge. The chaotic narrow streets of the old city are lined with tourist stores and restaurants. The city is a very popular summer vacation destination for Italians and it is quite crowded in the evenings with visitors packing out restaurants and taking a “passeggiata”.

When we visited we parked up at the paid parking lot at Parcheggio Le Palme (look for the Q8 gas station just before you reach the old town). We strolled past the small beach (Spiagga dei Bambini Porta) and through the imposing Porta Alfonsina which is the main gateway to the old city. We dined at Icon restaurant on our first evening overlooking one of the circular towers of the castle watching the resident swifts swooping to catch their dinner in the early evening light. The location of Icon was spectacular and the food was good. We also ate at the outside tables of Vecchia Otranto which had outstanding fish dishes. One evening we were desperate for options after a long day so we ended up, against my better judgement, at the pretty blue and white tables outside Marinero. It was OK. Just outside of the city walls we ate on a quiet street in OSTE which also served excellent fish. Dinner was usually followed by a gelato at the superb Gelateria del Fico on the outer walls of Bastione dei Pelasgi as we made our “passeggiata” strolling the walls overlooking the clear teal sea, in true Italian style.

The culinary highlight of the Otranto region is an expensive restaurant in a contemporary farmhouse in the countryside just outside Otranto called Il Diavolicchio Goloso Ristorante. The location is lovely, the gardens are pretty and there is a vegetable garden out back. The terrace tables are set on a covered patio in front of the restaurant and there are also tables inside the light and airy farmhouse building with some pricey original art on the walls. The food is top quality and well presented, the service is exemplary and they serve the best tiramisu in Italy which somewhat justified us returning twice 😉

The coastline in Otranto is renowned for its dramatic scenery and nothing conjures up the image of the Salento coast more than I Faraglioni di Sant’Andrea. I Faraglioni, at the village of Sant’Andrea, are rugged white limestone sea stacks plunging into the clear teal waters. The sea is reasonably accessible but you have to walk down onto the rocks below the clifftop. The rocky surface is well pitted by the elements. It would be impossible to walk across it barefoot unless you’re comfortable walking on a bed of nails … or broken glass. Even tackling it in flop-flops would be a surefire way to twist an ankle. We wore water shoes and traversing it still wasn’t a bed of roses 😉 Down at sea level you can sidle between the jagged rocks to access the water … or … you can make a death-defying leap from the clifftop. Geoff took the second option and I took the marginally more ladylike route into the sea. It was pretty rough first thing in the morning compared to the day before. Sue sat it out on the rocks and Don floundered about with his legs in the water for a few minutes but bailed on swimming out into the bay. We swam for a while through the stacks until someone on the rocks above shouted “Jellyfish!”. There were 3 floating in the bay looking for unsuspecting victims. I’m a magnet for jellyfish and all manner of nasty stinging sea creatures so the sight of an Italian man hopping about on the rocks clutching his rapidly swelling arm was enough to encourage a rapid exit.

The sea stacks at Sant’Andrea are absolutely beautiful but the neighboring town of Torre dell’Orso is considerably less inspiring. We were looking for somewhere for lunch and a local had recommended the Dentoni bakery in Torre dell’Orso which turned out to be a nondescript modern town. If we had been in the mood to just gorge upon cakes, croissants and pastries I’m sure it would have been perfect but we were looking for something more substantial. In the case of Dentoni, “something more substantial” amounted to some dry, uninspiring pre-packaged canned tuna fish sandwiches. I’m not used to eating at gas stations but I suspect our local Esso station would have given Dentoni a run for its money as far as its savoury options were concerned. We struggled through the sandwiches sitting on the terrace overlooking Lido L’Orsetta. Thankfully, the gelati made up for it. I understand that the beach is popular here and that the Torre dell’Orso coast with its “Le Due Sorelle” (two sisters) rocks might be worth a stop but we weren’t sufficiently enamored of the town to stay any longer.

In order to ring the changes, we headed away from the coast one morning to a small gem of a town – Galatina – to the west of Otranto in the centre of the Puglian peninsular. It is renowned for its decorative Baroque architecture and, in particular, for its centerpiece 14th century “Mother Church” of Saints Peter and Paul which dominates Piazza San Pietro. We stopped for drinks at Eden 2.0 Lounge Bar to marvel at the view across the piazza and then wandered the side streets past the Torre dell’Orologio (clock tower) to the 14th century Basilica of Saint Catherine of Alexandria with its mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles. The golden limestone buildings and ornate wrought-iron balconies distinguish it from other towns in this region – except for Lecce. Galatina is considered a smaller, quainter version of famous Lecce. After pottering aimlessly we were ready for lunch at Anima e Cuore which is an atmospheric restaurant upstairs in an old palace. There was a vegan menu but it was (unsurprisingly) dedicated entirely to the aubergine – my most reviled vegetable. The pastas were amazing.

One morning we drove south towards Castro on the coast. First stop – Cala dell’Acquaviva – a tiny cove just south of Castro. We descended the stone steps to the horrifying sight of people soup and barely an inch of space between the sunbathers lying on the concrete slabs by the water. It was 9:30 in the morning. We took a photo and turned back – €0.50 on parking not very well spent!

We continued back up the coast to our main destination for the day, Castro Marina, the “pearl of the Salento”. Ultimately, this became my favorite coastal town in the region. I loved it. It sits on a promontory on a rocky coastline pitted with caves, the most famous of which is the Zinzulusa Cave. Apparently the stalagmites and stalactites look like rags hanging from the roof. We ran out of time to take a boat trip along the coast because the mercury was rising rapidly and it was too hot to go out on a boat in the afternoon without melting. The town has an active fishing fleet down at the marina and an upper historic village. The views from the walls above the marina stretching down the Adriatic coast are spectacular – inlets, bays and transparent ultramarine and turquoise waters. There were traditional blue and green painted fishing boats down at the harbor and on the opposing side of the harbor wall you can sit in the sun or swim in the protected bay. I’d have been in the water in a flash if we hadn’t been running out of time to find lunch. View restaurant is a few steps from the harbor overlooking the sea and a small lido. It specializes in sushi and it was very good. I wish we had had more time in Castro. I could easily have spent a couple of days there exploring the town, zipping along the coast in a boat and floating in the water!

We took a quick morning trip south to, reputedly, one of Italy’s prettiest villages – Specchia. I had read about it in a blog and the blogger was very enthusiastic. It was peaceful and it had a pleasant central piazza (Piazza del Popolo) where we had a drink at Bar al Castello at Castello Risolo overlooking the 15th century Chiesa Madre. The main thoroughfare with its historic palaces and the cobbled back streets were pretty but we weren’t completely convinced that it had been worth the drive and certainly wouldn’t agree that it was “one of Italy’s prettiest villages”. We’ve seen a fair few and it wouldn’t really rank in the top10 .. or 20.

En route home we stopped for lunch in the coastal town of Santa Cesarea Terme at Il Villino Ristorante which was definitely worth the detour. The town was noted for its thermal spas as far back as the Greek empire but gained popularity in the 19th century when the wealthy from the nearby city of Lecce began to flock there for its restorative thermal powers. Many of the buildings are Moorish in style with decorative colorful exteriors. Il Villino restaurant sits high on the rocky coastline next to the spectacular Palazzo Sticchi painted in shades of blue and apricot which is currently under renovation. Il Villino restaurant is housed in a pink and cream villa with a terrace where we sat under the shade of a tree gazing out to sea. There is also a small garden with a short pathway descending towards the rocky shore which affords sweeping views of the sea. The seafood menu was one of the most memorable. It was another very lucky last minute find.

The coastal drive from Otranto to Santa Maria di Leuca is considered to be one of Puglia’s finest. We made part of the drive along the coastline back from Santa Cesarea Terme and I wish we had had more time to drive the entire length of the coast to Santa Maria di Leuca, but we had other priorities.

We still had to visit Lecce! The jewel in the crown of southern Puglia and known as “the Florence of the South”. It was a very impressive city. There’s nowhere to park in the historical centre. As is usual in historic Italian cities many of the streets are ZTL zones. If you are caught on camera driving in a ZTL without authorization you’re in for a hefty fine. We know this – we’ve fallen foul of ZTL zones by mistake a couple of times in Italy. It’s always an unexpected pleasure to receive a notification from the rental car company of a fine for a couple of hundred euros a year or so down the line after the offence. Thankfully, Lecce saw fit to build a brand-new subterranean parking lot called Parkejoo just a few steps from the centre so you don’t have to drive aimlessly in search of street parking, nor have to mess about with small change or credit cards, nor navigate your way through malfunctioning parking meters. Neither do you have to go in search of a parking disc from the nearest Tabacchi. What luck!

Lecce’s elaborate Baroque architecture is created from distinctive golden Leccese stone quarried from nearby hills. The stone is very soft and malleable. The 17th century Basilica of Santa Croce is breathtaking in its scale and the intricacy of its carvings. Next door is the huge Palazzo dei Celestini, the current seat of government. At Piazza del Duomo there is the Bishop’s Palace and the Cathedral. The city is a pleasure to stroll with piazzas, palaces and courtyards at every turn. We were partly there to see the 2nd century Roman Amphitheater, built during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, which is located in the expansive Piazza Sant’Oronzo. Unfortunately, it was under renovation and it didn’t look particularly appealing behind all of the scaffolding. Still no Roman ruins for Sue!

In the same Piazza the well-known Caffe Alvino is a Leccese institution, and it looked perfect to wile away an hour or so over coffee and cake. It was busy but worth the wait. The pastries were so mouthwatering I went for a double order. It is famous for its lobster-shaped croissants filled with sweet cream called Coda d’Aragosta and its Cannolo Siciliano which are, without any doubt, the best cannoli I have ever eaten. Later, we stopped for drinks in the inner courtyard of Vico Cafe and Bistrot at Vico dei Bolognesi Per Palazzo Persone. The friendly service was so welcoming, and it was such a lovely courtyard to sit for a while in the shade, that we stayed until lunchtime. I was so pleased that we had. They served the best salads in Puglia. As we strolled back past the Basilica, which was by then glowing in the afternoon sunshine, we stopped at Baldo Gelato for one of the best ice-creams of the trip. The perfect end to a hot day.

The hilltop towns, villages and historic cities of Puglia are absolutely glorious; the coastline was wonderful and we would go back in a heartbeat! It was a fantastic vacation with great friends and well worth the 3 year wait!