itineraries
Puglia: The Heel of Italy
7 days — Alberobello, Ostuni, Lecce, Otranto, and the Salento coast.
Curatorial note
The best-value week in the south. Trulli in Alberobello, white Ostuni, baroque Lecce as base, and the Salento coast at the bottom. Flat, easy to drive, and cheaper than the Amalfi Coast. Go before it's fully discovered.
Region · Puglia
Puglia
Puglia is the best-value region in southern Italy right now: warm, flat, easy to drive, full of white towns and olive groves, and with a coast on two seas. Base in Lecce for the Baroque and the food, drive out to Ostuni and Alberobello, and get to the coast at Salento. It's quieter than Tuscany and Amalfi in peak season, but the secret is out — go before it's fully discovered.
Coastline · Campania
Amalfi Coast
The UNESCO cliffside coast — Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello, with the lemon groves and the blue sea. Worth a few days; avoid July-August (the crowds and the SS163 traffic are punishing).
Coastline · Puglia
Salento Coast
The heel of Italy — white limestone cliffs, turquoise water on two seas, the baroque Lecce inland. Worth a week; the Salento is the southern coast that rivals anywhere in Italy.
Town · Puglia
Otranto
Otranto is worth a night as a Salento coast base from Lecce. The cathedral mosaic floor is the surprise — a 12th-century tree of life in tile. The coast south of town is the Salento's best.
Town · Puglia
Alberobello
Alberobello is worth a half-day stop. The trulli are genuinely unique and worth seeing, but the town is touristy. Go early, walk both districts, and don't stay overnight unless you want to sleep in a trullo.
Town · Puglia
Ostuni
Ostuni is worth a half-day or a night. The all-white old town is striking from a distance and atmospheric up close. It is a good base for the Valle d'Itria between Bari and Lecce.
Coastline · Campania
Amalfi Coast
The Amalfi Coast is worth two or three nights if you base in one town and ferry to the others. Driving the coast road in season is miserable — use the ferries. Positano is the photograph; Amalfi is the town; Ravello is the view.
Town · Puglia
Lecce
Lecce is worth two nights and is the best base for southern Puglia. It is the most beautiful Baroque city in Italy that isn't on the standard circuit. Pair it with Otranto and Gallipoli.
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