November 2016 ITALIA! 29PUGLIA REGION GUIDE
Summers last longer here than
anywhere else in Italysought-after by foreign buyers – the
area is easy to get to from Bari and
Brindisi airports. Move east from the
Adriatic coast towards the Ionian
coast and this gentle landscape
breaks into crags and grottoes. Either
side of the industrial port of Taranto
there are dreamy white sandy beaches
backed by cool pine woods.(^5) Draw a line between Taranto and
Brindisi and you more or less have
this appealing peninsula, which
has some quite distinctive cultural
peculiarities that differentiate it
from the rest of Puglia, including
Greek influences in architecture,
some very attractive but rarely-
visited villages, like Lucera, above
the plain. Moving south along the
coast there are more appealing
towns – such as chic and prosperous
Trani and historic Molfetta, for
example. Then you reach Bari,
Puglia’s capital city and rival to
Brindisi, a few miles further south,
with its lively passeggiata and
colourful festivals. A particular
attraction is its Saracenic kasbah-
like quarters. These can be found in
many of the towns and cities of the
region, but Bari’s are some of the
biggest and most atmospheric.
(^3) South of Bari, the coast changes
from craggy cliffs to flat, fertile
scrubland and back again,
interspersed with short, pale wisps
of sand. Polignano a Mare is a
charming cliff top town, while
further south is the ‘white city’ of
Ostuni, where there is much interest
from foreign buyers and visitors
alike. The city’s centro storico is an
astonishing pile of white buildings
set on high, overlooking olive trees
that stretch down to the sea. From
afar, it looks like a fairytale city. It’s
small, but with good restaurants,
and has a lively calendar of public
events. Further down the coast, you
arrive at Brindisi, a thriving seaport
city since ancient times with a
superb natural harbour. You’ll enjoy
great local food and an exuberant
passeggiata in the evening.
(^4) This picturesque area is ‘trulli
central’ with these cute, cone-
shaped dwellings scattered right
across the rolling green landscape
of the Itria Valley, which forms
the hinterland behind the Bari
to Brindisi coast. Towns like
Fasano, Ostuni, Martina Franca and
Locorotondo flourish all year round
and are not dependent on seasonal
tourists, although the World
Heritage town of Alberobello, with
over 1,000 trulli, is popular with
tourists whatever the time of year.
Properties in this area are now much
THE COAST: BARI TO BRINDISI
CENTRAL: THE ITRIA VALLEY
language and cuisine. The attractive
coast is rocky and cliff-bound and
riddled with caves, and the sea
is clean, calm and shallow. A few
low-key beach resorts serve the
occasional stretch of sand here,
but elsewhere the rugged and
uninhabited spaces are empty and
elemental, with the best beaches
either side of the iconic town of
Gallipoli. There are some appealing
towns down here too, like Otranto,
Castro and Galatina, and baroque
Lecce. The Salento Peninsula area
can get quiet in the winter, but the
middle-of-nowhere atmosphere it
exudes is also part of the sub-
region’s charm. ➤
SOUTH: SALENTO PENINSULA
IT144.HomesInPuglia.sg4.indd 29 29/09/2016 09:34am