PUGLIA

Stretching out in the heart of the Mediterranean like the heel and sole of the boot, with approx 800 kilometers of coastline between the Adriatic and Ionian SeasPuglia is the region of light par excellence: a dazzling white light that makes the lime-clad farmhouses, dry-stone walls, ancient olive trees, and the stones of Romanesque cities sparkle. It is the land of Gargano, Salento, the Itria Valley with the trulli of Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the cathedrals of Bari, Trani, Altamura, and Bitonto, which testify to the grandeur of Apulian Romanesque art. It is the land of Lecce, the Florence of the Baroque, of the Taranta and Negroamaro, of Primitivo di Manduria and Italy's finest extra virgin olive oil, and of a generous hospitality that warms the soul like the sun.

beaches

Puglia's coasts offer an exceptional variety of marine environments. The Gargano, the promontory jutting into the Adriatic like a great spur, boasts white limestone cliffs, fragrant pine forests that descend to the sea, emerald-hued sea caves like the Emerald Grotto in Vieste, and the beaches of Peschici, Vieste, and Mattinata surrounded by sea stacks. The Tremiti Islands—San Domino, San Nicola, and Caprara—are a natural paradise of transparent waters and protected marine life. Salento, with its two seas—the rougher Adriatic to the east and the calmer, Caribbean-like Ionian Sea to the west—offers beaches such as Porto Cesareo, Punta della Suina, Baia dei Turchi in Otranto, Santa Maria di Leuca, and the Grotta della Poesia. The Bari Coast and the Terra di Bari area complete Puglia's long coastal chain.

Landscapes

The Itria Valley, the heart of Puglia's trulli, is one of Italy's most unique and distinctive landscapes: the trulli of Alberobello, with their characteristic conical dry-stone roofs, form a fairytale village, a UNESCO World Heritage Site; Locorotondo and Martina Franca, with their whitewashed historic centers and baroque palaces, are villages of breathtaking beauty. The Murgia, the limestone plateau that occupies the center of the region, hides ravines—deep canyons carved out by erosion over the centuries—like the Gravina di Matera on the Lucanian border, and large historic farmhouses converted into luxury agritourism resorts. The Alta Murgia National Park preserves the Mediterranean steppe, habitat of sparrowhawks, kestrels, and redstarts. The Tavoliere delle Puglie, Italy's second-largest plain, is an immense golden granary that burns like a desert in summer.