Puglia occupies Italy’s heel, where the pace slows and the Mediterranean shows its truest colors. This guide covers eight essential stops across the region: the baroque splendor of Lecce and its morning pasticciotto ritual, Otranto’s extraordinary floor mosaics spanning six hundred square meters, the ancient swimming cave at Grotta della Poesia with its Messapian inscriptions, fresh gambero rosso in island-bound Gallipoli, the surreal trulli houses of Alberobello, wine tasting in hilltop Locorotondo, cliff-side Polignano a Mare, and the luminous White City of Ostuni.
Late spring or early fall offers the best conditions—thinner crowds, comfortable temperatures, and that golden Mediterranean light. A week with a rental car allows enough time to experience each destination without rushing, and the coastal roads between towns deliver views worth the extra kilometers.
Olive groves older than most nations, beaches rivaling Greece, and meals that stretch into evening without anyone checking the time—this is what the south of Italy actually feels like.