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Puglia is the long heel of Italy, a flat, sun-struck tableland between the Adriatic and the Ionian, planted almost end to end with olives, ringed by white hill towns, and lately drawing a new wave of designers south to its drystone architecture.
The south of Italy rarely arrives gently, and Puglia least of all: some 400km of coastline, a spine of low limestone, and more olive trees than people. It is also, by Italian standards, still affordable. Where Tuscany and the Amalfi coast price the visitor out by June, the masserie (fortified farmhouses, many now guesthouses) and the trattorie of the Valle d'Itria keep the south's older economy of long lunches and short bills. The reward for coming this far down the boot is a region that still works for a living.
Puglia builds in what it has, which is rock. The trulli, conical drystone huts roofed without mortar, cluster thickest around Alberobello (UNESCO-listed since 1996) and across the Valle d'Itria. The countryside is studded with masserie, the walled farm estates that once defended grain and oil against raiders from the sea.
Agriculture is not scenery here; it is the point. Puglia produces around 40% of all Italian olive oil, and the groves around Ostuni are home to trees up to 500 years old. The reds are Primitivo and Negroamaro; the cheese is burrata, invented at Andria; the pasta is orecchiette, still rolled by hand in the back streets of Bari Vecchia. Add almonds, figs and the wheat that filled the granaries, and the local cucina povera (the cooking of the poor) turns out to be one of the better reasons to make the journey.
Ostuni, la Città Bianca, is the best known of the hill towns, its lime-washed old town stacked above the coast and its evening passeggiata filling Piazza della Libertà. North and inland lie the Valle d'Itria towns of Cisternino, Locorotondo and Martina Franca, each a short drive. On the Adriatic, Polignano a Mare hangs over its sea caves; the Torre Guacetto reserve, 12km off, keeps quieter beaches. Further south the Salento runs down to Lecce, Otranto and Gallipoli. Castel del Monte, Frederick II's octagonal puzzle of a castle, sits inland near Andria. Two airports serve the region: Bari, 80km north, and Brindisi, 35km south, both with onward rail.
A canvas of limewashed walls set against noir and raw stone, hand-thrown ceramics, olive trees and the shifting hues of a working organic grove of 5 hectares, the Adriatic opening out beyond: this is the scene Masseria Moroseta sets, sitting humbly on a soft ridge above Ostuni, the white citadel of Puglia.
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Sirmione is a collision of history and hedonism, where Roman ruins, medieval castles, and thermal waters meet golden-hour magic. A lakeside town where poets dreamed, Callas escaped, and sunset Spritzes are an art form.
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Como’s crafted outsider – a modernist lakeside escape stitched into the land, made for lovers of design, detail and chilled luxury with a bold architectural soul.
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Once the home of devout Sisters, its aged cloistral heritage has been recast following an exacting narrative of preservation, reframing the monastic aesthetics for the modern nomad without corrupting the patina of austere beauty and timeworn touchpoints.
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Wrapped by the Dolomites, this modern eco-resort pairs mountain lifestyle with simple elegance and luxury wellness vibes. An authentically pastoral location accented with the local Ladin culture that feels at once both holistic and fun.
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A smooth design den pearled in white with an interior design that is eminently simple: a clean alpine aestheticism that borrows from Italian design, the Danish principles of hygge and a touch of sweet sophistication in the Japonesque detailing.
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Birch and smoked oak hug the thick walls and capture the house’s DNA from the days as a farmhouse barn. Once a resplendent Renaissance home to the Bishop and favoured lodgings for the merchant traders heading along the Romanesque Via Claudia Augusta.
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Rising up like delicate meringue-whipped peaks, mirroring the Dolomites panorama that surrounds it, the architecture and design of Hotel Milla Montis create an impact.
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A groovy icon from the seventies, Seehotel Ambach, presides over the shores of Lake Caldaro in Italy’s South Tyrol with its perfectly formed, curvaceous marshmallowy walls of laid-back glamour and a canvas of tangerine, vert and oxide red, which drape mid-century furniture pieces.
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Sleep under medieval frescoes, sweep down labyrinthine corridors, lord it up on the lofty ramparts or stroll through the Mediterranean garden, admiring the ivy-clad castle backdrop.
Dating back to the 16th century and once the noble country pad of Marquises and Counts – the Relais Roncolo 1888 is a boutique hotel set within 130-hectares of the Venturini Baldini viticultural estate.
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A design refuge for those that like their head in the clouds but feet firmly placed in architectural modernism, set at 1850 metres, the hotel is lofty enough to be able to ski straight out of its door, as well as hiking in summer.
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History, design, calmed wellness and an interior of modern heritage make this hotel-apartment refuge close to Merano the perfect pitstop for some downtime and closeness to nature.
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Get the insider news and lowdown on what we've been up to, where we've been, and who we've met along the way. Be the first to discover new places and get the scoop on our favourites.