Puglia & Matera

Puglia and Basilicata offer a wonderful combination of traditional charm with modern flair. In Puglia, cities like Bari and Lecce come alive at night with a vibrant array of wine bars, nightclubs, and live music venues, where you can enjoy local and international beats. Basilicata’s Matera, with its ancient cave dwellings, provides a unique backdrop for its quieter, more intimate nightlife that often includes cultural events and wine tastings in historic settings. Throughout the summer, both regions host festivals and outdoor concerts that bring the local music and dance traditions to the forefront, offering visitors a taste of Southern Italian hospitality under the stars.

Bathed in an ivory light,Puglia radiates warmth all year round.Phoenicians,Greeks and Romans, medieval Crusades and pilgrims have all been drawn here by its easy access to the East.The rest of the world is now also catching on to the lure of Puglia’s mild climate,sandy beaches,clean water and superb full-bodied redi wines.This drive enables visitors to marvel at the monuments left behind from previous ages,including the magical clusters of ancient domed dwellings,or trulli, of Alberobello and Locorotondo;the vast pre-Roman necropolis at Manduria;and especially the fanciful Baroque facades of Lecce,Otranto,Martina Franca and Ostuni,some carved in local golden limestone.Marvel at the circular domed houses in Alberobello,Italy’s magical centre of the trulli; sleep in a domed trullo or in a masseria,a fortified farm;taste some Primitivo red wine in Manduria;take a dip at San Cataldo on the way to Otranto;look east in Otranto,the crossroads to the Holi Land during the Crusades;take a thermal bath at Santa Cesarea Terme, a spa resort set on the beautiful Adriatic Coast;relax on the beach at Capo Santa Maria di Leuca;stroll up the main boulevard to the beautiful port and beaches of Gallipoli.