Italy: Puglia and the Amalfi Coast

The pretty port city of Bari serves as the gateway to northern Puglia and its emblematic trulli cottages. These structures started life as temporary accommodation that could be demolished quickly to avoid taxes; today, the small town Alberobello has 1,600 and is a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. Find them scattered through the Valle d’Itria, a fertile plain of whitewashed villages, olive groves and vineyards. 

With its baroque churches and Roman amphitheater, Lecce has been dubbed the Florence of the South. Southeast of here is Otranto – founded by the Greeks, fortified by the Aragones and invaded by the Turks with a rich cultural and architectural melange as a result. The cathedral has a spectacular 12th-century mosaic floor that blends pagan and religious imagery. 

The limestone caves of Matera, riddling the flanks of a steep ravine, have been inhabited for more than 10,000 years; from the 12th century, frescoed churches were hewn into the rocks alongside them. Once a slum, the city’s Sassi (‘stones’) districts are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

With its pastel-hued houses and villas clinging to near-vertical cliffs, the Amalfi Coast has enchanted visitors since the days of the Grand Tour. Explore it by car or boat, adding in day trips to the uber-glamorous island of Capri and the ruins of ancient Pompei or Herculaneum.