Italy Country Guide - Puglia

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This region forms the easternmost part of the peninsula and has a long coastline, facing the Ionian and the Adriatic Seas.

Pulia, or Apuliain English, is essentially a flatland with wide arid expanses, terraces and table-lands poor in water. The coasts are essentially high and, in the Gargano district, plunge steep into the sea; in other areas, they are sandy or rocky, but usually flat.

Bari is the regional capital. Brindisi, Foggia, Lecce and Taranto are the capitals of the respective provinces.

Puglia, Land of the Trulli

Trulli are circular, conical-roofed white-washed houses built of stone without any use of mortar. Their roofs, topped with pinnacles, are tiled with concentric rows of gray slate and often painted with astrological or religious symbols.

Their origin is obscure but few of these solid-looking constructions date back more than a couple of centuries. The greatest concentration of Trulli houses is in and around Alberobello.

The characteristic of this type of construction is that the ambient inside temperature remains almost constant irrelevant of outside temperature, therefore it is relatively warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

The Coast

There is a string of small resorts on the coast between the modern fishing village of Savelletri to Costa Merlata. Torre Canne is a heavily developed – if small – beach resort, for better property options it is worth looking at the villages of Pilone, Rosa Marina, Villanova and Costa Merlata. These have attractive leafy avenues and small family beaches.

Ostuni

Ostuni is a very popular town with visitors, and there is a good range of property in the surrounding area. You will find small country properties with stone “lamias” or trulli in the distinctive Ostuni style, with flat or domed roofs, also a good range of country villas.

South of Ostuni

The countryside changes south of Ostuni, with flatter land becoming dominated by olive groves. Property here is good value. Around San Michele Salentino a large group of trulli for restoration can cost from €35,000.00, a two bedroom restoration, a habitable trullo with extension or new villa will cost around €90,00.00. The area is a little more remote than the Itria Valley, but there is the advantage here of easy access to Brindisi airport.

Italy Country Guide - Marche

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Marche is a beautiful unspoiled region, fast becoming one of the most popular tourist areas of Italy.

Le Marche, or The Marches in English, is mostly an agricultural region and is surprisingly very green. Situated in the centre-north of Italy on the Adriatic coast with an area of 9,694km, 180km of coastline and a population of 1,426,000, it is divided into four provinces. To the west of the Ascoli Piceno and Macerata provinces are the impressive Sibillini mountains, a 40km range which runs down into Umbria. The Sibillinis make up the regions National Park and Nature Reserve. From this mountain range, hills roll eastwards towards the coast. The driving distance between the mountains and the beaches is approximately an hour.

The area is dotted with small towns and quaint villages perched on wooded hil ltops, mostly with historic centres built in local stone. A towns comune (municipality or town council) usually covers quite a large surrounding area divided into districts known as contradas. This area will be mostly agricultuaral or woodland but may contain smaller villages or hamlets known as frazione (for example, Ceresola frazione di Smerillo where Ceresola is a small hamlet in the municipality of Smerillo).

The region is interlaced with white roads (gravel) connecting the many small frazione dotted around the countryside. These gravel roads are ideal for walking, serious trecking, cycling, biking and most are perfectly viable by car. The Sibillini National Park has many footpaths which are mostly signposted for the more adventurous and those who want to get nearer to nature. There are also many routes among the mountains for cycling and mountain biking. The Park offers many other activities such as horse riding, climbing and skiing.

Besides the National Park there are a number of Regional Parks in the Province of Ancona, namely the Parco Regionale della Gola, della Rossa and di Frasassi where you will find the famous caves Grotte di Frasassi. Immediately south of Ancona there is the Parco Regionale del Conero. Monte Conero 572 metres above sea level is at the heart of the park with the most astounding views of the coastline. Steep calcareous cliffs descend steeply into the blue-green Adriatic sea with lots of small coves and beaches.

The Adriatic coast offers a great variety of resorts from the very quiet to the crowded, both sandy and pebbly.

Restaurants, large and small are abundant throughout the Marche region and prices are very reasonable, you will enjoy the local food and excellent wine. The local people must be among the most friendly in Italy.

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