From The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

When cool, couture-clad Milanese began quietly descending upon Puglia a few years ago, it was clear that something was afoot.

For centuries, Northern Italians have had strong reservations about the country’s deep south – a wild, sun-scorched region of twisted groves, limestone plateaus and ragged coasts.

In fact, Italy has always rested firmly on its ‘heel’ (as Puglia is often called), which supplies nearly all of the nation’s olive oil and pasta; but it took the opening of some supremely stylish hotels to convince the rest of the country there was more to the place than munchables.

Trying Italy's heel for size

The extremes of Italy's southern shores are full of unexpected treasures, says Kathryn Hone

Do you think Portofino's sexy?

The Hotel Splendido, in Portofino, is one big celebrity hang-out. Name-droppers only at Rod Stewart's wedding venue

• 20 top European hotels

• The world's hottest hotels

• The French, Italian and Spanish beaches by car

The Amalfi coast in a Bentley

Nick Foulkes and his travelling companion, the Count, dawdle down to the Amalfi coast

• The perfect Italian lake

Related Internet Links

• Research from 410 articles about travel in Italy

Related Links

• A budget travel guide to Tuscany

As masserias (fortified farmhouses) began to re-emerge as boutique retreats, snobbery evaporated and Italians flocked south for chic weekends in the sun.

What they found was a natural showstopper: a 400km-long spur of land jutting into the cobalt Adriatic – and with history too. Waves of invaders have washed up in Puglia, each adding something wonderful: there are Greek-style white villages, gaudy Baroque confections built by the Spanish, and even the odd Roman ruin, framed by olive groves and glittering seas.

Add to this a flourishing foodie scene lauded by Italian culinary king Antonio Carluccio, and easy-hop Ryanair flights from the UK, and you’d think the place would be chocker. But for now, it remains appealingly Brit-free.

So do as the Italians do: combine the simple pleasures of pottering with some indulgent treats. Just don’t try and cram too much in, or you’ll spend all your time on the road (leave the lovely city of Lecce for another trip). You’ll find that there’s nothing down-at-heel about this southern sensation.

SIMPLE PLEASURES

* Those strange ‘stone igloos’ strewn across Puglia’s sun-baked plains are trulli: circular, whitewashed houses with conical slate roofs, they’re unique to the area. Dating from around the 15th century, they’re thought to have been an ancient fiddle: constructed without cement, they could be easily dismantled before the tax-man came to town (thus evading housing duties) and rebuilt once the coast was clear.

Admire them in Unesco-listed Alberobello, home to 1,500 or more examples, many still inhabited. In high summer, you’ll need to turn up early to avoid the throngs. Stop off at Trullo Sovrano for a tour of the only authentic two-storey trullo in existence (Piazza Sacramento; 00 39 080 432 6030; £1). Then sit in the sun with a coffee granita crowned with whipped cream at Bar Ailanto (Largo Martellotta; £1).

* Wear sunglasses when you visit dazzling Ostuni (known locally as ‘la Città Bianca’, or ‘White City’). Wrapped in thick ramparts, its shadowy alleys thread upwards to a grand 15th-century Gothic cathedral: absorb its delicate pink-gold stone exteriors from one of the pavement cafes that spill down the sloping streets below. Then weave your way downwards to the obelisked Piazza della Libertà. Awash with bars and cafes, during summer it buzzes late into the hot night.