Even in the heat Puglia is Italy’s coolest destination
The water is so clear you can see the fish that dart around your body and swims are followed by espresso at cafes filled with leathery locals in bathing suits.
Diving into the Adriatic Sea on a blistering summer’s day is like receiving a slap across the face. A sharp one.
“Ouch,” shrieks my companion after taking the plunge from a small concrete platform beside the waves. We have reached the platform having descended 180 steps from the clifftop on this rocky stretch of the glorious Puglia coastline.
“It’s too cold. I’m getting out.”
I am no braver, managing to lower myself a few steps into the water before scrambling back up onto the hot rocks. Refreshing water is one thing. This is another.
We are in Castro, on Puglia’s southern coastline, at the very bottom of the heel of the Boot. We are so far south that the next stop is Albania, 80km east across this tract of the Adriatic – and visible, apparently, on clear days. Today, it is a shadow if viewed through squinted eyes.
We have come to Puglia after a slow journey through Italy, from the far north-west at the border with France to the very south-east, lured to this remote peninsula by the promise of whitewashed towns, azure seas and baking skies.
“What’s Puglia like?” asks everyone when we return, for this steamy southern region is at the top of current hot travel destination lists, not only for Australians but for intrepid international travellers who feel they have already seen most of Italy’s overloved northern destinations. Well, in many ways, Puglia feels like not being in Italy at all. While the cities and towns of the Italian north are grand and lavish, with thousand-year-old domes, grandiose spires and imposing villas stuffed with Renaissance art, Puglia’s coastal towns feel positively islander –
Greek or Spanish islander, that is – only with an Italian accent.
Huddled onto rocky outcrops facing the sea are villages and towns (Monopoli and Polignano a Mare two of the more famous) of box-like houses that blend so seamlessly into the landscape they look like they have been sculpted from the cliffs, and probably have.
Built for long searing summers, these are tough little towns whose beauty comes not from their grandeur but from their timeless collective stance against the elements. We’ll all huddle here together, the buildings seem to say, basking under the burning sun.
We are staying at Piccolo Mondo, a bougainvillea-draped hotel that revels in its clifftop location. On breezier days, the gentle winds sweep off the sea to keep the temperature in the bearable mid-30Cs. But the high summer days of 40C middays are created for long siestas. The mornings are for swimming, the nights for eating.
The hotel is a 10-minute walk from Castro’s old town, one of the oldest in Italy, and according to mythology a place the Trojan hero Aeneas landed on his travels.
These days, the sense of the past lives on, including at the 10th-century Castello Aragonese that dominates the ridgeline with its staunch walls and turrets. Look up from the seaside to see it shining down on the marina almost like a cartoon fortress. It houses an archaeological museum, featuring artefacts from the area’s history.
More recently in Castro, the focal point has ebbed downhill from the tiny hilltop old town, with its network of cobblestone streets, to the marina, where summer finds locals basting in blaring sunshine. It’s here that we navigate too, drawn by the emerald harbour that ebbs into two natural coves.
Bring a towel to dry off between dips. The water is cool but warmer here than it is on the cliff side of town, and so clear you can see the dashing fish that dart around your body as you swim. Morning swims must be followed by espressos at one of the marina cafes that are filled with chattering, leathery locals in bathing suits. Have a breakfast of taralli, the round hard little bread of the region, or pasticciotto, sweet cakes comprising pastry and dates.
At night, Puglia’s towns come alive. The Pugliesi emerge from siesta for a late dinner scented with sizzling garlic taken under soft skies that gently turn silver around 9pm. Everyone comes out to feast, each night offering a variation of fish, tomato and pasta.
At the Castro marina, you can sit waterside picking at salty fried fish, prawns and calamari at the unpretentious beachside fish café. Or dine in one of the excellent restaurants, some found underground in ancient caves where it is cool even on hot nights. Spaghetti vongole and local rosé are compulsory. Dessert? Gelato, of course.
Puglia is a large region with dozens of striking towns – Polignano a Mare, Monopoli, Ostuni, Lecce, Alberobello, Locorotondo. We start our time here with intentions of driving to see them all. But the distances are far and the highway hard going.
Nicer to stay in Castro, swimming, eating and living like Italians. Slowing down, staying in and taking life slowly seems part of the deal.
We happily dive into it.
Checklist
Getting there: Puglia has two major centres, Brindisi and Bari. We fly into Brindisi from Rome on a 45-minute flight and hire a car for the hour-long drive to Castro. You’ll need a car as public transport is unreliable.
Stay: Hotel Piccolo Mondo (hotel-piccolomondo.it) is a family-style hotel on the coastline, 10 minutes from Castro marina. The hotel has a spectacular pool, located clifftop overlooking the Adriatic. There’s a simple pool bar as well as a lovely restaurant with views to eternity (or Albania). Rooms from €170 a night.
Do: Take the 15-minute drive to Santa Cesera Terme, a spectacular beachside town with postcard views. The drive is utterly dazzling.
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