The Thinking Traveller

Villas in Salento

The southernmost part of Italy's heel, Salento is a long, mostly flat stiletto of land lapped by twin seas: the Adriatic to the east, the Ionian to the west. Its varied coastline features paradisiacal, Maldivesque beaches, dramatic cliffs, deep, translucent inlets, and a series of evocative, historic towns, such as Gallipoli and Otranto. Inland, meanwhile, is the creamy baroque sophistication of Lecce and a host of authentic, timelessly charming villages.