Puglia is Italy's open secret. 10 years ago, only Italians went. Now it's the fastest-growing destination in Europe — but still 1/5 the crowds of Tuscany with BETTER food, CHEAPER prices, and WARMER water. 7 days for the essential circuit: Bari (street food), Alberobello (trulli), Polignano (cliff diving), Lecce (Baroque), Salento (beaches), masserie (luxury farm stays). Car essential →
Days 1-2: Bari. Fly into Bari. Day 1: Bari Vecchia — watch signore making orecchiette in doorways (Via Arco Basso), Basilica di San Nicola (the REAL Santa Claus's relics), focaccia barese + panzerotto at Panificio Fiore (€2). Day 2: Polignano a Mare (30 min drive) — the cliff cove (Lama Monachile), Grotta Palazzese (dinner INSIDE a sea cave, €80-120, book 2 months ahead). If time: Monopoli (quieter, equally beautiful coast town).
Day 3: Valle d'Itria. Alberobello (1,000 trulli — UNESCO, tax evasion legend). Locorotondo (circular white village, wine — DOC Locorotondo). Cisternino (the LOCAL favorite — fornelli pronti butcher shops where you choose raw meat, they grill it, you eat it in the street, €5-8). Sleep in a trullo (trullo stays on Booking.com from €60/night).
Days 4-5: Lecce + Salento. Day 4: Lecce — "Florence of the South", Baroque carved from honey limestone. Piazza del Duomo. Basilica di Santa Croce (the most ornate facade in Italy). Roman amphitheater. Pasticciotto for breakfast (€1.50). Day 5: Salento beaches — Baia dei Turchi (Otranto), Porto Selvaggio (Nardò, hike through pines to crystal cove), Torre dell'Orso. Otranto: Cathedral with 12th-century mosaic floor (Tree of Life, free) + the southeasternmost point of Italy.
Days 6-7: Gallipoli + masseria. Day 6: Gallipoli (walled old town on an island, Ionian coast, best beaches on the west Salento). Day 7: Masseria day — pool, olive grove, farewell lunch of orecchiette con cime di rapa + burrata + Primitivo at your masseria table. Drive to Bari or Brindisi airport.
Mid-range: Flights €150-400. Car €35-50/day × 7 (€245-350). Hotels/trulli/masseria €60-130/night × 7 (€420-910). Food €25-40/day (€175-280). Total: ~€1,000-1,800/person. Puglia is Italy's best value.