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Travel journal · 28 August 2026

Puglia in the shoulder season

Why spring and autumn show southern Italy at its most generous.

In spring and autumn, Puglia is warm enough for life outdoors but cool enough to explore. Olive groves are vivid, towns return to their everyday rhythm and lunch beneath the vines feels like the natural centre of the day.

A restored masseria makes a wonderful base. Pair the white towns of the Valle d’Itria with the coast, but resist the urge to move too quickly. Puglia is best understood through repeated visits to the bakery, the market and the same stretch of sea.

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