Yet compared to other regions of Italy, Puglia — pronounced pool-yah ... forget the agreeable weather most of the year — and maps out how to make the most of a trip to this sunny region.

Puglia has taken the lead in southern Italy. The raw materials were always there – the towns, the food, the landscapes, the coastline, and the old manor houses, ripe for conversion to luxury hotels.

In Italy’s south-eastern corner is a long stretch of glittering coastline surrounding vast expanses of olive groves and farmland, dotted with whitewashed villages and ancient fortified farmhouses.