エーカーのオリーブの木に囲まれた非共有プール（6月〜9月）のある閑静なヴィラ

I moved to Puglia from London in 2008 with my partner and children, one of whom was born in Italy. We bought the rental villa and then the family house we now live in 100m away. We love the lifestyle here - the weather, pace of life, community feeling, food, countryside living, hundreds of miles of coastline ... the list goes on and on. We couldn't imagine returning to the UK now, and we're sure you'll understand why if you choose to stay as our guests in this wonderful part of the Mediterranean.

This area of Puglia is as yet largely undiscovered by foreign tourists, providing one of the last corners of Italy that genuinely offers a taste of Italian rural life as it has been lived for generations. The people are warm and welcoming, and there are countless bars and restaurants offering exceptionable value for money and quality: eating out - and food more generally - are local obsessions. The cuisine, not to mention absurdly cheap wine, should not be missed!

The Salento region escaped the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, with relatively few cases and little excess pressure on hospitals. But before Covid-19 came along, the region had already recently been devasted by a disease affecting olive trees, Xylella fastidiosa. Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of the tree stock is now dying. A state subsidy scheme has been introduced to replant all the trees but this will take time. In the meantime, this lovely region is now suffering, and many of the older olive farmers are struggling to survive. We very much hope that you still wish to visit and thereby help to kickstart the renewal of this wonderful region.