Traveling in Puglia

Locorontondo to Lecce, our guide to Italy's hidden gem ...

I left you last week with a question. Would the food and the 7% tax incentive Italy is offering be enough to make us move from Portugal? Inquiring minds want to know…

An alleyway leads to a lovely home in Locorontondo. The street is lit at the end of this post.

But First

Permit me to highlight two unrelated items before we get back to our story. First, I want to wish Chanukah Sameach to my Jewish readers who began celebrating the festival of light last evening.¹

Second, I want to thank the hundreds of readers who took the time to answer my reader survey. I learned a few things from your responses:

• The majority of my readers live in Portugal (52% are expats living in Portugal).

• 20% are Americans, Canadians, or UK residents thinking of making the move.

• About 10% are in the process of making the move.

• The most requested topic was “Portugal Culture & Living Abroad”.

• Most people like the variety, with travel coming in second and money third. 44% even like it when I share political news and views.

• 73% of readers followed our renovation stories.

• 64% don’t mind or would prefer me going to twice a month.

So with that said, 29 December 2025 will be my last weekly post. I look forward to starting my twice-a-month posts starting 12 January 2026.² And a special thanks to those who took the time to offer supportive comments, suggestions, and encouragement for my artwork.

A local merchant recommended U Curdunn in Locorotondo.

Back to Our Story

Let me begin this installment with the food. OMG…we LOVE the food in Italy. We began each day around 9:00 with a fabulous breakfast at La Vigno. Most days, we would eat a big lunch around 14:00. When we returned to our room in the evening, we would enjoy a bottle of wine, cheese, and tarallini. Among the most memorable lunches were U Curdunn in Locorotondo, Osteria Origini³ in Martina Franca, and Osteria del Tempo Perso (which was recommended to us by friends) in Ostuni. We can highly recommend all of these restaurants.

While dining, we enjoyed a glass of fine, local rosé.⁴ Perhaps we were in more touristy spots … or perhaps we have become accustomed to Portuguese wine prices, but we were surprised to find the house wines averaged 7-8€ a glass!

We visited Lecce twice. The first day in pouring rain, and again on Sunday, when the sun came out.

The South

You may recall that we wanted to check out the two golf courses in Puglia. In the south, we found Acaya Golf Resort. 18-hole green fees range from €65-100, and various membership options are available. It is approximately a twenty-minute drive from Lecce (a university city of approximately 95,000 residents). This city would not qualify for the 7% tax program; however, there are many towns near Lecce with populations of less than 20,000 that might qualify. For example, you might want to consider Acaya, a village of less than 500 with fortified walls, a16th-century castle and grid-like streets.

Lecce: Ancient ruins, the city's coat of arms, and one of the gates into the city.

After Lecce we drove north to Brindisi, an Adriatic Sea port town which also is the home of the Italian navy and the second airport in Puglia. While there we noted a number of ferries preparing to travel to Greece or the Balkans.

Brindisi marina and port.

This city was heavily bombed during WWII, and has been rebuilt. Considerable investment has been made in the seafront which is full of bars and restaurants.

A square in Martina Franca.

The North(Central)

We visited San Domenico Golf Course our first afternoon in Puglia. The club house is beautiful and the course is perfectly groomed. A bit more expensive than Acaya, daily fee rates range from €95-150 and memberships are available. When we return to Puglia, we look forwad to playing this course.

A wall in Locorotondo.

As we looked for a place within 30 minutes of the course, we visited several towns: Ostuni, Caravigno, Otranto, Fasano, Cisternino, Martina Franca, and Locorotondo. We first fell in love with Locorotondo … its quaint, narrow, pedestrian streets lined with small, white washed shops seemed to call to us. So much so that we returned on the last night to see their Christmas lights. While I am told it is a very popular spot with summer tourists, its full-time population is only 14,000. (So while I am NOT an expert on Italy’s new 7% tax incentive for retirees…this town does meet the first hurdle.)

Christmas decorations in Martina Franca.

We also enjoyed Martina Franca. With approximately 47,000 residents, it would not qualify for the tax program, but it had a wonderful feel. There was an art exhibition of “women and war” that spread across 3 municipal buildings in town. Townspeople had begun to decorate the white walls of their homes on narrow, pedestrian-only streets. We especially liked a street where swings hung from above with sayings printed on the bottom of the seats. For example:

Il più bello dei nostri figli non è ancora cresciuto

The most beautiful of our children has not yet grown up.

At the beginning of the post, I promised a Christmas photo, and Substack is cautioning me about the length of this post, so I will end with a nighttime shot of the entryway shown at the top.

Boas festas, Não, não vamos sair de Portugal,

Nanc

1. Hanukkah is an 8-day festival that remembers the victory of Jewish freedom fighters over Greek occupiers 2000 years ago. After recapturing and restoring the Temple, they searched for oil with which to light the Temple menorah. They found only enough to burn for one day, but miraculously, it burned for 8 days.

2. Of course, if the US gets even crazier, I reserve the right to rant whenever I want!

3. If you visit Origini, say hi to Martina, a young waitress who asked, “How long have you been together?” You know you are getting old when you have been together longer than she has been on the planet.

4. As my wrist was still healing and Denise was driving, I will admit I would enjoy 2 glasses at lunch. Purely medicinal!