The first thing to be said is that the most important "thing to do" is very little! The Puglian pace of life is slow. Given that you will be in our trulli surrounded by countryside with your own swimming pool, terrace and barbeque, just relaxing and enjoying the views should prove a restful and delightful experience. The towns bustle in the mornings, but, like most Mediterranean areas, everything goes very quiet during the hottest part of the day .

The locals retire for a siesta or decamp to the beach. There are literally tens of miles of beaches all along the coast, all different in character. There is no such thing as a "best" beach – just experiment randomly. If you don't want to be back at the trulli and its pool in the afternoon, just drive along the coast until you find a beach that appeals.

Alberobello street

Shops typically close from 1.00 - 4.30. The streets fill up again around 6.00. A major "activity" is sitting in a cafe or bar watching everyone else go by – the Italians even have a proper name for this: "Il Parade". This is the act of wandering up and down the street without really needing to, to see and be seen!

Alberobello at night

All of the towns have a few squares where the locals gather to talk. This usually works by age; so one square will be full of the older residents of the town, another with the teenagers, another with the children and so on. The age boundaries are rarely crossed, each group seems to like mixing with their contemporaries. This ritual is deeply set within Puglian psyche and worth observing. Even in the depths of winter in pouring rain and zero degrees the locals will appear for an hour or two in the local squares just to chat! I once asked what the subject matter of these endless daily gatherings with the same people could possibly be that kept everyone so entertained night after night. I was told "who has died" and "what I will be having for dinner tonight" were the major topics!

Assuming you wish to be a little more active than this, here is a possible Itinerary:

Day 1. Alberobello itself needs at least a day to visit the many different types of trulli and "museums" (as tourism isn't very developed many of these are just a €2 charge to look around inside a trulli). The town is compact, no more than a couple of square miles across, and there are maps on some street corners showing the best sites to visit. During the lunchtime break, retire back to the trulli then go back to town for an evening stroll and dinner.

Alberobello street

Day 2. The "Grotte de Catellana". These are extensive and famous caves, about a 30 minute drive away, with spectacular stalactites and stalagmites. The village of Castellana itself is a nice spot for lunch and features a church full of sculptures and paintings.

Back to the trulli or a beach for an afternoon rest.

Go to Locorotondo in the evening. This is a small town only 10-15 minutes drive away. There is a small "centro storico" (historic centre) that is well worth a couple of hours' meander, some of the views can't have changed for 500 years. Later, several restaurants offer excellent Puglian dinners.

Day 3. Ostuni, otherwise known as "the White City" is about 30 minutes drive from the trulli. Even the pavements and roads in the centre are white. The 15th century cathedral (built in 1435) is impressive even by local standards. Nearby S. Maria la Nova has beautiful frescos, but at least half the fun is just wandering the streets, with unusual buildings and corners at every turn. I have wandered into at least 8 churches, all very different from each other, just randomly chosen from the beauty of the front from the street. There are lots of interesting shops, often selling strange things (there aren't many shops around that sell nothing but what seem to be witches' broomsticks!). Make sure you look over the eastern ramparts towards the sea about 1 miles away. It is slightly unnerving as there is a sheer drop of several hundred feet in places, but worth the view across the olive groves and vineyards. Ostuni is more touristy than many of the other towns, it is bigger and has more interesting buildings than some of the smaller ones. Inevitably it attracts crowds, but the town is still well worth a visit and takes until siesta time or beyond to explore properly.

Ostuni

Day 4. Lecce. An absolute must. It is a couple of hours drive from the trulli, but well worth it. It is has been described as the height of Italian Roccoco civilisation. If it had been in the richer and more accessible north, we are convinced Lecce would be as famous as Florence. Lecce never had the power or influence of Florence, but once it was wealthy, and this is reflected in the endless ornate buildings, too many to mention. Again the only tactic is to park the car on the edge of the central area and go walkabout. By the end of the morning your reaction will be "oh no, not another priceless medieval spectacular building, let's go for lunch"! There is a market on Sundays. It is mainly for the locals although there is plenty of tourist interest, definitely worth a visit. There are also several Roman ruins dotted about the place, often not even signposted. We stumbled across an amphitheatre that would attract visitors from miles away in the UK, but here it just passes unnoticed in a quiet corner of town.

Lecce

Day 5. Maybe a gentler day? Especially if you have kids who may have overdosed on architecture by now, what about Fasano wildlife safari park? To be honest, it promises nothing that you can't get in a good safari park in the UK. But of course the setting and vegetation is a lot closer to Africa, and it's still good fun to go around. One of the very few real "tourist" activities yet to have hit Puglia, the Safari Park is still underdeveloped. About 30 minutes from the trulli, Fasano itself is a pleasant enough small town, but not very exciting. For the afternoon or evening why not drive to Martina Franca. If you are feeling just a little adventurous, don't follow the official signs via Locorotondo. Instead turn right off the S172 about 1 mile outside Alberobello onto the P58. The only signposting is to "Green Park Agriturismo" – no road sign or an indication that this is in fact the old route to Martina Franca. Just keep following the signs to Green Park and when it is indicated off the road, just stay on the road. By then you will see Martina Franca in the distance. Why go this route? Because it goes right through the middle of Valle d'Itrea, the heart of trulli country. You are surrounded by trulli of all shapes and descriptions on every side. It's a fascinating drive. Martina Franca looks pretty unappealing from the outskirts, just a bunch of 1970s flats. Don't let that put you off. The cobbled street centre has an area of highly atmospheric buildings and interesting shops. There seems to be a lot of hidden money in Martina. Hidden amongst streets that often look very ordinary will be super-smart Italian designer furniture or antiques shops. There are also lots of good restaurants for dinner.

Day 6 We haven't yet visited Castel del Monte, but will this summer. We estimate it to be 90 minutes north of the trulli. It is one of the most famous sites in Puglia. It is thought to have been built by Fredrick II after his return from the Crusades. The shape is a mathematically exact Octagon with eight octagonal towers around the central octagon. There is a huge amount of mythology around the castle which has yet to be solved. It is located half way between the cathedral of Chartres and Cheope's pyramid. It is believed to have been designed to reveal a secret to those who know what they are looking for, both no one knows or are saying what. Another legend claims that the shape was designed to concentrate great magical power rather like mirrors concentrate the sun's rays in one spot in a modern solar power station. The castle was built in such a way that its shadows exactly match the signs of the zodiac. Clearly the place is strange enough to be worth a trip!

Bari and Brindisi

We haven't yet visited either town properly. Bari is very industrial and there are some areas that are not safe at night. If you land at Bari to visit the trulli, don't be put off by the first 30 minutes drive from the airport which is north of Bari, past the town on your way south. The main by-pass through Bari is strongly reminiscent of the North Circular Road around London, endless warehouses and factories, complete with an Ikea! Puglia really does get a lot more beautiful once you pass Bari's outskirts!

Brindisi is a smaller and apparently much more attractive town. The Appian Way ended there and one of its columns remains. The cathedral dates back to 1089, and there are various mystical associations with it and what supposedly lies beneath it. We will visit Brindisi this summer and report back.