Italy’s heel is all about simple pleasures: rolling vineyards, white hilltop towns, rich countryside and the kind of honest, rustic, down-to-earth cooking that makes travelling in this region an unending pleasure. There are plenty of lovely places to stay, too — from renovated castelli to traditional masserie, or fortified farms. But there’s one type of accommodation that’s particular to Puglia — the trullo.
Trulli are tiny, conical-roofed dry-stone huts, often likened to hobbit houses or peaked igloos. They are mostly found in the Valle d’Itria, a fertile plain in Puglia’s agricultural heartland that was historically an area of high taxation and extreme rural poverty. Farm workers built these mortarless huts as temporary dwellings or storehouses — so that they could be quickly dismantled when the taxman came to call. These days, with a lot of love and even more imagination, they have been converted into some of the quirkiest places to stay in Puglia. Here are the best trulli houses.
Main photo: Leonardo Trulli Resort, Locorotondo (Expedia)
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1. Trulli Nanni, Locorotondo
Best for local walks
There’s no shortage of trulli-turned-holiday homes to rent in Puglia, but a good number of them tend to be rather rustic and old-fashioned in style. That’s not the case at Trulli Nanni, however: the three apartments feel light, fresh and modern, decorated in soothing, earthy shades, with modern bathrooms and natural fabrics giving them the vibe of a boutique hotel. The garden and outside hot tub is shared by the apartments, and you can glimpse the rooftops of Locorotondo through fig, almond and cherry trees — a glorious sight at sunset. It’s about a ten-minute walk into town, but the location can be tricky to find by GPS, so ask ahead for directions if you’re unsure.
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Spa N
Pool N
Price £
2. Trulli Inn Villa, Ceglie Messapica
Best for a family holiday
This renovated trullo near Ceglie Messapica has been transformed into a plush, family-friendly villa with space to spare, including five bedrooms, two kitchens and a magnificent private pool. It’s a great option for staying with friends or the extended family, and owners Stefano and Olivia are fonts of local knowledge, always on hand with recommendations for local restaurants, activities and sights. Ceglie is known for its food culture, with a cooking school and some excellent restaurants to try, including the much-lauded Cibus: reservations essential.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price ££
3. Borgo Canonica, Cisternino
Best for design flair
The passion project of local architects Aldo Flore and Rosanna Venezia, this restored rural village (the borgo) is between Ostuni — known as the White City — and chic Cisternino. It’s home to 14 elegant rooms and suites within its 42 trulli — simple, stripped-back spaces of exposed stone, whitewashed walls, sun-bleached linens and handmade tiles. Once the lodgings of a community of farmer-monks, today the borgo sits pretty in 15 acres of olive groves, lemon trees and lavender-scented maquis, with the sexiest of swimming pools at the centre. Olive oil and wine tasting — check out the sweet trullo wine bar — are available on site along with cookery classes (using produce from the abundant kitchen garden).
Spa N
Pool Y
Price £
4. Trulli Mirabello, Martina Franca
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Best for poolside meals
Eight slate-topped cones rise up like pointy hats beside the pool at this attractive trullo stay, in a super spot near the pretty, traditional town of Martina Franca. Set in a pleasant garden filled with olive trees and summer blossoms, it’s another good bet for groups, with four bedrooms and a big veranda area for al fresco meals. The trullo’s interior stonework has been impeccably restored, and while the decor is old-fashioned in places, it has charm in abundance. The garden is a delightful place to enjoy a bottle of Martina’s renowned white wine: it comes in still and spumante style, and both are delicious.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price ££
5. Trulli Anti, Alberobello
Best for escaping the crowds
In high summer, Alberobello can feel a little like Disney central: 1,600 trulliin a hilltop Unesco world heritage site bursting at the seams with visitors curious to explore. Trulli Anti is a refuge from the crowds — a group of six carefully restored structures, hidden in the narrow lanes otherwise crammed with trattorias, artisan makers and souvenir shops. Rooms here are simple, light and neatly furnished, with access to outdoor space and a shared pool — unusual in Alberobello. The town is well worth a stop (out of season), if only to enjoy its ineffable charm, the skill employed in its ancient building techniques and its unfailingly warm welcome.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price £
6. Masseria Le Carrube, Ostuni
Best for rustic relaxation
Despite the position of this fortified farmhouse at the foot of the White City’s hill, Masseria Le Carrube is a world away from the bustle of metropolitan Ostuni. Once a frantoio producing top-notch olive oil, the masseria still retains much of its rustic charm — though its 14 rooms and suites (plus one tiny trullo) are modern in design and slick in execution. Bougainvillea weaves throughout the courtyards, while lemon trees and cacti frame the house. This riot of vegetation reminds you of the plant-based message here, and Massimo Santoro’s vegetarian restaurant is one of the best in the region. For the ultimate indulgence, super-luxe sister property Borgo Egnazia is a 30-minute drive away.
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Spa N
Pool Y
Price £££
7. Le Alcove, Alberobello
Best for age-old romance
Bang in the middle of the trulli of Alberobello, Le Alcove has a folksy charm. Each of its six conical rooms is named for an ancient profession — the poet, the weaver, the dreamer, the storyteller, the midwife and the knight — and though simple (the obligatory white walls, domed ceilings), design here is executed with flair. Touches of luxury such as four-poster beds, whirlpool tubs, underfloor cooling and flamboyant Grottaglie ceramics add to the sense of a refuge out of time. And it’s close enough to the celebrated two-storey Trullo Sovrano museum to allow visitors a glimpse of what real trullo living must once have been like.
Spa N
Pool N
Price ££
8. Masseria Cervarolo, Ostuni
Best for understated luxury
This 16th-century fortified farmhouse is that rare thing in Puglia: a luxury hotel that has a combination of restored trulli and boutique-style rooms that feel properly, peacefully luxe. The frescoed chapel here was once a place of pilgrimage, and that sense of stillness pervades the estate: whitewashed courtyards populated with bottle-green cacti and bright bunches of bougainvillea; shady communal areas with generous daybeds; and a sparkling pool in a repurposed sinkhole. Patrizia Avellino has reimagined Cervarolo with infinite care, recycling old farm objects throughout the 18 rooms and suites to create an earthy atmosphere. Chunky wooden doors are now bedheads and tables; yokes for beasts of yore make lamps and racks. Weekly cooking classes and wine-tasting sessions are free for guests, too.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price ££
9. Grand Hotel La Chiusa di Chietri, Alberobello
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Best for hotel services
There are tiny trulli — and then there’s the four-star, 150-room Grand Hotel la Chiusa di Chietri, five minutes from the centre of Alberobello, surrounded by impossibly green lawns and acres of cherry, almond and olive trees. In a more traditional Puglian package, the hotel also has its own dry-stone trulli village, Borgo Chietri, a handful of turreted rooms complete with air conditioning, minibars and Sky TV. Better still, you can make use of all the 21st-century hotel services: Nobis restaurant, Aura Sylva spa, indoor and outdoor pools, and free summertime shuttles to the nearest beach clubs.
Spa Y
Pool Y
Price ££
10. Leonardo Trulli Resort, Locorotondo
Best for a hotel-style stay
“The kind of beauty that infiltrates slowly” is what matters most at Leonardo — and hotelier Rosalba Cardone has put Nietzsche’s idea into practice with a collection of joyful rooms and suites divided between the carefully restored trulli and neighbouring villino, decorated in the bright colours and powerful prints of the northern Salento region. Cardone and her chef, Francesco Cataldi, believe not just in living well — massage treatments, aromatherapy, a saltwater swimming pool and mountain bikes are all available — but in eating well, too. Trips, tours and tastings to local vineyards (the Negroamaro here is exceptional), olive oil producers, farms and dairies are an extra treat.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price ££
11. Trulli Resort, Alberobello
Best for making an entrance
A helicopter parked on the lawn is the last thing you’d expect to find in front of your average hobbit house, but Trulli Resort, in the hills above Alberobello, is taking its service culture to sophisticated new heights. It’s the closest you’ll get to a boutique hotel around here. The Hermes and Zeus suites are top of the range: perfectly appointed stonework, slick marble, cream chesterfields and white linens a pristine backdrop for the fashion-forward objets d’art that decorate the rooms. An infinity pool surrounded by elegant planting looks out across the village rooftops and the spa offers massages and treatments. The resort can arrange day trips to Ostuni, Gallipoli and Polignano a Mare, as well as the opportunity for messing about in boats.
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Spa Y
Pool Y
Price £££
12. Nina Trulli Resort, Monopoli
Best for nature
It’s easy to get back to nature at Nina Trulli Resort, once a countryside monastery, later a working farm and vineyard. The 11 trullo rooms and suites are filled with recycled furniture made by skilled local craftsmen, accented with creamy natural fabrics, textured woods, Pugliese ceramics and a bunch of quirky objects found in a variety of barns and outhouses. The on-site restaurant, Orto, has hearty food sourced from the garden and orchard, while breakfast is served in the rustic splendour of the old farmyard. Natural treatments, massages, yoga and cookery courses are just a few of the activities available — along with trips led by local expert Marialuisa.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price £££
13. Truddhi, Trito
Best for simple pleasures
Truddhi is the dialect term for Puglia’s traditional trulli, and this cluster of ten charming apartments, deep in the green heart of the Valle d’Itria, has a strong sense of roots. Accommodation ranges from double studios (check out the sweet Corbezzolo) to the eight-bed Trullo della Nonna: all simple but well equipped, with domed ceilings, open fireplaces and private patios with sun loungers. Truddhi is all about growing your own, then sharing it: guests can pick tomatoes, figs, plums and apples from the walled garden and olives straight from the trees. There’s a communal alfresco kitchen with a pizza oven, barbecue and dining area where, in the evenings, you can hang out with new friends and share a glass of the local Negroamaro.
Spa N
Pool Y
Price ££
truddhi.com
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