Salento’s exquisite Baroque towns are unquestionably worth an excursion, starting with Lecce, AKA ‘the Florence of the South’. It’s a dizzying profusion of columns, gargoyles and friezes, culminating in the insanely ornate Basilica di Santa Croce, carved with cavorting cherubs, dragons and dodos. Alternatively, head for Nardò – a less tourist-trodden Baroque beauty. On its main piazza, Caffè Parisi is a favourite with locals: follow their lead and order the spumone, a triumphant confection of toasted-almond slivers with pistachio and hazelnut gelato. On the coast, Gallipoli (‘the beautiful city’) is aptly named, with a sea-ringed centro storico. Stroll its fishing port, 14th-century sea walls and boutique-dotted backstreets (head to Nugae Galleria for jewellery from under-the-radar designers, and Blanc for ceramics, vintage finds and cocktails in the courtyard). Then, of course, there are the beaches, lapped by the Ionian sea. This side of the peninsula arguably has the edge over the east coast, whose swimming spots – though beautiful – tend to be craggy underfoot. Fifteen minutes’ drive from the hotel, Baia Verde offers white, dune-backed sands and sunny shallows, while the smaller, wilder coves at Punta Pizzo are edged with pines and gorse. If you’re feeling lazy (and a little spoiled for choice), the hotel can do the legwork, arranging cooking classes, sailing trips, or chauffeur-driven forays in a gleaming vintage Fiat.