The Other Italy Field Notes

Short notes from the places we plan trips to in Sicily, Puglia, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont: what the food is really like, which towns reward a slower visit, and the planning mistakes worth avoiding. For the full picture, start with our Other Italy Planning Guide.

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Fornelli Pronti: Dinner at the Butcher in Cisternino

Cisternino's food identity is built around one thing: fornelli pronti, butcher shops that double as restaurants.

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Alberobello and the Trulli, Up Close

Alberobello looks like nowhere else in Italy, or arguably anywhere else on earth. The trulli exist in this concentration nowhere but the Valle d'Itria.

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Why Ostuni Is Worth a Stop

Ostuni sits on a hill above the Adriatic, and from a distance it looks like a snowdrift got confused about the season.

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The Puglia Mistake We See Most Often

People plan Puglia the way they'd plan Tuscany: pick one town, day trip from there. Puglia doesn't really work that way.

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What Puglia Actually Is

Puglia is the part of Italy that makes you feel like you've arrived somewhere that still has a secret.