Having spent the first 5 nights of our holiday in Matera, Alberobello and Monopoli, We were looking for a chilled, non-prentious, local town in the south of Puglia (in order to visit Monopoli and Otranto and some of the southern beaches), with not too many foreign tourists (I wanted to practice my Italian and mix with locals) and traditional restaurants we could walk to. We came across this accommodation with a private pool in the small town of Taviano, and it could not have been more perfect for us. Luana (our host) was an absolute delight. She explained it was part of her ancestral home, reason for the fabulous ceilings. The apartment was functional, spacious and clean, as was the garden and pool area. The air-conditioning was great, the kitchen faciities were more than adequate and whilst we did not use, there was also a BBQ available. When we had a problem with the washing machine - it was sorted within an hour, we were very impressed. It was 5 mins walk to some absolutely fabulous restaurants amongst which there was one roof terrace, one in the old fish market and one sprawling along a pedestrian side street - we wish we had had time to try more of them. There were shops within walking distance and a lovely traditional old bakery, 4 mins from accommodation. (If you go there be warned the olive bread still has the stones in it!!). A short drive away was a large supermarket. Luana advised that we could help ourselves to the lemons from the tree in the garden, so amongst our purchases was some Gin and Tonic ...would have been rude not to to take advantage!! 😁 We would definitely go back, and highly recommend to anyone who has a car and wants to be slightly off the beaten track and is looking for a more authentic and chilled ambience.

The square in the town is being repaired whilst we were there, so that slightly impacted on our impression of Taviano - but didn't impact on our accommodation. This really was a minor thing, but we would have like to have real glasses (raher than plastic ones). We do, however, understand that with the garden and the swimming pool area, there is a health and safety issue with glassware.