In summer, guests lounge on cushions scattered over the sinuous teak terrace. Expert therapists dispense luxurious massages and facials using the Espa range of essential oils. Most life-enhancing are the hot stone massages that use volcanic river stones from Arizona, once employed in American Indian rituals, to release blocked energy points. You'll hit the shops floating on air.Bulgari Hotel and Spa, via Fratelli Gabba 7,(00 39 02 80 58 051; ) Doubles from €560; spa day membership, €55 2. Style temple Conceived by Carla Sozzani, sister of the editor of Italian Vogue, the 3rooms complex is legendary in the fashion community across the globe. Doubles start at €250 (£178) per night on a half-board basis.

The house is open from May until the end of October.Further informationItalian State Tourist Board (020-7408 1254; ). 1 Peace on earth 1. Peace on earth Set in the orchard of a monastery, the sumptuous new Bulgari hotel, favoured by fashion-house chief executives as well as supermodels, is an oasis in the smoggy city. The white marble fa?e overlooks landscaped gardens scattered with laurel trees. It also offers stays at the family-run Hotel Al Duemila, about 20 km from Gallipoli, from £299 per person per week, a price which includes return airport transfers and half-board based on two sharing but excludes flights.Perhaps the best place to stay in Salento is the eight-bedroom 15th century covent Il Convento di Santa Maria di Costantinopoli, Marittima di Diso (07736 362328), owned by Lord and Lady McAlpine. Hertz (08708-44 88 44; ) offers one week's car rental from Brindisi airport from around €218 (£150).

A charming private railway, Ferrovie del Sud Est (00 39 080 546 2111; ), does a circuit of the region from Lecce.Where to stayLong Travel (01694 722367; ) offers seven nights' b&b at Hotel Patria Palace in Lecce from £571 per person, based on two sharing, including car hire but not flights. In ancient times, the Messapians and the Greeks had sanctuaries here, and a Roman temple to Minerva attracted pilgrims by the thousand. Today it is still a pilgrimage centre - a sanctuary for the Madonna of Finibus Terrae has been built on the site of Minerva's old temple The current Pope has visited it. And centuries ago, they say, St Francis of Assisi came, as did St Peter himself.I feel sure that all of them enjoyed the views, the food, and the spirit of Salento.GIVE ME THE FACTSHow to get thereRyanair (0871-246 0000; ) offers returns from Stansted to Brindisi from around £40. In summer, Italian holidaymakers will cruise up and down in search of the perfect cove or grotto, accessible by steps cut into the cliffs But hotels are few and far between. Olive groves still dominate the landward view.I stop for lunch at Marina di Andrano, where a stout little lady provides a dish of stout little squid.