Welcome to Hiking The Heel

Puglia or more accurately Salento to an Italian, is a bit like Cornwall is to a Brit. They see it as a holiday destination, somewhere they go in August for sun, sea and good food and wine. It is a bucolic area where the fields are full of fruit, vegetables, olive trees and vines. However the region is not known to tourists outside of Italy, and this makes a holiday here unique. It truly is a glimpse of a rural Italian lifestyle. The locals are warm and friendly, but don’t expect them to speak English. There are beaches with bars and amenities, but much of the coastline is natural and rugged. Pace of life is slow. The roads are full of Apes (a type of tuk-tuk) not Ferraris. As a visitor you will find it unlike anywhere else in Italy, with its brick-red soil, prickly pear cacti, wild beaches and baroque buildings. Seafood features heavily on the menus as does the increasingly admired local wines such as negroamaro, primitive, salice salentino, fiano and malvasia. Every nook and cranny is full of history and amazing architecture. Sogliano Cavour is a traditional small town, with a supermarket, pharmacy, bakery, café, post office, bar, restaurant, tobacconist and fishmonger. It is perfectly situated for visits to either coast and for visiting the historic towns of Lecce, Gallipolli and Otranto as well as for visiting the Southernmost tip of the heel, Santa Maria di Leuca. The nearest larger town is Galatina (about 5 mins drive away) where there are a wide selection of shops, bars and restaurants. .