Working remotely in Puglia, by the sea

Working remotely: the Wi-Fi, honestly

The house has free Wi-Fi, and the connection is good enough for video calls and a full working day: guests who have stayed here in winter have worked without any problems.

The connection is fixed wireless (FWA), which means it arrives by radio rather than by cable: it is the usual solution in rural southern Italy, and for work it does the job.

Our advice is the same as we would give anyone working away from home: keep your phone ready as a hotspot for stormy days, when out in the country the power can go off or the line can slow down.

Where you work: the table, the veranda

You work well at the kitchen table: good light, the door onto the olive grove, the stone sink behind you.

Outside there are two covered verandas, pleasant from spring to autumn, and the rooftop terrace, which is for reading rather than working: in the sun you cannot see the screen. Every room has air conditioning, and in summer the thick stone walls keep it cool.

A word of honesty about winter: the house is heated and the fireplace is the centre of the evening, but the trullo breathes and is not insulated, so after long spells of rain it can feel damp. For a winter working stay we recommend it for two people at most. More on the page about long winter stays.

A day, more or less

You wake to the silence, which in the countryside makes more noise than you would think: a distant cockerel, the wind in the olive trees, a tractor going by on the dirt road. Coffee is made in the moka pot. You take the first call in the kitchen, which opens onto the olive grove; weather permitting, on the veranda.

Around one o’clock the village shuts. The shutters come down, the streets empty, and until half past four or five nobody stirs. In summer those hours have a name, controra: the contrary hour, the time for resting, when it is best not to be seen out and about. For anyone working, it is the most productive part of the day, because outside there is nothing to do.

Then you stop. In winter the sun sets early and goes down over the sea, towards Torre Ovo; in summer you go to the beach once the sand has stopped burning. In the evening there is the fireplace, or dinner under the pergola, depending on the season.

How long to stay

The minimum stay is 5 nights, rising to 7 from May to September; the maximum is 28 nights, four weeks. For work, one week is too short: just long enough to find out where to buy bread, and you are off again. Two weeks start to make sense; four are what really change your pace.

From 1 November to 25 March, booking direct, 14 nights get 14% off, 21 nights 21% and 28 nights 28%, excluding 20 December to 6 January. It is the season we like best for people who work: the beaches are empty, the villages go back to the people who live in them, and nobody asks you to go and see anything. Rates and availability are on the booking page.

Time zone and southern hours

Italy is on Central European Time, the same as Berlin, Paris, Amsterdam and Stockholm; it is one hour ahead of London and Lisbon. So meetings with northern Europe keep their usual times: what changes is everything around them.

Two things to know. The first is the lunch break, already mentioned: all year round, roughly between one and five, the village shops are closed, and errands are run early in the morning or after five. The second is Sunday: the supermarket may close early, so do your shopping on Saturday. The rest you pick up in two days, and after a week you will catch yourself greeting the greengrocer by name.

Breaks, a few minutes away

Working here makes sense because of what is there when you close the computer.

The sea. The beach at Campomarino is one minute by car, the dunes of the park are right beside it, Punta Prosciutto is twenty minutes away. In winter you walk there in a jumper; from May to October you swim. The beaches near Maruggio, one by one.

The flamingos. At the Salina dei Monaci, ten minutes away, they are seen mostly from October to April. At sunset it is the best break of the week.

The wine. Manduria and the Primitivo wineries are twenty minutes away. Tastings are by appointment, so they fit nicely into a Friday afternoon.

The cities. Taranto and its museum half an hour away, Lecce an hour: for rainy days there is a page of its own, Taranto and the MArTA.

The weekend. The Valle d’Itria, Ostuni, Otranto, Matera: everything within an hour and three quarters is on the map of the area.

Before you arrive

You need a car: the house is in the countryside. Brindisi airport is fifty minutes away, Bari airport an hour and three quarters; you can hire a car at either. Bed linen and towels are included.

If you are thinking of a long stay, write to us first: we will tell you what the house is like in that season, without embellishment.