Cisternino

An appealing, whitewashed hilltop town, slow-paced Cisternino has a charming centro storico beyond its bland modern outskirts; with its kasbah-like knot of streets, it has been designated as one of the country's borghi più belli (most beautiful towns). Beside its 13th-century Chiesa Matrice and Torre Civica there's a pretty communal garden with rural views. If you take Via Basilioni next to the tower you can amble along an elegant route right to the central piazza, Vittorio Emanuele.