Agriturismo Giardino del Tempo

In contrada Li Lei, in the countryside of Lizzanello and a few minutes from the village of Merine, the Giardino del Tempo is a tiny farm stay and deliberately so: just two rooms, run in person by the owners, in the middle of the olive groves of central Salento. The old centre of Lecce is nine kilometres away, far enough to leave the traffic behind and close enough to go into town for dinner and come back without worrying.

The property is child free and the rule is stated without circumlocution: the minimum age for guests is fourteen, and the rooms are not suitable for anyone younger. It is not a restriction designed to exclude, but to protect the silence, which here is the main service.

Pool and outdoor spaces

It is worth saying at once, because anyone looking for something else should know before booking: there is no wellness area. No sauna, no steam room, no whirlpool tubs. The centre of the day is the outdoor pool, four metres by twelve, uncovered and seasonal, with a modern filtering system and a solar hot-water shower at the poolside. Access is allowed from ten in the morning to seven in the evening; the rest of the day belongs to the garden and the shade of the olive trees.

The rooms are recent and complete: air conditioning, wifi, a private bathroom with a shower and hairdryer, satellite television, a mini fridge, a safe, a kettle with herbal teas and, above all, a table and chairs in their own private green space. Breakfast is Italian, built on protected-origin produce, and the extra virgin olive oil comes from the estate's centuries-old olive trees, pressed the same day.

It is the right address for two people who want the Salento without a holiday village and without noise, with both the Adriatic and the Ionian coasts within reach by car and Lecce a quarter of an hour away. Anyone demanding an equipped spa should look elsewhere; anyone who wants a well-kept, private, adult country house has found the place.