Population:  32,216 (2001)
Official site: Ostuni
Wikipedia: Ostuni
Map: Mapquest

Ostuni sits perched on three hills like a crown prince surveying the olive groves below on a landscape that rolls into the electric blue Ionian sea not far in the distance.  Looking at the town from the flat plains around the city, Ostuni is an imposing, surreal and impenetrable jumble of bleached white buildings. 

The town's nickname is "La Citta Bianca" or the "White City," and many visitors upon visiting for the first time have to check their maps to see if they're still in Italy.  The architecture of the town is more Grecian than any other in Italy. 

It is only upon entry into the town itself, that we start to remember that this town is indeed part of the Italian peninsula.  The piazza at the center of the town, where almost all of the action takes place, divides the town - new from old and east from west.  There are several restaurants and bars, whose terraces spill out into the open vicinity.

Especially in summer, Ostuni is livelier by night than you might expect.  During the day in the summer months however, expect to have a total closure of stores and most other public facilities during this time.  It is simply too hot to work and the Italians have taken notice and don't even try to fight it any more.