Lecce & Salento

Lecce's Baroque old town, the "Florence of the South," plus the turquoise-water towns of Otranto and Gallipoli on the Salento peninsula.

Lecce and Salento sit at the "heel" of Italy's boot, on the Salento peninsula at the southern tip of Puglia, with the Adriatic Sea to the east and the Ionian Sea to the west. The main city, Lecce, is called the "Florence of the South" for its ornate 17th-century Baroque buildings carved from honey-coloured Lecce stone. The Basilica di Santa Croce, Piazza del Duomo and the Roman amphitheatre are all in the walkable old town. The east coast (Adriatic) is mostly cliffs and eroded rock formations: the Grotta della Poesia, Torre dell'Orso with its Two Sisters sea stacks, the old town of Otranto and the Baia dei Turchi, then south through Castro and Ciolo to Santa Maria di Leuca at the very tip. The west coast (Ionian) has white sand and shallow water: Pescoluse, the island old town of Gallipoli, the Porto Selvaggio nature park and Porto Cesareo. Inland you will find the frescoed Basilica of Santa Caterina in Galatina and the Baroque square of Nardò. June–September is beach season; in August, Italian holidaymakers make it crowded and expensive. May–June and September are best; spring and autumn suit strolling in the old towns, and winter is quiet but many seaside facilities close. Getting around: Brindisi airport is about 40 minutes by car from Lecce, and the train from Bari to Lecce takes about 1.5 hours; regional Salento trains and summer beach buses reach some towns, but driving is the most convenient. We suggest 1–2 nights in Lecce, then 2–3 nights in Otranto or Gallipoli, for 4–5 days in total. Local specialties include pasticciotto, caffè leccese (iced coffee with almond milk), fried dough balls called pittule, and raw sea urchin.

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