Puglia’s Salento peninsula: unspoiled Italy

The Salento is home to some of Italy’s loveliest towns. The historic quarters of Gallipoli, Nardò, Otranto, Castro, Leuca and Corigliano are all testimony to evident Hellenic roots. But none is lovelier than the city of Lecce, the Salentine capital, known as “the Florence of the South”.
So, if you’re looking for a holiday destination with a great climate, dreamy beaches, beautiful historic towns, delicious food and wine… come to the Salento.

Tour Highlights

Spend 4 days discovering warm Puglia’s Salento
English-speaking tour guide
4-star hotel
3 breakfasts. 2 light lunches, 4 dinners
Enjoy a olive oil tasting
Pasta making class
Cartapesta workshop in Lecce
Only 20 pax per tour

The accomodation

Modern 4 star hotel is just few minutes walk from Lecce historic centre. The hotel’s rooms have an LCD TV and special self-adjusting beds, an ergonomic chair. and free WiFi. Free internet is also available in the 24-hour business centre. You can relax outdoors in the swimming pool, use the 24 hours gym or unwind in the wellness centre featuring sauna and Turkish bath. The restaurant serves an American breakfast as well as typical Apulian meals for lunch and dinner.

Puglia’s Salento Tour Itinerary
Day 1 Lecce + Masseria experience with olive oil tasting and dinner

Tour will start at 09:00 am from Lecce, the Baroque masterpiece of southern Italy. Sometimes described as the ‘Florence of the South’, Lecce is really a fancy destination. It’s just a gorgeous place, and the historic centre’s small size, restricted to cars, allows to wander among narrow streets of golden sandstone, hidden piazzas, extravagantly carved baroque churches.

At the heart of  the city stands a half-buried 2nd-century Roman amphitheater, and everywhere else, elaborately decorated churches and palaces built in local honey-hued stone.
It is in the ancient heart of the city that Lecce’s elpayonegant baroque palazzi and churches can be found. The finest example of Puglian baroque is, without doubt, the Basilica of Santa Croce, a wonderfully ornate edifice. Exuberant figurative, floral and mythological motifs characterize the façades of both buildings. 

Lecce Papier-mâchè

Well-known for its Baroque style, not many tourists know that the city of Lecce is also famous for the papier-mâché art, cartapesta in Italian. The art of papier-mâché in Lecce, a phenomenon unique to Puglia, dates back to a period between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when the development of arts was linked to the increasing number of churches and monuments. The craftsmen did not have access to precious materials, and as such they were forced to make use of other, poorer materials such as straw, rags, glue and plaster.  The small shops around Lecce cathedral are full of painted figures of all sizes, some religious, others peasants going about their daily tasks, or ornamental flowers and jewellery.

Olive oil tasting and pasta making class

In the afternoon,  a short bus ride will take you to a local farm, where olive oil is produced according to the biological method. You will enjoy a walk among centuries-old olive trees and a tour to the onsite oil mill (frantoio) to learn about the processes of making premium olive oil, a tasting will follow. Before dinner, a pasta making class will amaze you. Dinner at the Masseria’s restaurant and overnight in Lecce. (D)

Day 2 Nardò – Gallipoli

Breakfast in the hotel. Today, it is time to visit the south-west corner of Puglia.

Nardò

Have you ever visited a new place and felt ‘wow’ about it? For many visitors, it happens at Nardò. It’s the destination for those who love finding places that are off-the-beaten-track, places to discover and feel like a pioneer. Puglia’s Salento is full of surprises and Nardò is one of its best secrets. It is a lovely and charming old town, filled with palazzi, courtyards and churches.
Nardò may not be as popular as other cities in Puglia, but don’t let that fool you,  as you will be surprised by this hidden destination.  Like much of Salento, Nardò is a gourmet heaven and there are few tourists, wild beaches, clear seas and acre upon acre of olive trees.  After city tour departure toward Gallipoli, where a light lunch is included.

Gallipoli

Gallipoli lives up to the provenance of its name, ‘beautiful city’ in Greek. The old town centre sits on a tiny island connected to the mainland by a 17th century bridge. It is almost completely surrounded by defensive walls, built mainly in the 14th century. Behind its castle lies a maze of picturesque streets filled with quaint shops, cafés and restaurants.
Despite its small size, Gallipoli is packed with historic and cultural treasures, home to numerous impressive Baroque churches and aristocratic palazzi, a testament to the town’s former wealth as a trading port.
In the 18th century, Gallipoli was home to the largest olive oil market in the Mediterranean. From its ports, ships laden with olive oil sailed to major European cities where the oil was used for lighting. It is said that olive oil from Gallipoli lit the streets of London before the advent of the electric bulb.
At that time oil mills were built underground, for security but also for optimal production. You will visit and underground oil mills. Gallipoli once had an underground network of 35 oil mills. The largest one has been restored and will tell you a lot of fun facts. Back to Lecce and dinner in the hotel. (B,L,D)

Day 3: Santa Maria di Leuca – Corigliano d’Otranto

Breakfast in the hotel. Today, the tour will take you to the southernmost point of Salento peninsula.

The first leg of the day is a stop in Corigliano d’Otranto, one of the nine towns of the so-called “Grecia Salentina”, a cluster of villages between Lecce and Maglie, where residents still speak grico, the Italiot Greek dialect, preserving strong historic ties with Greece, dating back thousands of years.
Santa Maria di Leuca is the southernmost town of the Salento. At the bottom of the heel where the Adriatic meets the Ionian Sea, named “finibus terrae” (end of the earth) by the Romans, Santa Maria di Leuca is a beautiful harbour town with a long esplanade and beach. Here, towering above the point where the waters of the Adriatic and the Ionic sea meet, we find one of Italy’s most important lighthouses: a 48m high structure, situated on the cliffs some 102m above the level of the sea. The light transmitted from its lantern can be seen as many as 50kms away. Santa Maria di Leuca is famous for the Basilica built to commemorate St Peter’s visit during his travels through Italy. The Basilica is connected to the port by a 184 step staircase. Leuca is also home to a man-made waterfall, built at the end of the Puglia aqueduct. Started in mid-19th century, the aqueduct was finally completed in 1941 with Leuca being the southern most point.

Day 4 Otranto – Castro – Zinzulusa

Breakfast in the hotel. Today tour will take you to the easternmost point of Italy: Otranto. Before getting to Otranto, you will visit one of Salento’s most striking coastal settlements, the walled town of Castro. The charming old town, which also has a 12th-century cathedral, the remains of a Byzantine church and a clifftop piazza with delightful sea views, sits above a marina and terraced olive groves leading to a limestone coast riddled with spectacular caves. Just few kilometres from Castro, the tour continues towards the most beautiful  karstic cave. There are many caves systems above and below the coasts of the Salento, the most renowned of which is the Cave of Zinzulusa. Odd stone formations twist into a hanging ceiling, these mineral deposits gave the caves their name by resembling old rags or “zinzuli” in the regions dialect language.

Time for lunch, included, in Otranto.

Tucked away in Italy’s heel, in the province of Lecce, the picturesque seaside town of Otranto means different things for different travelers.
Art and history enthusiasts come here to admire the gorgeous 12th-century mosaic floors of its Romanesque cathedral; gourmets for the seafood restaurants lining the scenic waterfront promenades; and incurable romantics to get lost in its postcard-perfect old quarters, crisscrossed by narrow travertine-paved alleyways. In the height of summer, however, everybody fights for beach space along its handsome 10 km-long coastline kissed by dazzling aquamarine waters. Back to Lecce. End of our services. (B,L)

Included:
Private bus transportation
English-speaking tour guide, escorting the group throughout
3 nights accommodation on half board basis, American breakfast and dinner, shared room
Lunch in Corigliano D’Otranto
Lunch in Otranto
Olive oil tasting
Show cooking
Cartapesta workshop
Guided visits as per itinerary, throughout four full day
Entrance fees
Insurance

Not included:
Hotel city tax (approx. €2 per person per night)
Extras, drinks and personal expenses
Gratuities and porterage

Please note: we can help you with airport transfers and with pre and post-tour hotel booking.

Puglia’s Salento Calendar Tour