Discovering Salento, latest top holiday destination in Italy

Are you looking for sunny weather, amazing landscape and truly genuine food? Apulia is then the region you will deeply fall in love in Italy and might  become the next destination of your trip!

Apulia is one of the most amazing southern European region, rich of culture and history, with a strategical importance for ancient Greeks and Romans, today is one of the pearls of Mediterranean tourism. This is a real special region to me as I am born in Milan, but one of my grandma is from this area, so it is very familiar to me and owns half of my heart.

In particular today I would like to present you an area, Salento, still an unspoil destination that became very popular for holidays in the last years. Salento it has been my last holiday trip either, so I am still very excited to talk about it.

Salento is the very botton are of Italy (image Italy as a "boot", well, Salento is the very bottom of the "heel").

The area is surronded by two seas, Ionian Sea and Adriatic Sea, facing Croatia, Bosnia, Albany and Greece from Adriatic side and Sicily to the other. The area is all in province of Lecce and the closest airport in Brindisi (maybe soon it will be named The Airport of Salento). If you travel from Europe very cheap airlines as Ryanair and Easyjet flight here.

If you are planning an holiday let me suggest you to avoid August: traditionally is the holiday month for all Italian students and workers, and Salento is a very popular destination for us. In other months you will defenetly find the beaches less crowded and ways cheaper accomodation. The weather is amazing, so all May to September period is perfect for a sea bath.

Salento offers a lot of different landscapes and activities, dependind of what you search from your holiday. You can look for disco and night life around Gallipoli as for trekking journeys around Leuca (but I advise you to pick just spring or autumn time) to discover Olive trees..

Here are the spot we visited, hope you can find some interesting information for your journey.

Where we stayed in Salento 

We based in Ugento and we stayed in a very cute Bed and Breakfast, family managed, which I raccomend: Aria Bianca Bed and Breakfast. It is quite a convenient location as driving (yes a car is mandatory if you want to travel Salento) you can reach any point of Salento by day and return.

What and where to eat in Salento

Burrata - Orecchiette - Puré di fave

Food is amazing everywhere and absolutely everything deserves to be tasted, especially in Apulia. Here is the home of olive oil, taralli, juicy tomatoes, fresh fish, burrata and stracciatella. No, I am not talking about the gelato, but the very softest and creamy mozzarella you will ever taste in you life.When in Salento you must try fresh pasta, in particular orecchiette, small hand made pasta that litterally means small ears, you can enjoy them with tomatoes sauce and sometimes beef sauce. Vegetarian must try puré di fave e cicoria, deliciou mashed fave beans and chicory. Anything with fish and seafood it is absolutely delicious, and also meat eaters will satisfying their taste with many bracerie: they are restaurant where you pick the beef you like and they cook for you as you like! I suggest you to try Le locande di Totò, but always better to reserve a table, this place is very popular also among locals (please remember for southern Italians it is common to dine around 9 -9:30 PM, in summer time).

Looking for a perfect romantic typical dinner? I was very impressed with this restaurant, in the heart of Taviano, small village in the heart of Salento, La Corte degli Aranci: I sincerely raccomened it and please try the BBQ beef on the spit. What to drink? Of course, a calice of Primitivo di Manduria or Salice Salentino, robust red wines, perfect with roasted beef.

Castro

Castro - Salento

Beautiful small location where we rent a boat for half day (in august better to book in advance) and visit the coast. If you have the chance visit the cave of Zinzilusa, you can arrive by boat with an organised small tour (2 hours included the guided visit) or driving for a very little distance from Castro.

Otranto 
Small sea city, with a medioeval fortress "balcony" to an amazing gulf. We visited at "aperitivo" time, just before sunset to enjoy the amazing pink color that the sunlihgt colors the white walls of the city. You can take a walk along the sea side, enjoy the bar and dinner in many restaurants.

Baia dei Turchi (North Otranto beach side)

Long sand beaches, amazing tourques sea and many bars and restaurant with beach umbreallas and sunbed to rent for a day. I raccomend it for  a relax beach day.

Leuca

This is a special place as it just the "very end" of the heel Italy. No sandy beaches here, but you can rent a boat or join an excursion and visit the coast (and take a bath of course).

Gallipoli

Is very much the new party city of summer in Italy. Here and around you will have plenty of partys with some of the best international Dj's as guest stars in many clubs and discos; summer night-life here is for sure some of the best in the country. However, if you are looking for relax and quiteness, avoid this area in august: it is crowded of young party lovers.

Baia Verde

It is close to Gallipoli and it is an amazing sandy beach, we loved spending here the day even if in the late afternoon bars in the beach start partying and get crowded.

Marina di Pescoluse (Maldive del Salento)

An other beautiful sandy beach where to enjoy the sun and the blue sea. One note when you arrive driving: it is common to pay for parking (as a reasonable €2- €5 for all day) and it is best way to access to the beaches and leave your car in a no-fine area: be carefull infact, local police is always giving tickets tocars parked outside lines- blue lines in Italy means pay parking zone - white lines are free parking zone.

Curious to read more about Salento? Let me advice you this guide Salento. Moods and colors

Hope these advice can help you in your next journey to Salento!

The Happy Orange Blog loves Apulia!