Discover Salento 2026-27

Departure from your chosen pick-up point - lunch at leisure – in the afternoon visit with a guide to Ostuni, “the white city”, so called for the single colour of its buildings in Murgia limestone (a fascinating medieval quarter marked by important religious and civic architecture, with a superb Romanesque Cathedral) – in the evening arrival in Lecce - dinner at the hotel – after dinner, a stroll with the tour leader – overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel – in the morning visit with a guide to Lecce with its fine examples of the Baroque style, known as "the Florence of the South" (Basilica of Santa Croce, Church of the Gesù, San Matteo, the Cathedral, Sant’Irene and a great many noble palaces – with all the other historical periods represented too, starting with the Roman era with its Theatre and Amphitheatre, visit to a “Lecce papier-mâché” workshop) – lunch at leisure, street food - for something savoury we recommend the unmissable rustico leccese, and for dessert the pasticciotto leccese - in the afternoon visit with a guide to Gallipoli, “the beautiful city”, a picturesque old town where small fishermen’s houses stand beside noble palaces, a reminder of the great historical and commercial period of the 17th-19th centuries, when Gallipoli became Europe’s most important port for the trade in “lamp oil”, a non-edible oil used for lighting and exported all over Europe (Cathedral of Sant’Agata, the finest expression of the Baroque of the period, with more than 1,000 sq m of paintings of great artistic value inside) - visit to an underground olive press – in the evening return to the hotel – dinner at the hotel - after dinner, Lecce by night: a stroll with the tour leader – overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel – full-day excursion with a guide – visit to Otranto (the Romanesque Cathedral of 1480, with the famous Pantaleone Mosaic inside, the Ossuary of the Martyrs canonised by Pope Benedict XVI, and the Crypt below, built on the remains of an ancient Roman tribunal) - then, along the scenic coast road, we reach the Punta Palascìa Lighthouse, perched above the sea at the easternmost point of Italy - a short but rewarding walk up to the lighthouse – continuing along the coast road, we reach a true hermitage, the little-known Castro Alta (an architectural and archaeological gem overlooking Castro Marina, with its Messapian walls, Castle and Cathedral – a stroll through the small village to discover a precious treasure chest) – visit in Gagliano del Capo to an artisan weaving workshop – and finally S. Maria di Leuca "De Finibus Terrae" (a Sanctuary of Christianity on the Jubilee route, the Minor Basilica, a stroll along the seafront lined with gentry villas and a number of perfectly preserved “bagnarole” - the characteristic pagodas once used by noblewomen to change before entering the water) – lunch in a typical restaurant – in the evening return to the hotel – dinner at the hotel or in a typical restaurant - after dinner, Lecce by night: a stroll with the tour leader – overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel – full-day excursion with a guide – visit to Galatina (the fantastic Basilica of Santa Caterina d’Alessandria of 1391, a masterpiece of Gothic art with frescoes of the Umbrian-Marche school - a monument that alone is worth the journey), Galatone (birthplace of the great humanist and philosopher Antonio de Ferraris, known as “Il Galateo”, whose highlight is the grandiose Cathedral of the Crocifisso, a landmark of the finest Lecce Baroque, and an urban layout of great interest) – Nardò, one of the capitals of Italian and European Baroque (splendid Romanesque-Norman cathedral, the exuberant and theatrical Piazza Salandra and the unmissable Museum of Prehistory, which displays some exceptional small teeth, a discovery proving that Homo sapiens sapiens frequented the Grotta del Cavallo 40-45 thousand years ago, along with finds from the archaeological research carried out since the 1960s in the Porto Selvaggio Nature Park) – lunch in a typical restaurant – in the evening return to the hotel - dinner at the hotel – evening at leisure - tour leader available – overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel - departure for Brindisi – visit with a guide to this ancient city, the terminus of the Via Appia, occupied by the Greeks even before the Romans, the port from which the Crusades set sail and a centre of naval power and maritime trade, thanks also to the roads built here, the Via Appia and the Via Traiana ( among its monuments stand out the Virgilian Steps with their Roman columns, the little temple of San Giovanni al Sepolcro and the beautiful Cathedral, where on 9 November 1225 the wedding of Frederick II of Swabia and Isabella of Brienne was celebrated) – lunch at leisure, street food - journey home – arrival in the evening.