Summer in the Salento: 10 Tips to Get the Best from Your Trip

By Espressino Travel

1. Where is the Salento anyway?

The Salento is the tip of the heel of the Italian boot: the southernmost third of Puglia. The location of its northern boundary is a matter of ongoing debate. Is Brindisi part of the Salento? Depends who you’re talking to.

Brindisi, however, is home to the airport that’ll get you into the region. You can rent a car from there or hop on a bus that will take you directly into Lecce, the so-called Florence of the South (even though it’s more atmospheric, friendlier and less touristy than its northern counterpart), an ideal base for exploring the region. But more about that later…

2. Timing is Everything

Take care when planning your trip to the Salento. The weather starts getting warm in May, and veers towards genuinely hot in June and July. Locals inevitably moan about August, when much of Italy takes its annual holiday and floods into the cities and beaches of the south. Things quieten down dramatically at the start of September, as the sea takes on its bluest hue and the crowds leave, which makes it the perfect time to visit.

Bear in mind that if you’re taking excursions to the many fascinating towns of the region the Salentini take their siesta very seriously. If you arrive anywhere between 1:30 and 5:00, you could find yourself in what looks like a ghost town. Which makes the explosion of the passeggiata hours later that much more spectacular. So when those afternoon hours loom, do what the locals do and…

3. Hit the beach!

Italians don’t say, “We’re going to the beach.” They say, “We’re going to the sea.” Once you see the crystal clear waters on the Salento’s Adriatic and Ionian coasts you’ll understand why they favour the sea over the sand. Not that there’s anything wrong with the sand, much of which is kept in pristine condition on the many private beaches that speckle both coastlines.

In peak season (July and August) an umbrella with a pair of sun loungers will cost you between €15 and €20 for the day, but at other times you’ll be able to negotiate a prime space for far less. Our favourite beach is at Torre dell’Orso, just north of Otranto. Its combination of soft sand, glass-like water, rugged landscape and great food within strolling distance gives it a narrow edge over other marvellous spots like Punto Prosciutto and Torre Lapillo.

The Salentini love the sea, so anywhere it’s remotely possible to get into the water you’ll find cars parked on the roadside and deck chairs and parasols dotting the horizon. Feel free to join them.

4. Keep cool with coffee

Coffee culture is a little different in Puglia. It’s the home of the Espressino – a cute glass cup midway between a cappuccino and macchiato so tasty we named our company after it.

You can get an Espressino anywhere in Puglia, but you have to be in the Salento to get a Caffe in Ghiaccio, espresso over ice, traditionally served with either sweet almond milk or a smooth, fluffy coffee cremina foam. That’s right: coffee topped with coffee!

Caffe in Ghiaccio is ubiquitous to the Salento. So much so, if you order coffee over ice anywhere north of Brindisi they call it a ‘Caffe Leccese.’

5. Stay Hungry

Cucina Salentina is a serious business. The Salentini are a fiercely proud bunch, and you’ll see that reflected in the menus of the region. Orecchiette is the typical pasta shape, traditionally served with either tomato and cheese or a type of broccoli (cime di rape) and breadcrumbs.

For the ultimate Salentino treat, there’s Ciceri e Tria, peppery chickpeas served with a mix of boiled and fried pasta. Heaven in a bowl. That’s the food you’ll find inland, but if you hit the coasts you’ll be dazzled by the variety and freshness of seafood available. Seafood lovers should make a beeline for the beautiful city of Gallipoli and its famous fish market.

Wine enthusiasts have plenty to celebrate too. The two specialities of the region, Negromaro and Primitivo, are rich reds with growing international reputations. But they taste best served close to home.

For diners in a hurry the Salento also has a rich street food culture. Pittuli are fried balls of semolina dough. Rustici are savoury pastries filled with béchamel and tomato. Breakfast is inevitably pasticciotti, custard filled pastries with a crusty shell. Delicious, if not overly nutritious. Don’t tell everyone, but the secret ingredient is lard.

6. Lively Lecce

The biggest and the most exciting city in the Salento is Lecce. Quite simply, it has everything you’d want from a base for your Salentino travels. Unrivalled baroque architecture. Great food. Outstanding gelato. Epic coffee.

But what the guidebooks don’t tell you is that it’s also one of Italy’s great cities for FUN! Life is lived on the streets in Lecce, whether it’s beers with the ragazzi in Piazza Santa Chiara, the outdoor wine bars by Santa Croce, or the nightly passeggiata that winds its way along Via Libertini.

The Leccese love to be out and about, grabbing snacks and drinks, looking good and sharing laughs. There’s always somewhere to go and new friends to make. Just don’t expect an early night.

For more on this magical city, check out our insider guide to Lecce.

7. Outstanding Otranto

Even in a region filled with couldn’t-be-cuter towns perched by the sea, there’s something special about Otranto. The old town has been named a UNESCO World Heritage site; a fairytale castle and the tiny ancient church of San Pietro, home of probably the finest Byzantine frescos in all of Puglia, just two of its highlights.

But Otranto’s star performer is its Cathedral. Unimposing from the outside, its interior contains two contrasting wonders: a medieval floor mosaic of the Tree of Life full of childlike playfulness, and the macabre Altar displaying hundreds of skulls of the city’s Martyrs, slaughtered by invading Turks in the 15th Century.

Otranto also happens to be the best place in the Salento to enjoy an evening drink with a view. The water’s edge landscape and colours are amazing as day turns into dusk.

8. Get on your Dancing Shoes

They don’t like music in the Salento. They love it. Much of that passion is focussed on reggae. Jamaica’s relaxed rhythms suit the Pugliese’s laid back approach to life perfectly. Home-grown talent like Boom Da Bash and Sud Sound System sing in the regional dialect and vie for airtime with the ubiquitous Bob Marley.

When it’s time to party, Salentini of all ages unite and go crazy for Pizzica, the local folk music. Propelled by guitar, violin, accordion and the incessant crack of a tambourine, Pizzica is fast, furious and great for dancing. Ideal for sweating off that second gelato.

9. Ain’t No Party Like a Sagra Party

No matter how small the town, at some point over the summer there’s a fair chance that for one night (or possibly three) thousands of Salentini will descend onto its main piazza for a street party of epic proportions. The inspiration, naturally, is food.

Merine hosts a raucous celebration of grain (not a night for the gluten-intolerant). In Martignano, it’s a three-day festival of sausage and Greek salad. Eggplant. Chickpeas. Beer. Whatever the produce at its heart, the sagra is an opportunity for drink, music and dance, from Pizzica to the Village People.

10. Ditch the Guidebook

There’s so much great stuff to see and discover in the Salento, it’s worth going off the tourist trail (for a day at least) to see where the road takes you. Going off piste took us to a beyond-picturesque Oceanside bar in Santa Caterina, revealed unexpected architectural gems like the Moorish palace at Santa Cesarea Terme, and led us to a delicious meal at a butchers’ doubling up as a trattoria in Specchia.

Those were just the beginning of our adventures. It’s easy to find wonderful spots untouched by mass tourism if you search for them.

That’s the Salento in a nutshell. Expect the unexpected. And bring an appetite.

Have you been to Salento? Share you experience with us in the comments below.

Author’s Bio: Espressino Travel specializes in Tours of Puglia and the Salento. You can follow them on Facebook, on Twitter at @espressinotrav and on Instagram. Visit their website for more details of their tours.