Arrival in Lecce in the early afternoon, check in at a 4 stars hotel located at a stone throw from the historic center.

Meeting with a local tour guide that will lead an amazing walking tour of the town where you will discover all its beauties from its roman origins (Roman theater and amphitheater) until the baroque time (Duomo square and the Holy Cross Basilica – entrance fee –) plus some wonderful rococo style palaces: At the end of the tour a visit to a paper maché store and a food and wine tasting.

Come back to the hotel dinner and overnight.

After breakfast the group lead by a tour guide will get on a bus to begin an appealing tour of the southeast coast of Salento visiting Otranto first; the jewel on the Adriatic coast with its tragic history where the dramatic Turkish attack in 1480 will be told through a tour that will make you discover the Otranto Cathedral with its famous mosaic flooring, the chapel that contains the bones and skulls of the martyrs and the crypt underneath; then the visit to the old village surrounded by the walls of the Aragonese castle.

Get back on the bus to reach Castro, along the breath taking coastal road (one of the most beautiful in Italy), to visit the old village of Castro discovering its wonderful historic center nestled into the old city walls and the archaeological excavations that have brought to light findings of the ancient prehistoric cults.

On request an exclusive Zinzulusa grotto tour is available.

Sea food lunch at a restaurant in Torre Pali (owners own a private boat, so the fish caught the night before will be serverd at your table).

The full day tour finishes with the visit to St. Mary of Leuca the southernmost point in Italy where the Adriatic sea meets the Ionian one.

After breakfast check out in hotel and get on the bus to visit Gallipoli and Galatina two wonderful towns full of history and monuments.

It is said that St. Peter stopped by in Galatina during his journey to get to Rome from Palestine indeed, the main church is dedicated to him and contains the rock where the Saint used to sit: but the town is also an incredible sequence of palaces of an astonishing beauty that also hide the secrets of the “tarantismo”; possessed women who needed to be exorcised to set them free by demons.

Flagship of the town is the St. Caterina from Alessandria Cathedral a Romanic church full of frescos in “giottesco” style second only to the one in Assisi.

Sweet break in the pasticceria Ascalone where the “Pasticciotto” (official local pastry) was invented 200 years ago.

Lunch in a tipycal Salentine “trattoria” then heading up towards Gallipoli to discover the history of a city built on a rock in the sea linked to the mainland by a medieval bridge.

Walking along the Gallipoli historical center streets means also visiting some of the most beautiful churches in Salento as the St. Agatha Cathedral with its incredible paintings or the Purità church wanted by the confraternity of the dockers of the port (a rare example of baroque using alternative materials to stone) and some old houses with internal courtyards. For those who haven’t ever seen an underground oil mill, there is the opportunity to visit one in the historic center of the same town.

Come back to the hotel.

To submit a booking request for this tour, please click on the “book now” button and fill out the appropriate form specifying the tour number and the chosen date.
We invite you to check our avaiabilities for this guided tour before submitting a booking request.