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Visiting the Puglia region next month. Would you stay in Lecce or Gallipoli?

Posted by (Mpls, MN) on

My husband and I are going to Puglia next month. Been to Italy many times but this is first time to this region. Trying to decide if we should spend 4 nights in Lecce or 4 nights in Gallipoli for our exploration of the Salento? Have seen mixed reviews on this board re. Lecce. Some people love it and some not so much. We have decided to skip the Gargano on this trip. So far our itinerary is as follows:
Fly into Bari, get rental car and go to Trani
Trani--sleep 3 nights
Val d'Itrea-sleep 5 nights, still deciding on which masseria
Either Lecce or Gallipoli--sleep 4 nights
Matera--sleep 2 nights
Paestum--sleep 1 night We prefer not to do 1 nighters but this is convenient as will be driving here from Matera and easier to stop now rather than do it from Sorrento. Been to Sorrento and A.C. 3x & have not yet made it to Paestum so this is our opportunity. Prob. briefly check out Salerno too. From here drive to
Sorrento--sleep 4 nights (will drop off rental car upon arrival in Sorrento)
Naples--1 night as have a 6:30 a.m. flight.

Thanks for any advice!

Posted by
11613 posts

I like your plan, but I would prefer Lecce to Gallipoli. Otranto is further south than Lecce, but it might be a possibility.

Posted by
1005 posts

Thanks Zoe! So staying in Lecce and daytripping to Gallipoli, Otranto, etc. may be the best bet then.

Posted by
11839 posts

I agree with Zoe: stay in Lecce and daytrip. The drive around the heel is nice. Best done counter-clockwise.

Posted by
1615 posts

Highly recommend Masseria Aprile close to Locorotondo if you want to sleep in a trullo. Also, stay in Lecce, for sure. We found both the Gargano and driving around the coast south of Otranto and Gallipoli in October/November fine but missable --- these coasts seems to be for beach-goers in the summer. Add another night to Matera, if you can. Three nights in Trani is about right. Get to Alberobello early in the morning before the tourist buses get there and spend most of your time there on the "other" side --- the tourist side is just stuffed full of tourist shops. I hope you have already spent a week in Naples or plan to in the future! I could go on and on, but you will eat wonderful food and walk through many wonderful towns in Puglia.

Posted by
1005 posts

Thanks everybody! Am checking out Masseria Aprile as we would love to stay in a trullo. Another question--If we add another night to Matera and make that 3 nights, would you then recommend taking a night off of Lecce, going from 4 nights to 3, or the Val di'Itrea, going from 5 nights to 4?

Posted by
11613 posts

Look at potential daytrips to decide which place loses a night.

Posted by
28453 posts

There is quite a lot to see in Lecce itself. I enjoyed the walking tour offered by the tourist office.

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