Salento lovers: here is the top five of the unmissable beaches on the Ionian and Adriatic coast. A trip to be organized not only in summer!
Living in Salento it means never changing the wardrobe, it means that even in December it can happen to go out with a t-shirt and a jacket, because the temperatures allow it.
Even on sunny autumn and winter days, especially if it happens on Saturday or Sunday, it is customary to go for a ride to the sea and maybe lie in the sun on the sand.
Those beaches that the summer are invaded by tourists and locals, full of umbrellas and colored towels, the winter become a paradise for young people and families who can enjoy them all year round.
If I had to list 5 inevitable beaches to visit absolutely, I choose 3 on the Ionian coast and 2 on the Adriatic coast.
1. Pescoluse - Ionian coast
The area is best known as "Maldives of Salento", from the name of a bathhouse in the area.
Reaching the Pescoluse and Torre Vado area is not difficult, just continue the coastal road south of Gallipoli for about 45 km, less than 10 km from Capo di Leuca.
The few bathing establishments present allow a large area of free beaches and pristine sea.
The fine white sand and the wild territory behind the dune line are the characteristics of this corner of Salento.
Various catering and hospitality activities in the area or in the first municipalities of the hinterland.
2. Porto Cesareo - Ionian coast
If in Pescoluse the environment is more "wild", moving to the upper Ionian, in Porto Cesareo, we have a predominance of bathing establishments that occupy a large part of the coast.
If you love the free beach, you can try to find a place between one beach and another.
Read this way it seems that there are only negative sides. But no. The positives are there.
Lush dunes, white sand and crystal clear water make the landscape unique and suggestive.
If you are passionate about a wilder and more uncontaminated nature and prefer a beach with fewer bathing establishments, the advice is to move about ten km north and reach Punta Prosciutto.
Here, the fine and white sand, next to a transparent sea, are the visiting card for a holiday in paradise.
3. Torre dell'Orso - Adriatic coast
Moving along the Adriatic coast, one of the first beaches I recommend to visit is Torre dell'Orso, in the municipality of Melendugno.
A large beach of fine sand enclosed on the sides by two high cliffs and behind by a pine forest.
The marine village of Torre dell'orso, then, offers all the services you may need, to eat or relax in the tourist villages or campsites of Frassanito a few kilometers away, depending on the habits.
4. Otranto - Adriatic coast
About 20 km south from Torre dell'Orso you arrive in Otranto, a town known for its castle, its cathedral dedicated to the martyrs who defended the city from the Turkish invasion and its historic center.
Well in Otranto, there is a beautiful beach of fine sand, which extends from the port almost to the lighthouse, on the opposite side of the bay.
A beach that in recent years has "lengthened" following the work to make a cliff safe on the north side of the town.
5. Portoselvaggio - Ionian coast
The last unavoidable beach of Salento is the beach I perhaps care most about. Perhaps because it is close to my house, perhaps because I often go there since I was a child.
It is the beach that is found after a walk in the pine forest of Portoselvaggio, in the municipality of Nardò.
Not a fine sandy beach, but a few meters of pebbles in a cove between the rocks.
It is all the outline that makes this place magical, from the pine forest, the tower overlooking the cliff to the blue water and the caves present a few meters below the cliff.
A natural landscape, where fortunately the hand of man has not yet done any damage.
If you are not afraid and are equipped with lights to cross the pine forest in the dark, an experience to try is that of wait for the sunset on the small beach or on the nearby rocks.
Salento, for some years now, has been one of the chosen destinations for the sea and for cuisine. Most of the tourism is concentrated in the summer months of July and August. The last piece of advice I would like to leave is not to choose these two months, if possible, but to take advantage of the favorable climate even in spring.
I wait for you here. Until next time.
