Description

Classic Salento Cycling Tour

Classic Salento Cycling Tour
Departures available every Friday and Saturday from 17/3/2023 until 08/07/2023 and from 01/09/2023 until 30/12/2023
Available on other dates on request.
For guided options from 4 persons or more send us an email.

Only need a bike for Puglia? Check: BIKE RENTALS PUGLIA

The Classic Salento Cycling Tour in the “heel” of Italy. Cycle on a peninsula that divides two seas, the Adriatic and the Ionian. Salento was settled in the prehistoric era. Situated in a strategic position in the heart of the Mediterranean sea. It is the perfect marriage of nature and culture. Even the farmers are inadvertent artists using special techniques to build out of mortarless stone, creating a unique landscape unlike any in the world! Enjoy seven days on pedals, follow the GPS maps that lead you in the most evocative corners, to the countryside roads, small villages, and handcraft laboratories. Salento is a cultural, historical, and geographic region that is almost completely flat. Because of the flat landscape, it makes the ride a pleasant journey for any level of rider to cycle.

This land smiles at the bicycle tourist. Its hillocks never climb more than 200 meters and even beginners can easily enjoy the beauty by bicycle. This travel is suitable for couples, families but also singles or small groups of friends. (cycling approximately 30 km a day. You’ll mainly cross secondary roads).

Salento’s climate

The climate is typically Mediterranean with hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters which provide suitable conditions for the cultivation of olives, citrus fruits, and palm trees. The generally flat topography and surrounding seas can make Salento prone to windy weather year-round. The windy weather is ideal when it’s hot because it helps you to keep your head cool during heatwaves. Sirocco winds from the south occasionally deposit dust and sand from the Sahara in the coastal towns of Salento.

Cycle the Classic Salento Cycling Tour and discover all the beauties of Puglia

In the entroterra, you’ll find many small farms and artisans who strictly follow traditional ethics and respect for the land
Visit ‘Palacia Lighthouse’ (easternmost point of Italy)
The peninsula is also known as Terra d’Otranto, and in the past Sallentina. In ancient times it was called variously Calabria or Messapia
From Neolithic cave paintings, to ruins of ancient cities, to Roman theaters and spas, or Baroque churches, Salento is an open-air museum
Visit the ruins of Roca Vecchia – an ancient bronze age city and ‘alimini’ lakes
Cycle to Sannicola to discover its underground olive Mill

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Day 1

Arrive in Lecce

Meeting in Lecce. Bicycle delivery, with GPS navigator. Briefing about the route.

Day 2

Lecce to Otranto - Distance 58 km

Totally flat route for the first day of your bike trip with many interesting cultural and naturalistic sights. First, you visit Acaya – a fortified city with a XVI castle and then you plunge down to “Le Cesine” – a WWF protected area, crossing point for many species of migratory birds. From there you reach the sea and, first, you skirt the remains of Roca Vecchia, an ancient city of the Bronze Age, nearby the wonderful “Poetry’s cave”, then you reach ‘Alimini’ lakes. Some more kilometers and you are in Otranto, where narrow streets reveal wonders at every corner: The Saint Peter church with its byzantine frescoes, a walk along the ramparts overlooking the sea and finally the cathedral with its paved mosaic a unique piece in the world, a sort of figurative middle age encyclopedia.

Day 3

Otranto’s surroundings - Distance 29 km

Day dedicated to the discovery of Otranto's surroundings. Going up along the banks of the small river Idro, that gives its name to the city, you visit an ancient Byzantine crypt from the 13th century and then you arrive at Casamassella where you see ancient looms put back into production by the 'Le Costantine' Foundation. In Giurdignano, you cross the megalithic garden, closely observing its dolmens and menhirs, ancient prehistoric monuments. For lunch, a visit and a tasting in one of the most characteristic bakery of the region, where a farming family decided to transform ancients wholegrain into baked products, recalling ancient flavor. Further, you go back to Otranto and you are free to enjoy the afternoon in the shopping area, swimming in a little beach close to the town or making a horse ride along the cliffs at sunset (suitable also for beginners).

Day 4

Otranto to Santa Maria Di Leuca - Distance 54 km

With Otranto behind, you cycle along the wildest coastal stretch of Salento: the lighthouse of Punta Palascìa, in the extreme East of Italy, and a unique lake emerged in a disused bauxite quarry are among the greatest beauties you see just outside the city. Nestled among the cliffs above the sea, this road is a huge balcony that looks onto Otranto’s strait. with a little bit of luck, you might be able to see the mountains of Albania and Greece. You could visit ‘Zinzulusa’ cave, going down nearly 200 feet into the earth bowels. On the way, you can admire some terraces and dry walls, the ingenious devices of peasants to get arable land in barren and impervious areas. After crossing the bridge over the “Ciolo” - a small and rich in rare flora canyon carved by the waters - you reach Santa Maria di Leuca where you visit the sanctuary, following the ancient pilgrims’ footsteps.

Day 5

Santa Maria Di Leuca to Gallipoli - Distance 61 km

A day dedicated to the discovery of the area known as “Capo di Leuca”, the southern part of Apulia, one of the less know area, but the most suggestive of Italy. Within few kilometers you pass by small hamlets, each one with its little treasure: in Salignano, an astonishing defense tower situated in the center of a small village, in Castrignano you visit an ancient olive oil mill, carved into the rock, and then an enigmatic funerary monument made by big stones, in Patú, (its name “Centopietre”, means “hundred stones”), with byzantine frescos inside; then, you cross Giuliano with its ruined castle and finally, you visit Barbarano - or Leuca Piccola - ('little Leuca'), an important pilgrimage station which still maintains a vast underground area. If you do really have a passion on history, in Ugento, you can visit the archaeological museum that host Greek and Messapian vestige. In the afternoon, you reach the ionic coast and cycling inside the "Saint Andrew Island and Punta Pizzo" natural Reserve. At your arrival, in Gallipoli you could enjoy an aperitif on one of the ramparts of the ancient walls overlooking the sea. Located on an island, this small fishermen’s village is striking by it's light, its alleys and it's fish market.

Day 6

Gallipoli’s surroundings - distance 60 km

Day dedicated to Gallipoli’s surroundings. First stop is in Tuglie, where if you have a passion for radio, you can visit the museum dedicated to the evergreen mean of communications, inside you can find functioning pieces. If you are more into gastronomy, you cannot miss the specialty of the area in the best bar of the town: Lo spumone! – there are no words to describe it! In the late morning, Mari and Antonio will wait for you in their little home/farm for a tasting of their cheese, reserved just for our cyclist. In the afternoon, you reach Galatina where you can admire the church of Santa Caterina, totally painted in Giotto-style frescoes, and then visit the beautiful historical center of the town. On the way back, you pass by the town of Galatone, to visit it's beautiful baroque old town and the Norman castle of Fulcignano.

Day 7

Gallipoli to Lecce - distance 52 km

Last day of your bike trip. The first kilometers of the coast allow you to visit the “Natural Reserve of Porto Selvaggio”, as many think and we do to - is the most beautiful place where to swim in Apulia. Riding the way up to Lecce, you go through cultivated countryside and you can admire many 19th century fortified farmhouse and villas that characterized the landscape of this area until you, then, reach Nardò to visit its remarkable baroque style historical center. Next stop is in Copertino to discover it's impressive Norman castle and listen to stories about Saint Joseph, ‘the holy of flights'. Late afternoon arrival in Lecce and bikes drop off.

Day 8

Departure

Onward travel

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All prices are based on double rooms. Departures all days
For bookings & inquiries please contact us at info@cycleclassictours.com
Start every Friday and Saturday from March till half July and End of august till half November
Departures: every Sunday from 27/3/2022 until 3/07/2022 (last departure) and from 28/08/2022 until 6/11/2022 (last departure)
Other days on request paying an extra charge of € 75

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