Lecce is a charming old Italian town sitting in the heart of Puglia. We visited the town during our day trips in the region, stopping for a day to wander the streets of Lecce and explore. As many of you may know from social media, Puglia is the increasingly popular southern Italian region, and Lecce is one of the towns you may consider when planning your itinerary. We visited Puglia in 2022, and it remains one of our favourite locations in Europe! Read on below to see some highlights from Lecce, along with linking to our complete Puglia guides, itineraries and much more!
A few tips when visiting Lecce, Puglia
- What time of year is good to visit? Lecce is a perfect shoulder season location (e.g. May/June, September/October). Located down south, the weather is often mild either side of summer, and can get very hot in the peak of summer! We visited at the end of June and found the mid-30s weather in Lecce very hot!
- Lecce is a good walking city! Like many of the old Italian cites, Lecce is perfect for walking around. Bring your walking shoes!
- Consider a day trip vs staying in the town.. Okay, we are biased from our experiences, however while we think Lecce is definitely worth visiting as a day trip, we found that staying along the coast (e.g. we stay in in Gallipoli) was great for beach trips, sunsets and slightly more temperate in the heart of summer
- Park on the edge of the old town! The old town isn’t very car friendly, and is a little bit of a maze. Find some parking on the fridge of the old town and walk your way around.
- Train transport is a good way to get to Lecce but not great for day trips around Puglia. If you want to visit bigger cities in Puglia, e.g. Lecce, Polignano etc, trains are great and you can get from Rome easily! However, if you want to get to beachside towns like Gallipoli, Otranto, or hidden beaches in Salento.. a car is needed!
- Try the food! Like many of the towns in Puglia, the food is amazing! There’s lots of little cafes, restaurants and places to grab a feed. We loved the southern Italian food and Lecce was no exception.
- The history! This includes the old amphitheatres, which are sights to see!
- Lecce gets very hot in summer! A consideration would be around those visiting during summer, as after around 11am, the town was very hot, and without a beach to cool down, or accommodation to retreat to, we found it extremely warm. Despite this heat, we would still recommend to add it to your Puglia road trip, however we are pleased with out decision to stay down at the coast rather than inland. If you do stay in Lecce, consider beach day trips to escape the heat, or if doing a day trip, consider visiting outside of the peak heat of the day.
- Explore more than Lecce! The best parts of Puglia includes exploring the small towns (like Lecce), beaches, and beachside towns. See some of our Puglia guides below:
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