Cammino del Salento, Puglia – La Via del Mare

Italy is filled with an almost endless array of camminos. Depending on the type of experience you wish to have, and your level of fitness, you can find a path here in Italia. Some may last for months, traveling the length of the country, and even going up into the rest of Europe, while others may just be for a few days, circling within one small area. The two sites below will give you a strong base of options to choose from.

• Cammini italiani
• Cammini d’Italia

This would be our fifth cammino, all five of them taking place here in Italy. As we were in Lombardia last year for La via Francisca del Lucomagno, we thought, that this year, we would go south to Pulgia for Cammino del Salento. There are two slightly different routes to choose from. The first choice is La Via dei Borghi , rich in art and culture passing through towns with Greek heritage, then on to the sea. The other option is all about the sea. We chose that one; La Via del Mare. Our walk would start in the city of Lecce, a baroque architectural gem and finish at the end of the heel of Italy, Santa Maria di Leuca.

We arrived in Lecce to start our cammino mid-October. Its a 5 day, 115 km/71 m cammino that we are going to do slowly over the next 9 days… our slow cammino. We’ve decided to slow it down so we could enjoy the history and scenery at a more leisurely pace and also save our knees and feet from destruction. As last year’s cammino in Lombardia had too many days on pavement, we wanted to be kinder to our slightly older’ bodies going forward. Learning from that experience, I have been researching walks with a more favorable percent of dirt trails and country tracks to a lesser percent of tarmac. This cammino in Puglia was well balanced in that regard.

Lecce, well-known as the ‘Florence of the South’ due to its stunning architecture, will be our starting point. It is our second visit to this lovely city, but we never seem to have enough time to just relax there for a few days. We arrived late in the afternoon to enjoy the breathtaking night time views of the Cattedrale di Maria Santissima Assunta, Campanile del Duomo, Palazzo Arcivescovile in the Piazza del Duomo.

The next morning we begin a walk that will be amazing, beautiful, challenging at times, and so perfectly wonderful.

TAPPA 1 Lecce to San Foca. 25km/15.5m. Our starting point was Porto Napoli in Lecce historic center, walking out into the countryside, through villages and towns to the fortified town of Acaya. As we approached the sea on our second day, the farmland turned into protected marshes until we reached the black sand beaches in this area of the Adriatic. The weather was warm, we tanned and totally relaxed along the shoreline, with our second day completing Tappa 1 in the seaside town, San Foca. We had a quick takeaway dinner and slept well in our Airbnb. Most of the places we stayed on our walk were booked through Booking.com, Airbnb, or directly with establishment. All were pretty darn wonderful!

Throughout much of our walk over the next 9 days, we would see many dry-stack stone structures. We learned from our server, the first night at local restaurant, that these rounded structures, Pajare, were built for the workers in the field to rest protected from the hot sun or inclement weather. Many have been restored and some actually used as attachments to residences. Other structures we would encounter would be the coastal watchtowers, built along the Salento peninsula to warn the inhabitants of impending Saracen attacks.

TAPPA 2 San Foca to Otranto. 24.6km /15.2m. The most beautiful rock formations in the gorgeous blue sea. We would experience the beauty of La Grotta della Poesia, Le Due Sorelle and Faraglioni di Torre Sant’Andrea, all stunning rock formations in this section of the trail. Group those with deep, cool pine forests, historic towers, stone fenced pastures, and many more grottos, we’re loving our slow cammino. We arrive in the fortified town of Otranto on our fourth day.

The port town of Otranto is worthy of a longer visit that just one night. We did have the opportunity to visit here a few years back for a long weekend, enjoying the historic town, churches and castle. The town can become quite busy during the warmer months, with tourists abound, but Otranto is definitely worth the visit.

TAPPA 3 Otranto to Santa Cesarea Terme. 22.6km/14m. one of our favorite two days. The weather has changed from blue skies to overcast, with lots of rain in the forecast.

We trekked passed more signal towers, a bauxite quarry, World War II bunkers which were John’s favorite. We came upon lighthouse ‘Faro di Punta Palascia’, the furthest most eastern point of Italy. The coastline continued to be rugged, with rough seas but gorgeous surf. The views were wide as we moved on south to Porto Badsico. A note here: as it was off season for this coastline, most restaurants were closed in the smaller villages as well as lodging was limited. Thankfully, there were great bars with delicious food available and still some very nice apartments to rent.

Our final destination for Tappa 3 (our day 6 on the trail) was the evocative town of Santa Cesarea Terme, known for its thermal baths. We did not partake but did stay in a lovely villa for the night. When we looked at a few weather apps before we left home, all we saw was gorgeous weather for our 9 days of walking. We always pack a raincoat, but this time we decided to leave our rain pants at home. Thankfully, we made it to Santa Cesarea Terme just as the clouds opened up with a 3 hour soaking rain. We hung out at a bar for the duration, waiting to check into the villa. Drenching avoided. Going forward, I will always pack my rain pants no matter what the weather forecast says.

TAPPA 4 Santa Cesarea Terme to Marina Serra. 24km/14.9m . Today, we walked the entire tappa, as I could not find a halfway point for an overnight stay. The weather was crazy windy today, some rain early and serious surf again. There is something very thrilling about big surf, especially when you can experience it from a safe distance, such as these waves of the Adriatic crashing on the rocky shoreline. We passed through the historic center of Castro to view its castle, then came upon a well attended mountain bike race. Some of the trail that we hiked earlier in the day was to be part of their course. We pushed on to our destination for the day, the tiny hamlet of Marina Serra, known for its Piscina Naturale (Natural Pool). We stayed at a relaxing agriturismo and enjoyed a delicious meal.

TAPPA 5 Marina Serra to Santa Maria di Leuca. 22.3km/13.8m This tappa we split into 2 days. The first half was 14.5km/9m, starting along the boardwalk of Marina Serra then on to roughest, toughest day of our cammino. The trail climbed up out of the marina to connect to the rockiest trail that went on and on and on. We really had to watch our footing as we both chose to wear trail runners for this cammino. The trail markers were few and far between and at one point we missed a turn and almost flew off a cliff. BUT the day was beautiful. We crossed the Ponte Ciolo and headed inland to our destination town, Gagliano del Capo. Once again, a delicious dinner at a local restaurant and a quiet night at a lovely apartment.

OUR FINAL DAY WALKING, rest of TAPPA 5 – only 7.8km/4.8m. Gagliano del Capo to Santa Maria di Leuca, the end of the heel of Italy. It seemed like a short walk this final section of the cammino, until we got to 280+ steps up to Santuario di Santa Maria de Finibus Terrae. The view of the city from the Santa Maria di Leuca Belvedere was gorgeous. There was much to see from the Piazza Giovanni XXIII; the Santurario, the lighthouse ‘Faro di Capo Santa Maria di Leuca, Colonna Mariana, Statua Benedetto XVI. We were hoping to see Albania, but the horizon was too cloudy. Here, also, occurs the meeting of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas! Such an amazing place to visit…

At the Santuario, we would receive our “testimonium”, a diploma of sorts for completion of all the daily stages. We would show our stamped passports, confirming all the stops along the way, and the secretary would carefully enter the day and our names. Unfortunately, the secretary wasn’t available that afternoon, so we returned then next day (our relax day) to obtain our testimoniums. Our slow cammino of 9 days had come to a successful end. We would rest for a full day in town before heading home.

Our relax day really got started after our second 280+ steps climb to get our diplomas. We returned to walk along the harbor, view the many beautifully restored villas, then headed to the Punta Ristola Leuca. This rocky outcrop and seafront lookout, is the southernmost point of Italy’s heel, with rock sculptures and caves. Taking a boat trip to many of the caves and to swim among them would have to wait until a summer visit. We spent the rest of our day being lazy at another great apartment rental and just enjoying our adventure and how much we accomplished. And to top this all off, we ended with a great pizza dinner!

An equipment note: as we carry all our needs, we have worked diligently to keep the weight of our full packs to the barest minimum. All our clothes can be handwashed if a washer isn’t available. We only pack technical clothes that wick moisture, are lightweight but warm if need be. No cotton in our backpacks. As we found on our last cammino, hiking boots, even low hikers, can really hurt our feet and legs on hard pavement, so we have switched to trail runners. They really made a different for both of us. The downside is that they aren’t as supportive as hikers, whether we are using low or mids. We just recently purchased some updated Salomon low hikers that feel almost like trail runners, but with a bit more support. We’ll see if how they shake out in prep for our next cammino.

Not only are our camminos a way to mark accomplishments, but mostly an experience of the land an in this case, also the sea. We walk to our destinations each day instead of using some means of transportation. We have the time to see, hear and feel each moment along the way. We meet amazingly friendly and helpful folks, stay in relaxing accommodations and of course, eat the food of Italy. Sure, we are tired and a bit sore, and the years are slowly catching up with us. We do our best to keep our backpacks as light as possible, trying to remain realistic of what we can actually accomplish but still add challenges to make us proud. I have to say that my husband may not be as fanatical as I am about hiking and walking camminos, but he loves me so much, that he is always my best friend and partner on the trail. We will continue to walk, balancing adventure and reality. Thank you, dear readers, for coming along on this trip with us as I share some moments with you.