Centro Storico
First-timersThe Baroque old town, pedestrian and compact.
Lecce city guide
Things To Do In Lecce
Baroque carved so finely in soft golden limestone that it looks like lace, in the heel of Italy. The base for the Salento, with two seas and some of the best beaches in the country.
4
Hostels in the city
7.1
Average, from 1,870 reviews
2
Seas either side of the Salento
€2
Pasticciotto and coffee
17th c.
The Baroque boom
The Florence of the South
Lecce is built from pietra leccese, a local limestone so soft when it is quarried that it can be carved like wood, and it hardens and turns golden in the air. In the seventeenth century the city's builders covered its churches and palaces in carved fruit, flowers, cherubs and monsters, and the result is a style of its own, the Barocco leccese.
The historic centre is compact, pedestrian and full of it. Under the Baroque there is a Roman city: an amphitheatre half-excavated in the main square, and a theatre behind it.
Lecce is at the centre of the Salento, the peninsula at the heel of Italy, between the Adriatic and the Ionian seas. Two days covers the city, and in summer it is the base for the beaches, Otranto and Gallipoli.
Where to stay
The historic centre is small and pedestrian. Stay inside the walls or just outside the gates.
Piazza Sant'Oronzo
Being centralThe main square, with the Roman amphitheatre.
Porta Rudiae
StudentsThe western gate, near the university. Bars and cheaper food.
Station area
TransportSouth of the centre, a short walk to the old town.
Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 4 top-rated hostels. Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Lecce
Start at the Basilica di Santa Croce, the masterpiece of Lecce Baroque, its façade crowded with carved animals, figures and a great rose window. Walk to Piazza del Duomo, an enclosed square that you enter through a single gateway, with the cathedral, its bell tower and the bishop's palace around it. It is at its best at night, lit up.
Piazza Sant'Oronzo, the main square, has half of a Roman amphitheatre sunk below street level. The Museo Faggiano, a house where a plumber digging to fix a pipe found layers of the city's history underneath, is small and fascinating.
Lecce is famous for cartapesta, papier-mâché figures of saints and nativity scenes. Several workshops in the centre still make them.
Walk to the Porta Napoli and the Castello di Carlo V, the sixteenth-century fortress on the edge of the old town.
Free things
Free things to do in Lecce
The historic centre is free, and it is the main attraction. The façade of Santa Croce, Piazza del Duomo and Piazza Sant'Oronzo with its amphitheatre cost nothing.
The cartapesta workshops are free to look into.
The evening passeggiata along Via Vittorio Emanuele and around the squares is the best free show in town.
State museums are free on the first Sunday of the month.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Lecce
Lecce has its own food. The pasticciotto, a shortcrust pastry filled with custard, is eaten warm for breakfast. Caffè leccese is an espresso poured over ice with almond milk syrup, the summer drink of the city. The rustico, puff pastry filled with mozzarella, béchamel and tomato, is the snack.
Puglian cooking is built on vegetables, bread and olive oil. Orecchiette, the ear-shaped pasta, and ciceri e tria, pasta with chickpeas, fried and boiled, are the classics. Frisa, hard bread softened in water and topped with tomatoes, is the summer lunch.
The wine is Negroamaro and Primitivo. A trattoria meal is €15 to €25.
Nightlife
Going out in Lecce
Lecce has a lively evening scene for its size, with students and visitors filling the squares and the bars in the centre. Aperitivo in the old town starts around seven.
In summer, the nightlife moves to the coast. Gallipoli, on the Ionian side, is the Salento's party town, with beach clubs and bars open until dawn. Pizzica, the local folk music and dance, turns up at festivals across the region.
A spritz is €5 to €7.
Getting around
Getting around Lecce
The historic centre is small and walkable.
The nearest airport is Brindisi, about forty kilometres north, with shuttle buses to Lecce taking about forty-five minutes. Bari airport is further away.
Trains run to Bari in about one and a half hours, and on to Rome and Milan. The local Ferrovie del Sud Est trains and buses reach the Salento towns, but slowly.
For the beaches, summer shuttle buses run from Lecce, but a car or scooter is far more flexible.
Costs
What Lecce costs
Lecce is good value. Dorms are typically €20 to €30, a pasticciotto and coffee cost a couple of euros, and a trattoria meal is €15 to €25. A careful day is €50 to €65.
The costs that add up are August, when the Salento fills with Italian holidaymakers and prices climb, and car hire for the coast. Beach clubs on the coast charge for sunbeds.
The centre and its Baroque are free.
Safety
Staying safe in Lecce
Lecce is very safe, with very little crime.
The risks are on the coast in summer: busy roads, strong sun, and currents on some beaches. The cliffs at Grotta della Poesia and Torre dell'Orso are popular for jumping; check the depth.
Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Lecce
The Salento has two seas and some of the best beaches in Italy.
Grotta della Poesia and Torre dell'Orso
A natural sea pool in the rocks at Roca, and a white beach with two sea stacks nearby.
Otranto
A walled town on the Adriatic, with a cathedral mosaic floor and clear water.
Gallipoli
An old town on an island on the Ionian sea, and the Salento's nightlife.
Santa Maria di Leuca
The southern tip of the heel, where the two seas meet.
Porto Cesareo
Shallow, turquoise water on the Ionian coast.
What's on
What is on while you are there
The Notte della Taranta, the Salento's great music festival, fills the region in August.
24–26 August
Festa di Sant'Oronzo
Historic centre
The patron saint's festival, with lights, processions and a fair.
August
Notte della Taranta
Melpignano and the Salento
A month of pizzica music across the region, ending with a huge free concert.
December
Fiera di Santa Lucia
Historic centre
The Christmas fair of cartapesta and nativity figures.
Hostels
Where to stay in Lecce
Lecce has a handful of hostels in and near the historic centre. These are the top-rated right now, live from Hostelworld.
When to go
May, June and September are ideal. August is very busy and expensive on the coast.
Jan
Mild and quiet
Feb
Quiet
Mar
Spring
Apr
Easter. Good
May
Excellent
Jun
Beach season begins
Jul
Hot. Beaches busy
Aug
Peak season. Sant'Oronzo and the Taranta
Sep
Excellent. Warm sea
Oct
Superb, and quiet
Nov
Mild
Dec
Christmas fair
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs. Lecce is hot and dry in summer, with warm sea from June to October.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros.
Transport assumes walking and buses. Car hire for the Salento coast adds significantly in August.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Lecce travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
Is Lecce worth visiting?
Yes. It has the most distinctive Baroque architecture in Italy, excellent food, and the Salento beaches on its doorstep.
How many days do you need in Lecce?
Two for the city, plus several days on the coast in summer.
How do I get to Lecce?
Fly to Brindisi and take the shuttle bus, about forty-five minutes, or take the train from Bari in about an hour and a half.
Do I need a car in the Salento?
For the beaches, it helps a great deal. Summer buses run from Lecce, but a car or scooter is far more flexible.
What should I eat in Lecce?
A pasticciotto and a caffè leccese for breakfast, a rustico for a snack, and orecchiette for dinner.
What is the Notte della Taranta?
A festival of pizzica, the Salento's folk music and dance, held across the region in August and ending with a huge free concert in Melpignano.
When is the best time to visit Lecce?
May, June and September. August is very busy and expensive on the coast.
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