Salento astonishes for its landscape and architectural beauties; it charms for its sea, its cities of art and its small villages rich in hidden treasures, history, culture and folk; it amazes for its old traditions, making discover the rural and seaside culture of this wonderful land; it touches for its gastronomic delicacies. Salento becomes a travel experience, a real “object of desire” for many tourists do not still know it and it is on the top of the list of destinations to visit. Lecce, the Salentine capital, the Baroque style city, has been declared by Tripadvisor, the biggest community of travellers, the most beautiful town in Apulia, loved by most of tourists for its wonderful architectural beauties and its particular attraction enchanting lots of travellers which choose it like travel destination.

Aimed destination, the Salento area, emphasizing services and tourist facilities, working in a synergetic way together with all operators involved in order to create a single welcoming, hospitality and living fine philosophy, labelled “made in Salento”. So a refined tourism that puts emphasis on the person with his or her needs; a responsible tourism, geared to improve and guard the territory, as it is underlined by the award for a responsible tourism, Premio Turismo Responsabile Italiano 2010, that the province of Lecce has received during the BIT.

A land, the Salento area, which will never stop to astonish and touch.

Planning a journey in this period of the year means to leave and discover winter landscapes and backgrounds completely different from summer ones. It means to know traditions, flavours and knowledge connected to an old culture; it means to enjoy the feast and joyfulness of the Salentine carnival with parades of floats and masks linked to old legends and traditions. It means as well to discover the glow of a land and its people in occasion of celebrations for patron saints; to taste winter cooking dishes; to enjoy winter landscapes of desert beaches and countryside; to find out the old slow rhythm of small villages.

It is the ideal moment to treat oneself to downtime dipped into the warm, cosy and genuine atmosphere of masseria and old fashion houses pampering yourself and making you pamper by the genuine hospitality of Salento people who can give you the better side of a wonderful and authentic land.

Salento is not just sea, wonderful beaches and sun. It is not a place to be just lived in summer. Salento peninsula is an exclusive land holding inside, like a case, an infinity of hidden treasures connected to the deep historical roots, a past made up with genuine and simple things as well, lived in Salentine countryside at the shadow of silver foliage of hundred-year-old olive trees. Taste, traditions, fantasy, tales and legends, widespread in folk culture, are the soul of this land.

It is just in popular imagination that it is possible to try to find and know people’s roots. Sirens, princesses, warriors, goblins, spirits and characters from popular tradition represent a real safe, a poem where the history and roots of a strong and proud people resurface. A people by old traditions that has been able to recover and make them strongly live again, aware of the richness to be saved.

A travelfor discovering Salento is to look around with new eyes capturing the whole magic that only an exclusive place like Salento can release.