Hotels near Brindisi - Salento Airport (BDS), Brindisi

If you like exploring a city by walking, it's an excellent choice for you. You are within 10-15 minutes walk to most sites of interest in Brindisi if you stay in the historical centre. And it's a good base to use for visiting the surrounding area..Lecce, Oria, Otranto, etc. I especially enjoyed walks around the harbour and taking a ferry across to the Monument to the Sailor, having a coffee & pastry at Valentino Café just behind the monument.

This is an ancient Italian small town that has experienced a revival. Most of the residents are Italians (unlike other towns in the area which are mostly tourist accommodation). There are many excellent restaurants and bars within walking distance and a very impressive Roman museum. I recommend a walk or cycle in the surrounding countryside (as many residents do). It's also a great place to explore Puglia as it is about an hour to Lecce, Cisternino and Gallipoli.

A small seaside community with all the basic amenities plus some.local restaurants. The best part are the beaches which lined the entire coast of the area. Clean beaches with clear waters suitable for all water activities.

This is a small town with a lot of history. The walk from the train station to the waterfront takes about 20 minutes and is very easy. At the waterfront, there are a ton of restaurants. There were no ticky tacky shops that we saw but there are peddlers who are allowed to come into the restaurants to sell their trinkets. We were almost in the off season so it seemed pretty quiet but the views of the Adriatic Sea are amazing.

Our favourite way into Mesagne’s old town, yet another destination that punches above its weight. Hurry through the historic gate into the old town. It feels bigger on the inside, no doubt due to the number of decent bars and restaurants as you stroll around.

Villa Ranieri is a delightful place to stay as it’s just across the road and down the steps and you are at the very safe beach. Francesco the owner was an excellent host who was more than helpful and did everything to ensure our holiday was perfect – I would be very happy to return any time. The house is very clean and well-presented with everything you need for a relaxing stay – the patio area outside is charming and the outside warm shower is ideal for showering off at a day at the beach. We were there in mid-September so it was out of season which meant a lot of things were shut which suited us fine as it was so quiet and peaceful, we practically had the beach for ourselves. We had two bikes available to use which was ideal for exploring the local area and it meant that we could cycle along the lungomare to Torre San Gennaro to shop at the little supermarket – as we did not hire a car this was ideal. Francesco also picked us up from the airport and took us back plus he kindly picked us up one day to take us to San Pietro di Vernotico where we took the train to visit Lecce (the local bus stopped running at the end of August). He also contacted us to make sure we were able get back from San Pietro di Vernotico and offered to phone a taxi for us as he himself was busy – his concern for his guests’ was amazing. Having cycled along the coast to Casalabate I thought Campo did Mare, and its closeness to Torre San Gennaro, was the nicest place to stay. I felt our day here gave us more of a feel of Italian life than Lecce, though beautiful, was so busy with tourist. What more can I say - Villa Ranieri is perfect.

The harbour area was beautiful. There are lots of shopping areas but unfortunately they close for a good part of the afternoon. There are a lot of restaurants but it would be a good idea to check them out before you arrive as the menus vary quite a bit.