Lecce

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
3
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
6
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
5
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
5
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
3
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
4
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
50 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
373rd/457
Bottom 20%
continent
Europe
country
Italy
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$30 (typically $10 - $50)
Time of year visited
October
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Bustling restaurants Old town Romans
All Tags
Christian site
Wow Factor
Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100.
⭐

Summary

The Lonely Planet has Lecce as one of the 3 highlights of Puglia and labels it the “Florence of the South”.  It’s nice, for sure – the pastry tour can be fun and there are some nice spots to eat – but it’s a far distant second to the nearby white-washed hill towns in the Valle d’Itria of Alberabello, Locorotondo, Ostuni and Martina Franca (see the travel entry Puglia’s Valle d’Itria – trullis and perfect white stoned villages – wow) or the sensational Matera (Matera – wow wow) which is only 1.5hr away.  It’s also less appealing than the old town of Bari (see Bari Vecchia – wow)  which has the added advantage of being the spot most visitors will be flying into.

 

Lecce is nothing particularly special in what is the most beautiful country in the world, and not particularly special for Puglia either . . . Meh.  See A week in Puglia in early October for an itinerary and what your priorities should be.

Highlights of Lecce

1. The Pastry tour in Lecce is fun (just triple check opening times)

1. The Pastry tour in Lecce is fun (just triple check opening times)

2. Eating in some of the pretty restaurants in the Lecce Old Town. Corte dei Pandolfi was nice and just off the centre with the amphitheatre

2. Eating in some of the pretty restaurants in the Lecce Old Town. Corte dei Pandolfi was nice and just off the centre with the Roman amphitheatre

Experiences Nearby

Wow Factor Score Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100. LowHigh
  • Elite, unmissable
  • World-class, downsides
  • Meets the Wow Factor
  • Worth it
  • Meh
  • Gash

Better Old Town Experiences in Italy

Hiking the Cinque Terra

Puglia’s Valle d’Itria – trullis and perfect white stoned villages

The Sorrento Peninsula – avoiding the crowds

Wandering the Old Towns of Eastern Sicily

Sibilini Mountains and hilltop villages of Marche

Puglia’s Vieste

The Aeolian Islands

Sienna

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences - from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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