At the wheel of a vintage Fiat 500 from the noble Palazzo Ducale Venturi

The passion for vintage vehicles is authentic and widespread throughout the Salento. Vespa 50 specials, Lambrettas, Fiat 500s and Autobianchi Bianchina have been preserved in garages like precious legacies from ancestors. They are dusted off, polished and put back into operation punctually, every summer, in order to proceed fresh and carefree along the spectacular coastline that runs between Otranto and Santa Maria di Leuca, as well as between Gallipoli and Porto Cesareo and in the direction of Torre San Giovanni, where the sea is truly transparent. To experience this aboard a 500 coupé, one can, for example, stay at the Palazzo Ducale Venturi, a 16th-century aristocratic residence in Minervino di Lecce in the heart of the Salento countryside, amidst dolmens, dry-stone walls, hypogean mills and small chapels frescoed by Basilian monks. Well, among the many experiences ranging from pottery courses to the preparation of taralli, from yoga on the beach to stone carving courses, there is also the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a two- or four-wheeler to enjoy the thrill of driving face to face with cliffs and sea.