Gateway to Puglia’s Val d’Itria and Salento peninsula, Brindisi is more than just a strategic arrival point by air and sea. Its old town is peppered with Roman ruins and baroque churches to explore before a market tour and cooking class or a stroll down the palm-lined main boulevard for a seafood feast along the waterfront promenade. Having sampled the city’s culture and cuisine, travelers are ready to set out for nearby destinations like Alberobello, Locorotondo, Martina Franca and Polignano a Mare in the Itria Valley and Lecce further south.
This seaside town comes to life from late spring through early fall, when sun seekers flock to the nearby beaches or hop the ferry to nearby holiday destinations. This lively season opens and closes with two processions: The first, the Processione del Cavallo Parato, features a parade of decorated horses and takes place 60 days after Easter. The second, the Processione a Mare, celebrates the city’s two patron saints with festivities by land and sea and takes place the first weekend of September.
Brindisi is home to a small airport, a ferry port, a bus terminal, and a train station, so there are a number of ways to reach the city. The city’s most popular sights are all clustered in the historic center and easy to reach on foot.The local STP Brindisi bus system covers the urban center and also offers routes to nearby destinations like Ostuni and Lecce, making Brindisi a convenient base for exploring all of Puglia’s Salento peninsula.
In most Italian towns and cities, the main square is the social and geographic hub. In Brindisi, however, the lungomare or seaside promenade, is the center of the city’s dining scene. Here, you can join locals and visitors relaxing over dinner and drinks at one of the waterfront restaurants, keep kids entertained at a small cluster of carnival rides the city sets up each summer, and experience the traditional passeggiata, a leisurely evening stroll.
