Porto Cesareo Trip Report October 2025

Porto Cesareo Trip Report

We leave Marotta on Wednesday morning and are in the car and on our way south for 6.20 a.m. It is still dark and there is torrential rain plus plenty of roadworks as far as Pescara. After that, it dries up a little and as traffic gets less and less, I can relax. We stop for lunch in Gioia del Colle at 12.30. There isn’t time to visit the town, but we find a decente ‘rosticceria’ called Ursula and have a couple of slices of foccacia, some fried mozzarella, a dish of pasta al forno and polpette di carne fritte with green beans. Plus a large beer, water, and two coffees for 31 euros. Is it expensive? Andrea thinks so, I don’t.

We continue our journey but by now I’m tired. We take the coast road from Taranto south and stop to inspect Campomarino di Pulsano. There’s quite a lot of litter in the area compared with other parts of Puglia, and it’s still cloudy and threatening rain. It’s a relief to finally arrive in Porto Cesareo where our apartment has a splendid view overlooking the harbour and is a lot better than I expected considering it’s absolutely not expensive. Our kind lady host has even left us a bottle of beer and local wine as well as the usual water.

We’re tired but the tired from sitting in the car tired so after I’ve sorted out a little we go for a walk along the waterside. Despite the clouds it’s all as peaceful and pretty as I remembered it on our previous trip two years ago. We also wander the back streets and find a few more shops including a Sidis supermarket where we get some formaggio-ricotta and other basics for a simple supper. It's also an opportunity to see Porto Cesareo "by night"!

Thursday

The weather forecast is not optimistic but our mission this morning is for food. There’s the weekly market just below our windows and I watch as the vans turn up, stall holders get out, look at the sky, discuss, one or two start to take out their wares. Then there’s a sudden downpour and when I next look out, only those selling fruit and vegetables are left. We go, and stock up on ‘cicorie’ and grapes and fennels and take our bags back to the apartment. Then we head out again. In the meantime, it has stopped raining and there are still a few stalls to look at in some of the other side roads. We head for the ‘pescherie’ and get calamari, sardines and two slices of ‘gronco’ – new for us, and then go back to the apartment to cook lunch. It’s very pleasant to eat in the apartment with the view of the boats, sea and ‘Isola dei conigli’ in front.

We’re still tired from the day before so we rest a little after lunch and then walk out along the waterfront, carrying on further south. The weather is still threatening but I’ve got an umbrella and identify potential places to shelter as we go by. It’s also encouraging to see local people walking without umbrellas and not looking in the slightest concerned about the dark clouds. We continue on past the place we reached the last time we were in Porto Cesareo and get as far as the entrance to the Strea reserve. Coming back there’s a lovely view of the town itself across the smooth and tranquil water. An excellent walk. We get back to the apartment in time for a dramatic sunset with an aperitivo. A good day!

Friday

The weather forecast the following day, Friday, is even worse. The tranquil waters outside the apartment are now choppy and during breakfast I observe the antics of two men who are trying to put their small boat in a safer position without falling in the sea in the process. They manage, and we decide to go to Nardò, hoping it will clear up enough to see the market.

Here is our day in Nardò with a short visit to Galatone between the showers in the afternoon.

On Saturday we decide on a return trip to Lecce. More here

On Sunday morning we explore the nature reserve promontory called La Strea. It's a beautiful and relaxing walk. In the afternoon the weather is poor but we manage a walk along the sea front of Porto Cesareo and return to Dolci Tramonti for spumoni. Our day Here.

On Monday and Tuesday we explore the coast walking north on Monday from Torre Lapillo and south on Tuesday. Our hikes here.

On Wednesday we continue our discovery of the Salento region of Puglia moving our base to Felline for 6 nights.

This was our second week-long stay in Porto Cesareo and I enjoyed it even more than the first time. The apartment with the splendid view of the harbour, Isola dei Conigli and of course the sunset was a key factor, especially since the weather was not very good: we had some rain, a lot of wind and it wasn't beach weather. But it was fine for walking and sightseeing.

Shopping is easy in Porto Cesarreo. There were small vans selling fruit and vegetables most mornings in the car park below our windows and we found fish either at the fishmongers, or, when the weather allowed, directly from amateur fishermen at the harbour. Porto Cesareo is a relaxing place for strolling. Yes, the weather was generally bad in Puglia those days but Porto Cesareo, thanks to its position and the low islands protecting it, didn't get the worst of it. It's also a good base for daytripping. On our previous stay we went to Galatina, Manduria, Gallipoli – Porto Selvaggio, Copertino and Lecce. 

This year we visited Lecce again, as well as Galatone and Nardò.

I think Porto Cesareo is now among our favourites and we will have to return!