If you want a sun-soaked holiday with delicious food, Roman history and Mediterranean charm, you don’t have to join the thousands of tourists flocking to Rome. Instead, you can explore the less popular destinations that have fewer crowds but just as much to offer.
To experience the charm of Rome at a fraction of the price, why not try the town of Brindisi in the Puglia region of southern Italy? Brindisi is a port town, perched on the edge of the azure Adriatic Sea. Once a key hub of the Roman Empire’s Via Appia, it offers archaeological sites, Roman columns, and baroque churches with fewer crowds than cities like Bari or Lecce.
This bustling seafront is perfect for strolling along during a hot summer day, and there’s no shortage of charming cafes, restaurants and bars to nip into and beat the heat. You can also sample some of the freshly caught seafood — langoustines are a particular delicacy.
The harbour is also a great jumping point for some of Brindisi’s most famous cultural monuments. Colonne Romane, the Church of Saint Theresa and the Cattedrale San Giovanni Battista are all close by.
Colonne Romane is one of the most famous sights in Brindisi, a towering Roman column perched atop the picturesque Virgil Staircase.
The column marks the end of the Via Appia, or Appian Way, which was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic that connected Rome to Brindisi.
If you want to go a little further afield, you could take a day trip out to Lecce, one of Puglia’s most famous towns. Just a 40 minute bus journey from Brindisi, Leece is home to some of southern Italy’s most awe-inspiring architecture.
The city is packed with churches, old buildings and Roman remnants – including an old amphitheatre.
Brindisi is also a convenient entry point to other parts of Puglia, including Ostuni, Alberobello, and the Salento peninsula, and thanks to a regional airport and ferry links to Greece and the Balkans, it’s both a strategic and scenic stop for southern European travel.