Monday 25th May to Wednesday 27th May 2026. Gallipoli, Puglia, Italy
You may remember that we wanted to visit Gallipoli before we went to the villa, but the weather wasn’t playing ball.
So leaving our lovely villa this morning we headed back to Gallipoli to try again. It’s not far, about 45 mins.
This time we chose an Agricamper camperstop alongside a rocky beach just outside the town called: Agricampeggio & Glamping Torre Sabea
There is direct access to the rocky shoreline and a view of the island of old town Gallipoli, but most importantly there is shade!
We arrived just before lunchtime and secured a spot with a little natural shade. This was supplemented by the rollout awning on the van. Thank goodness. It was so hot that we didn’t move for hours!
Meg was good, finding her own spot in the van to sleep through the heat.
The campsites here all offer transfers to the old town. We took the opportunity to book a one way ride at 7pm, when the temperature was due to fall to 26° and an hour before sunset.
It was just a few minutes transfer in the shuttle that we shared with one other couple which surprised us, we thought there would be more.
Anyway, we were dropped off at the entrance to the old town, right by an ancient fountain – sadly not spouting water at the moment – and we just followed the crowd. We had expected the evening to be quiet but didn’t factor in the sunset views from the bastion walls.
There are plenty of bars offering drinks and culinary delights where you can sit with fab, chilled music, enjoying tasty chilled drinks as the sun puts on a magnificent show of dipping below the horizon. Wow, what a great location!
We stopped at one such establishment, ordered cocktails and nibbles to watch the sunset. ..yes, Parker had his favourite – Pina Colada – and I had my usual Limoncello spritz – when in Italy and all that 
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So, Gallipoli old town is on an island of limestone, with bastion walls. It has a very impressive town beach and the obligatory, cobbled streets for you to wander through.
There are also a lot of churches! We didn’t pop in to any so sadly missed what I think were some of the prettiest church interiors we may have encountered so far. (checking google I realised what we had missed). But with the setting sun shining on their yellow sandstone walls, you could have been mistaken and thought they were built with gold!
One strange thing we spotted was an indoor nativity scene. It’s open all year round and was like walking around the crooked house in Black Gang Chine. There’s a few ups and downs as you wander through, a great example of Bethlehem and the stable, near life sized statues and animals dotted here and there.
Definitely did not expect that!
We passed the amazing Baroque Cathedral, once again catching the last rays of the sun but strangely didn’t come across a main square 
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Heading back out of Gallipoli we looked for a watering hole. There was a lot of commotion at a bar where the new town joined the island, luckily we avoided it as there were airhorns, lots of cheering, fireworks and flashing lights. All the things Meg hates! Passing on the adjacent road we could see it was part of an election campaign.
The walk back was on dodgy roads, most of the pavement was not really usable or had cars parked on it, so we had to be very careful.
We were disappointed that there were no other bars open for another drink so opted for the cafe in a petrol station! They are actually quite chilled places, and we got to people-watch as two 10 year olds struggled to get their motor-scooters to work after adding fuel and oil. Haha, obviously they weren’t 10 years old but OMG! They could have definitely passed for it .
Eventually we made our way back to the campsite, look at us being out out! 
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Tuesday
We didn’t do anything other than walk Meg early and late…it was just too bloody hot!
Dinner in the campsite restaurant trying the local dish of Orecchiette con le Cima de Rape, (which is small pasta bits shaped like kid’s ears with turnip greens – much tastier than it sounds!) and Frittura di Paranza (fried, battered calamari, sardines, prawns and whatever else they’ve got hanging around!) With a half litre of local red. All very tasty and cheap.
Finished off with a limoncello or two, because that’s traditional of course 
We are turning into lazy buggers and are actually enjoying it .
Wednesday
We left this lovely spot and headed back up towards Monopoli. We took a diversion as apparently there had been a big fire – agricultural land – that was causing issues.
Today we have pitched up on another Agricampeggio – ( called Agriturismo biologico Fontanelle).
It’s a working farm that has quite a big camper area just north of Otranto in Baia dei Turchi close to two inland lakes.
Waiting until the heat had dissipated, we wandered through the pine forest to the lovely beach.
Blimey, what a nice surprise. There’s a part with a lido for sunbeds and brollies and a free part too. We walked along to the lido and were very happy to find the cafe/bar open.
An ice-cream and a beer ordered, we sat in the shade enjoying the view.
Meg has had some time off the lead, wet and covered in sand but happy 
. Its so nice here we are going to do 2 nights. Certainly enjoying “Il Dolce Far Niente” (the sweetness of doing nothing!) 
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