Itineraries 
Salento means sea. The same local council of Casarano has got a logo saying “Casarano, Salento between two seas”. Moreover the old name of the entire peninsula of Salento, i.e. Messapia, actually means “land between two seas”. Indeed, the peninsula is on two seas, the Adriatic and the Ionian see. So we can not talk about Casarano without mentioning the main sea towns near it. Visitors must visit Gallipoli, known as “la perla dello Jonio” ( litt. = Ionian’s pearl) only 19 kilometres far from Casarano, as well as Torre San Giovanni (17 km), near Ugento, Santa Maria di Leuca (33 km), Santa Cesarea Terme ( 34 km) Otranto (36 km) and Porto Cesareo (44 km).
The best tour for lovers of breathtaking views is driving along the Adriatic coast from Otranto to Santa Maria di Leuca, called by the Romans De Finibus Terrae, since it is the end of Italy towards East. Along this itinerary you meet Porto Badisco, known as the place where Enea landed on his return from the war of Troy. Then there’s the cave “Grotta dei Cervi”, with its guano and ochre inscriptions dated back to the Neolitic. Also to be visit are Santa Cesarea, with its spa, Castro, famous for its splendid caves jutting on the sea (the cave “Zinzulusa”, one of the most famous phenomena of Karst formations in Italy, and the cave “ Romanelli” with its precious Paleolithic murals). The tour may end to the Cape of Leuca, where the Adriatic and the Ionian sea join.
The Ionian coast has a different orographic conformation from the Adriatic coast, with its low coastline and frequent sand shores. Here there are several interesting beaches. Many of them are near Ugento and form the natural park of the shores of Ugento from 2007. Torre San Giovanni is the most important of them; its lighthouse, built on a pre-existent sighting tower dated back to the 16th century , divides the sand shore to the South (spreading as far as Torre Mozza and Lido Marini) from the rocky shore (spreading along the Ionian coast as far as Gallipoli). Last but not the least are Porto Cesareo, where in 1997 was established a marine park, and Porto Selvaggio, a wild paradise inside the natural park with the same name.