Cycling excursions

Another interesting route to get to know Salento.

The Salento area, almost completely flat, is ideal for those who love to visit the environment on two wheels, perhaps without subjecting themselves to excessive physical effort in the hottest season. Traveling it by bicycle gives the impression of immersing yourself in a large natural park with short land-sea routes that take us from the characteristic countryside to the coast, until we reach the most suggestive points of the coast.

The natural landscape is relaxing and at the same time stimulating for the variety of species and agricultural crops present. You can choose from the numerous “cycle paths” already available or use the large network of secondary roads, less traveled by cars. The trip thus becomes more enjoyable and relaxing.

If you prefer not to challenge yourself to reach Capo di Santa Maria di Leuca (about sixty kilometers from the B&B Happy Days), there are suggestive locations within easy reach from a naturalistic and environmental point of view. For example, you can orient yourself on the Natural Park of the Ugento Coast where, among old fishing villages, aquatic fauna, coastal towers and green areas, you can relax and then reach the nearest beaches such as Torre Mozza, Lido Marini and others for a refreshing swim.

For those who love mountain biking and holidays in Salento, the trip to Wild Port through the internal roads of the Park, up to the coastal towers and the beach. We are talking about a spectacular green spot of 1200 hectares between pine forest, very jagged cliffs and caves located both above sea level and submerged: a true paradise for snorkeling.

By bike towards the north you slowly travel along the beautiful coastal road towards Porto Cesareo. A few kilometers after Porto Selvaggio, you reach The Captain’s Swamp with its characteristic collapsed caves in which freshwater pools mixed with brackish water emerge, home to aquatic animals and very rare plant species. Immediately after you arrive at the Frascone, a natural setting with low cliffs and small beaches that make it easy to access a dream sea.

Not even a kilometer further on you come across another beautiful sixteenth-century tower that takes its name from the town of Saint Isidore. In front of the Tower there is a small island that stretches out towards the sea, almost forming a natural pier capable of making the water of the bay always calm and quiet like in a large swimming pool. From here begins a stretch of coast characterized by large white sandy beaches and shallow waters. You travel less than 6 kilometers of coastal road and you reach Port Cesareo and to his Marine Protected Area which extends northwards for over 16,000 hectares up to the dunes of Punta Prosciutto.

But if you prefer not to move too far from the B&B Happy Days, a bicycle tour to Nardò(5 km away) is a really nice way to temporarily leave behind the context of the marinas and head towards the beauty of the countryside and the charm of a historic center rich in art and culture. A few pedal strokes and on the way to Nardò you come across the so-called eclectic villas: there are a few dozen, built between the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century with “extravagant” architectural features: Art Nouveau, Moorish, Baroque. Some of them are open to visitors, others are also real agricultural companies that sell their products. Few people know that after the Second World War, a group of Jews who survived the Holocaust were hosted in these homes and in Santa Maria al Bagno to help them recover both in body and spirit, until the birth of the State of Israel in 1948.

You continue pedaling for another three kilometers and you arrive in the historic center of Nardò and its fifteenth-century castle with the beautiful lover’s tower. The undergrounds also await us, telling us about the miserable life of the Neretini people governed for centuries by unscrupulous feudal lords. Nardò was a Roman, Byzantine, Lombard, Benedictine city. There are large baronial palaces with splendid portals that dominate the many alleys of the historic center in which it is nice to immerse yourself. You come across beautiful frescoed churches, some of which with facades in carparo (white Lecce stone), monasteries, up to the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta which brings together different architectural styles. Finally you arrive in Piazza Salandra, particular for its shape, for the buildings that overlook it with the clock tower. In the center of the square stands the spire of the Immaculate that shines every morning with the first rays of the sun. The context is of particular beauty and charm that invites the visitor to take a break perhaps to taste typical products and dishes.

Bike rental and bike tours also for families can be booked with specialized operators located in Santa Maria al Bagno and the surrounding area.