Cycle the Salento Trail – olive groves, farms and haystacks

For this ride, you need patience… and lot of it. If you live in northern Italy, you need all the patience in the world to reach Salento. But, what else would you expect? Everyone knows that the heel is the bottom and therefore the most southern part of the boot.

No doubt you prefer to grind out kilometres in the saddle rather than shut yourself into a car, I understand. But, grit your teeth, and you’ll get there eventually. Your mind will play out imaginary scenes in anticipation of what awaits you at your destination. It’ll be a journey within a journey.

What you’ll find is a land full of history, sandwiched between two seas, ceaselessly lashed by the wind. For millennia here, populations have changed, each leaving a mark of their existence and passage. You will cycle through this territory for two days, trying to forget the worries of everyday life.

(Adapted for komoot from 'Alvento Destinations', a book of 13 travel ideas that every cyclist should do at least once: alvento.cc/prodotto/alvento-destinations-italy-unknown/)