Welcome to Salento

At its core, Salento à la Carte is a group of friends who decided to form a company in order to pursue their vision to share the beauty of their native land.

We boast a deep knowledge of Salento and all that it has to offer. We nurture a strong enthusiasm for new forms of travel, especially those that can stir great passions and push beyond the ordinary. With your wishes as our roadmap, we will seduce you with personalized itineraries and experiences, tailor-made just for you, in other words…à la Carte!

We invite you to explore our site to learn more about what we have to offer, to get to know us better and, most importantly, to get to know Salento.

Salento

Salento’s peninsula, a long strip of land facing the crystal clear waters of the Adriatic Sea to the East and those of the Ionian Sea to the West, is comprised of the province of Lecce and part of the neighboring provinces of Brindisi and Taranto. Salento, ancient Terra d’Otranto (Land of Otranto), was already known as far back as the Tenth Century B.C. as Japigia (Iapygia). This name for the region finds its origin and deep roots in Greek mythology. Many may be familiar with the tale of legendary Daedalus who built the Labyrinth of Knossos. However, only few realize that the Cretan architect, who was later imprisoned in the Labyrinth with one of his sons, had another son: Japige (Iapyx). The latter, upon tyrant King Minos’ death, led the Cretan people as they sailed to the Italian coast, ultimately settling near Taranto and occupying an area that roughly corresponds to the modern day provinces of Taranto, Brindisi, and Lecce.

Shortly thereafter, the Messapii (ancient tribe from the Adriatic-Balkan region) settled across the territory, followed by, over the course of the centuries, the Greeks (hailing from Greek colonies across the Mediterranean and Southern Italy), the Romans, the Byzantines, the Normans, the Sueves, the French, the Spanish, and, finally, the dynasty of the House of Bourbon.

For centuries now Salento has been "Italy’s Gate". As Marcello Moscara noted: "[…] the small peninsula acted as a bridge between the East and the West, across time and history of the Mediterranean."

This constant flow of people and cultures has enriched Salento with a myriad traditions, architectural treasures, and unique folklore that all add to a territory already blessed with breathtakingly beautiful nature and landscape.

Visit Salento, for now through our site, and let yourself be enticed by all that it has to offer. When you feel ready to make a wish and indulge your desires, turn to us at Salento à la Carte with full confidence and we, true to our mission, will serve up for you Salento on a silver platter… à la Carte!