Gallipoli

The old town occupies a small limestone island linked to the mainland by a seventeenth-century bridge, ringed by walls with an Angevin castle at the entrance. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Gallipoli exported olive oil across Europe, not for eating but for lamps: lampante oil was stored in underground cisterns cut into the rock beneath the town, where the constant temperature suited it, and shipped from the port to light cities including London and Paris. Several of these frantoi ipogei can be visited. The name comes from Greek for beautiful city. Beaches run north along the Ionian shore.

What you actually see

• The island old town - a walled town on limestone joined by a bridge.
• The underground oil mills - rock-cut cisterns that supplied Europe's lamps.
• The Angevin castle - a fortress guarding the bridge and harbour.
• The Ionian beaches - long sand stretches north of the town.

When to go

May to September; August is very crowded, and Gallipoli has a heavy nightlife scene in high summer that some will want to avoid. Spring is quiet.

Honest expectations

Summer nightlife dominates the town in July and August. The underground mills keep limited hours. Beaches are largely private clubs in season.

Nearby

Santa Maria di Leuca lies south; Lecce is inland.