We stayed at ROBI&B.  It was such a lovely (newly renovated) space.  The owners Roby and Michele greeted us at the front door and helped us carry our luggage up the stairs. We stayed in the main unit – our room (with bathroom) was connected to the kitchen and common area space.  Though we didn’t stay there long, we really enjoyed the company of the owners (who prepared us breakfast in the morning) along with the atmosphere of the place.  We even organized an airport transfer with them to take us to Brindisi airport.  We would suggest staying here if you are looking for a B&B to stay in Lecce.  Very much like staying in someone’s house – cozy and homey!  Grazie Millie

If you like to cook (or just good food), we suggest taking a cooking class in Italy.  Particularly, we HIGHLY recommend booking  “Traditional Home Cooking Experience in Lecce”.  We booked the class through TripAdvisor.com the day before while tanning on the Lido Deck at Bagno Marino Archi.  You can contact them directly – HERE – instead of using a 3rd party vendor. Tiziano picked us up at the arch just on the border of Old Town to take us to the Villa about a 20 minute drive from city center.  We arrived to a beautiful villa and were welcomed by his Paola and a glass of prosecco and homemade focaccia bread.  We toured the villa and hung out for a while before we started to learn to make a variety of pasta! It was really fun learning the techniques of traditional pasta making.  After learning to make pasta, we worked on making stuffed eggplant and the sauce for the orecchiette! While we were working on the dishes, a storm came through and it started to rain like crazy and the winds picked up…thunder and lightening too! Before we knew it – the power was out!!! A couple minutes passed and we got power again !! What a fun experience…it added to the ambiance of the “Italian Villa”  – something you would see in a movie.  Once the eggplant went in, we sat down and enjoyed some delicious red wine and started our course meal.  It was lovely sitting around the table talking about life, love and food! We had the best time loved our hosts and the guest that cooked with us! Grazie Mille Tiziano and Paola !

When we arrived back in Lecce, we wanted to walk around and see the sights at night and grab one more cocktail with our new friends from the cooking class.  We went to Quanto Basta – a cocktail bar!! That night in particular there was a famous mixologist from Milan serving up drinks.   Loud music was playing and people were hanging outside enjoying the post-storm night.  When a popular song came on, the entire bar and people standing outside sang and danced.  It was all in Italian, so not sure exactly what the lyrics were saying….it came up on Spotify though!!!  Great bar!

We really enjoyed our time in Lecce and would enjoy another visit next time we are in Puglia.  Its a small town, so 1-2 nights is enough unless you are using it as your base to get to surrounding cities.  It’s centrally located and is accessible by car, train and bus.

Ciao !!