Bike rental in Porto Cesareo

How to get a bike in Porto Cesareo

Delivery. We bring the bikes to where you sleep and collect them at the end. The fee is quoted by distance and written in your quote before you book; above 1,000 € of rental, delivery is included.

Free pickup in Lecce and ride here. Our main point is Via Ribezzo 2D in Lecce. Porto Cesareo is 28 km by road, and the Ionian side of our Two Seas Tour (128.4 km, 267 m of climbing, a loop we ride ourselves) touches the coast right here: we cut it for you into a one-way ride from Lecce to your accommodation, about a third of the full loop. See bike rental in Lecce.

Without a car. In summer the Salento in Bus line 104 links Lecce (City Terminal and the station) with Porto Cesareo in about 57 minutes, three runs a day from 13 June to 13 September. The timetable says nothing about bikes, so treat it as a way to reach the town, not to move the bike. There is no railway in Porto Cesareo.

Riding the Ionian coast from Porto Cesareo

The reserve was created in 1997 and covers 16,654 hectares of sea between Porto Cesareo and Nardò. On land that means low rocky shore, sandy coves and, between Torre Lapillo and Punta Prosciutto, the Lido degli Angeli with dunes of six to seven metres. The 898-hectare Palude del Conte reserve sits behind them: reed beds, two brackish basins and the "spunnulate", sinkholes that reach the water table near Torre Castiglione. Watchtowers stand every four kilometres or so, each in sight of the next, built by the Spanish crown after the Turkish sack of Otranto in 1480.

North: Torre Lapillo, Punta Prosciutto, the salt pan. The ride we suggest is the loop past the tower of Torre Lapillo to the Salina dei Monaci at Torre Colimena, about 36.9 km with 60 m of climbing, mostly on tarmac. The salina is a former salt pan run by Benedictine monks until 1404, now a lake behind a strip of dunes where flamingos feed. The tower at Torre Colimena dates from 1570. Ride the coast road out and the inland lanes back, or the other way round depending on the wind.

South: Sant'Isidoro and Porto Selvaggio. Towards Nardò the coast becomes rockier and ends in the pine woods of Porto Selvaggio, a regional park since 1980 with three towers (dell'Alto, Uluzzo, Inserraglio) and 102 hectares of pines planted in the 1950s. A loop from Porto Cesareo through the park is about 47.5 km with 410 m of climbing on mixed surfaces, and the last part in the park is track, so it is a gravel or e-bike day. The cove at Porto Selvaggio is the swim.

Short: the south seafront. Around town, the loop along the southern seafront and the Strea peninsula, facing the Isola dei Conigli, is about 28.5 km and 50 m of climbing: an easy morning with a swim at the end.

Rides from Porto Cesareo

Lecce to Gallipoli coast to coast (68.9 km, ridden by us) runs down the same shore further south: it is on bike rental in Gallipoli.

Half a day, a swim, and August

In half a day you can do the north loop with a stop at Punta Prosciutto, or the south seafront and a swim facing the island. Swimming by bike is easy here: the beaches at Torre Lapillo and Punta Prosciutto are on the route, and the lock and frame bag are on the bike.

Two honest notes. In July and August the coast road between Porto Cesareo and Punta Prosciutto is busy and paid parking runs 8:00 to 20:00 along the seafront: start early, ride the inland lanes in the afternoon. And in our experience the sea breeze builds after midday on this coast, so do the leg into the wind first. Best months for long days: April to June and September to October.

Which bike for Porto Cesareo

It is flat, so any bike works. Road bike for the coast road and the ride from Lecce; gravel bike if you want the tracks into Porto Selvaggio and the lanes behind the dunes; e-bike for families, couples with different fitness and the afternoon wind. Sizes XS to 61, riders from about 150 to 197 cm.

Prices in short

Road and gravel bikes from 50 € for one day down to 35 €/day from 8 days; e-bikes cost a little more. Helmet, lights, lock, bag, pump and repair kit always included. No deposit, payment at delivery or pickup, free cancellation: see all prices or ask for a quote. Other towns: bike rental in Puglia; start here and finish elsewhere: one-way rental.