If you want a sun-stained holiday with delicious food, Roman history and Mediterranean charm, you don't need to join the thousands of tourists flocking to Rome. Instead, you can explore destinations with less crowds but less popular as they offer.
Why not try the town of Brindisi in the Puglia region of southern Italy to experience the charm of Rome for just a small portion of the price? Brindisi is a port town located on the edge of the Adriatic Sea, navy blue. Once an important hub via Appia in the Roman Empire, it offers archaeological sites, Roman pillars and Baroque churches with less crowds than cities like Bari and Lexe.
This bustling beach is perfect for a walk on a hot summer day, and there's no shortage of charming cafes, restaurants and bars pounding through the heat. You can also sample some of the newly reared seafood. Langchins is particularly delicate.
The port is also a great jumping point for some of Brindisi's most famous cultural monuments. Colonne Romanée, Church of St. Teresa and Catdrare Saint Giovanni Batista are all nearby.
Coronne Roman is one of the most famous sights in Brindisi, a towering Roman pillar located above the picturesque Virgil staircase.
This column marks the end of the Appia or Appian Way, one of the earliest and most strategically important Roman paths of the ancient republic that linked Rome to Brindisi.
If you want to go a little further, you can take a day trip to Lecce, one of Puglia's most famous towns. A bus trip just 40 minutes from Brindisi, Leith is home to the most adoring architecture in southern Italy.
The city is packed with churches, old buildings and Roman wreckage, including an old amphitheater.
Brindisi is also a convenient entry point to other parts of Puglia, including Ostuni, Alberobello and the Salento Peninsula, and is a strategic and scenic stop for travelling in southern Europe thanks to regional airports and ferry links to Greece and the Balkans.
