GUIDE SR - Puglia Ionica By Run

SALENTO By RuN - IONIC COAST

LENGTH: 60 Km in four Stages

DiffiCuLTy: almost all simple terrain for a quick and relaxing run in nature

uSEfuL iNfo: www.viaggiareinpuglia.it

RECoMMENDED TiME of yEaR: all year round

MiNiMaL EquipMENT REquiRED: GpS, suitable water reserve based on the season. We recommend you bring a backpack with a water pocket (there are no water sources along the route). food/energy bars, windproof jacket. poor/non-existent mobile coverage for long stretches.

Salento, Ionic coast highlights

Leave the area of the primitivo di Manduria towards the southwest, towards the sea. Dunes. Dunes of fine sand, a soft cover scattered with shrubs that emanate inebriating scents. from here, two elements lead us unfailingly: the beach and the sea. We run along the border that divides them for kilometres, accompanied by driving force of the wind - sometimes pushing us on, sometimes slowing us, but always giving us new energy. We find lagoons with pink flamingos, Saracen towers standing proud, watching over nothing. Then port Selvaggio. it appears suddenly, without warning. and then running headlong to unexpected cliffs to come back up, back to civilisation, running close to the Eclectic Villas of the Cenates. Nardò welcomes us, ancient and noble.

Salento by run, ionic coast in 4 stages

I Start MaRuGGio

finish ToRRE CoLuMENa - Trail of the Dunes

II Start ToRRE CoLuMENa

finish ToRRE LapiLLo - Trail of the wind

III Start ToRRE LapiLLo

finish poRTo SELVaGGio - Trail Saraceno

IV Start poRTo SELVaGGio – finish NaRDo’ - Soul Trail

Stage i – TraIl of The DuneS

Maruggio, Manduria land of wines, sincere and genuine. from the small town centre, following a line down to the banks of the ionian, we descend to the beach at Campomarino, advancing in a world of dunes and silence, and off… southwards to infinity, coasting a sea of Caribbean colours. Turquoise waves to the right, a very fine, clear sand below our feet. and more wild dunes covered with Mediterranean shrub land. What a sight. The bank of the beach hides the road and the villas built inland for long stretches. as we arrive, tired, at Columena Tower, we can ease our sand-aching muscles in the sea.

Stage ii – TraIl of The wInD

Columena Tower, a residential zone with villas near the sea. Take a good look now, as you will forget everything for the next 20 kilometres! Just two colours: the gold of the sand and the blue of the sea. Two elements to respect, to love, to run along! Sand and footpaths alternate near the cliffs and wild and completely isolated areas alternate with urban stretches but there are always villas and vegetation. The inlet before punta pro -

sciutto is unforgettable, a lagoon with flocks of flamingosnoble and indifferent to the runners passing by. Magnificent arrival under the punta Lapillo tower. pure ecstasy!

Stage iii – TraIl Saraceno

Starting quickly along the perfect half-moon of the gulf of Lapillo Tower, we reach the bay of port Cesareo, an enchanting area of cliffs, vegetation and beaches. The coast to the left rises slightly, offering hills and an increasingly sparse vegetation until we arrive in the naturalistic zone of port Selvaggio. in part, we run on pathways that cut through the sharp rocks that stick out towards the sea. Blue.

Saracen Towers, ancient and eternal guardians of the coast.

Stage iV – Soul TraIl

This route is “noble”, advancing towards the centre of Nardò. amidst woods and light slopes, a procession of hedges and railings starts, hiding ancient noble villas, vestige of the Salento aristocracy that, between the 1800s and the beginning of the 1900s, vied with one another to build holiday homes here that were often borderline masterpieces.

The arrival in the cathedral square in Nardò is a worthy end. Salento soul.