Discover Local Lecce: What to Do Around Mercure Hotel President Lecce

At Mercure, we believe you shouldn't need a guidebook to feel like you belong somewhere. That's the idea behind Discover Local: since 1973, every Mercure hotel has been built around its neighbourhood, not just dropped into it — from the décor on the walls to the flavours on the menu. Step into any Mercure and our teams are on hand with the kind of tips you won't find in a guidebook: the market stall locals queue for, the bar where nobody speaks English, the walk that skips the crowds. They live here. They know. Discover Local isn't a generic city guide — it's a short, honest list of the restaurants, markets and neighbourhoods our own hotel teams actually recommend to guests, updated as the city changes around us. Below, you'll find our picks for Lecce, an interactive map to help you find your way, and answers to the questions travellers ask us most. So — where will Discover Local take you?

Lecce in 5 picks

Piazza Sant'Oronzo

The real social hub of Lecce, busier and more lived-in than the Duomo square, with a partially excavated Roman amphitheatre sitting right in the middle of it and the column of Sant'Oronzo marking one end. It's about 1 km from the hotel, a 10-minute walk.

Basilica di Santa Croce

The single most photographed Baroque facade in Lecce, carved with an almost obsessive amount of detail by 16th- and 17th-century stonemasons working the local soft limestone. Go around golden hour when the stone actually looks gold.

Alvino or Natale Pasticceria

Both sit right around Piazza Sant'Oronzo and both claim bragging rights to the city's best pasticciotto — a warm, oval, custard-filled pastry that's been Lecce's signature breakfast since the 18th century. Try the classic vanilla version first, then work up to the pistachio or black cherry.

Lecce's four historic city gates

Porta Napoli, Porta Rudiae and the others mark where the old walled city ended, and walking between a couple of them gives you a good excuse to see the parts of the centre that don't sit directly on the main corso.

Masseria Cinque Santi

A working farmhouse in the Salento countryside offering hands-on cheesemaking sessions where you help turn fresh milk into giuncata, a soft local cheese, and take some home. Worth booking ahead — it's a half-day trip out of the city.

Where to eat
Start any day with a pasticciotto from Alvino or Natale Pasticceria near Piazza Sant'Oronzo — it's meant to be eaten warm, so don't let it sit. For something savoury, look for rustico leccese, a puff pastry filled with béchamel, mozzarella and tomato, sold at bakeries all over the centro storico. In the evening, join the passeggiata that loops nightly between Piazza Sant'Oronzo and Piazza del Duomo, then pick one of the small trattorie just off the main corso serving orecchiette and local Salento wines rather than the tourist-menu spots directly on the piazza.
The Florence of the South, without the crowds
Lecce earned the nickname 'Florence of the South' for the density and quality of its Baroque architecture, carved from a local limestone soft enough to work in fine detail but sturdy enough to last centuries. Unlike Florence, you can still stand alone in front of Basilica di Santa Croce for a few minutes, and the mix of Roman ruins, Baroque facades and mid-century buildings often shows up in a single photo without any editing.
Right outside your hotel
Mercure Hotel President Lecce sits on Via Antonio Salandra, about 350 metres from Piazza Mazzini — a 4-minute walk — and roughly 1 km, about 10 minutes on foot, from Piazza Sant'Oronzo and the historic centre. The hotel's own garden and restaurant handle breakfast and dinner if you'd rather ease into the day before heading into the centro storico.
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FAQ

About 1 km, roughly a 10-minute walk from the hotel on Via Antonio Salandra.

It's a warm, oval pastry filled with custard, originally from just outside Lecce and now the city's signature breakfast item. Alvino and Natale Pasticceria, both near Piazza Sant'Oronzo, are considered the two best places to try one, alongside variations with ricotta, pistachio or black cherry.

The historic centre is about a 10-minute walk, so most sights are reachable on foot. A car is more useful for day trips out to the Salento countryside or coastal towns like Otranto and Gallipoli.

Where to sleep

See Mercure hotels in Lecce, all within reach of these picks.

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Where to sleep

See Mercure hotels in Lecce, all within reach of these picks

View hotels