Santa Maria di Leuca sits at the far end of Salento, where Puglia runs out into limestone promontories, clear water, and the old argument over where the Ionian Sea meets the Adriatic. It is a village rather than a big resort, but it has a strong sense of arrival: lighthouse above, harbour below, and the long seafront stretched between villas and boat-trip kiosks.
The high point is Punta Meliso, where the Sanctuary of Santa Maria de Finibus Terrae and the Leuca lighthouse stand over the town. From the harbour, a monumental staircase climbs toward the sanctuary, with the terminal works of the Apulian Aqueduct laid out between the flights.
Leuca earns its place because the coast is as important as the village. Boat trips run to sea caves around Punta Ristola and along both sides of the cape, and the promenade is at its best in the evening, when the summer traffic finally slows and the lighthouse starts to feel like a proper end-of-the-road marker.