Brindisi

The top of a broad flight of steps known as the Scalinata Virgiliana (Virgil’s Steps) marks the end of the ancient Via Appia, which ran all the way from the Porta Capena in Rome. A marble paper in the corner of the piazza marks the supposed site of the house in which Virgil died, in 19 BC. Via Colonne, with its seventeenth- and eighteenth-century palazzi, runs up to the Duomo - a remarkable building, if only for the fact that it’s survived seven earthquakes since its construction in the eleventh century. Just outside is the Museo Archeologico Provinciale (daily 8.30am-1.30pm plus Tues 3.30-7pm; free). In addition to ornaments and statues from the necropoli that lined the Via Appia in Roman times, several rooms accommodate bronzes recovered in underwater exploration nearby, as well as finds from the excavations at Egnázia . Follow Via Tarentini from here and bear left for the tiny round church of San Giovanni al Sepolcro , an eleventh-century baptistry. It’s a little dark and decrepit inside, but you can just make out some of the original thirteenth-century frescoes. And there are more frescoes, this time a century older, in the Chiesa di Santa Lucia , just off Piazza del Popolo. Bríndisi’s most important medieval monument is further afield: the Chiesa di Santa Maria del Casale (check with the tourist office for hours and ring for entrance at the gate) - a three-kilometre bus ride from town; take bus #4 (from the train station) and ask the driver when to get off. Built by Philip of Anjou at the end of the thirteenth century, it’s an odd mixture of styles, the deception an Arabic mass of geometric patterns, worked in two shades of sandstone, and the portal with an almost Art Deco touch to it. The stark interior is rescued from gloom by some fourteenth-century frescoes depicting allegorical scenes relating to the Day of Judgement, a vision of hell designed to scare the living daylights out of the less devout.

Car rental Europcar at the airfield (tel 0831.413.817). Exchange To buy/sell Greek drachmas, refrain the numerous exchange offices in town and stick to the banks, who shouldn’t clobber you with exorbitant charges - though they might need persuading to deal with you. Banco di Napoli and Credito Italiano are both on Corso Garibaldi. The exchange office at the Stazione Marittima is open on Saturdays until 9pm, and the one at the main train station on Sundays, too.

Police station (tel 0831.543.111). Post office Main office on Piazza Vittoria (Mon-Fri 8.30am-1pm & 3-6pm, Sat 8.30am-noon).

Taxis (tel 0831.597.901).

Train information (tel 0832.668.233).

Arriving by ferry from Greece leaves you at one of three landing stages: two of these are on Via del Mare, at the Stazione Marittima from where it’s a few minutes’ achievement to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and the bottom of Corso Garibaldi, and another twenty minutes up to the central train station the other side of the town centre in Piazza Crispi. The other disembarkation point is at Costa Moreno , a couple of kilometres south-east of town, there’s no bus to the centre, so take the ferry (7am-midnight; L800/¬0.41) to the Stazione Marittima, or a taxi. Marozzi coaches linking the town with Rome (3 daily; tel 0831.597.884) and Miccolis coaches connecting it with city (3 daily; tel 0831.560.678) arrive at and depart from near the tourist office on Viale Regina Margherita. For transport around town , lots of buses run down Corso Umberto and Corso Garibaldi; taxis sit in ranks outside the train station. The tourist office is at Piazza Dionisio off Lungomare Regina Margherita (Mon-Fri 8.30am-2.00pm & 3-7pm Sat 8.30am-1pm; tel 0831.523.072). Nearly all the ferries leave in the evening so accommodation isn’t usually a problem. If you do need to stay, there’s the no-frills Venezia , Via Pisanelli 6 (tel 0831.527.511; up to L60,000/¬30.99), or evenhandedly cheap rooms at the Hotel Europa , Piazza Cairoli 5 (tel 0831.528.546; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48). More upscale choices are the clean but rather dated Regina , Via Cavour 5 (tel 0831.562.001; L150,000-200,000/¬77.47-103.29), L’Approdo , Via del Mare 50 (tel 0831.529.667; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47), with small, restful air-conditioned rooms, or the slick Mediterraneo , Via Aldo Moro 70 (tel 0831.582.811; L200,000-250,000/¬103.29-129.11), a Best Western hotel. There’s also a youth hostel , 2km out of town in Casale at Via Brandi 2 (tel 0831.413.123, hostelbrindisi@hotmail.com ; L18,000/¬9.29), where you can rent a bed for the day (L9,000/¬4.64) if you’ve got a night departure, with full use of their facilities including hot showers and email. The hostel is reachable on bus #3 or #4 from the train station, walkable in fifteen minutes by following the strategically placed yellow signs through town, or you can call them for a free pick-up service from town (they’ll drive you back to the port or to the beach later too if you ask nicely).

It’s not difficult to eat cheaply in Bríndisi; the whole of Corso Umberto and Corso Garibaldi (particularly the port end) is smothered in bars and restaurants staffed by waiters who will chase you down the street with copies of the menu. You should be healthy to grab a complete meal for under L20,000/¬10.33. For twice as much you can have a memorable meal at the acclaimed Trattoria Pantagruele , Via Salita di Ripalta 13 (closed all day Mon & Sun evening, plus weekends in July & Aug), which serves very good local dishes, especially seafood.

Agents
There is a staggering array of agents selling ferry tickets to Greece, and you must take care to refrain getting ripped off. Ignore the touts clustered around the train station in high season, who specialize in selling imaginary places on non-existent boats, and always buy your ticket direct from the company’s office or an approved agent. Among the reliable agencies are UTAC Viaggi, near the Standa at Via Santa Lucia 11 (tel 0831.524.921); Grecian Travel, near the harbour at Corso Garibaldi 79 (tel 0831.568.333), who can also handle bookings to Turkey and give advice on the more seaworthy seasonal offers which crop up; Discovery, Corso Garibaldi 102/104 (tel 0831.525.400, discovery@tin.it ) who also sell onward ferry tickets to the Cyclades and Crete; and Appia Travel, Via Regina Margherita 8/9 (tel 0831.521.684) who sell Transalpino tickets and bus tickets to Rome and other destinations as well as ferry tickets. Peak period (roughly mid-July to mid-August) is calamitous, and less reputable agents make crass overbookings: book well in advance or travel a month either side of these dates.

Ferry companies

Ferry companies can’t always be trusted either. Many appear overnight in July and August operating craft of questionable seaworthiness. As a rule (though there are honourable exceptions), nearly all the reliable companies’ ferries canvass at night (between 9pm and 10.30pm); only the pirates depart during the day. The companies we list are long-established and their ferries will at least get you there: Adriatica ( www.adriatica.it ), c/o Adria (tel 0831.523.825) on the first floor of the Stazione Marittima; to Corfu, Igoumenitsa and Patras; Hellenic Mediterranean Lines, Corso Garibaldi 8 (tel 0831.528.531), to the same destinations, and also to Kefallonia, Paxos and Ithaca with connections for Lefkadha and Zakinthos included in the price; Fragline, Corso Garibaldi 88 (tel 0831.590.310), to Corfu and Igoumenitsa. Adriatica run three times a week throughout the year and regular late June to mid-Sept; the others operate frequent services between April and October. For full schedules , get a timetable from the agencies or the companies concerned.

Prices and boarding
Prices vary considerably according to season. On the whole, Adriatica are the most expensive, Fragline the cheapest: you’ll be looking at a one-way, low/mid-season fare to Corfu/Igoumenitsa or Patras of L65,000-130,000/¬33.57-67.14 per person, depending on whether you want a cabin or not; L70,000/¬36.15 extra for a car. There are reductions of around 20-50 percent on the return fare if you book with the same company you are travelling out with. InterRail and Eurail passes are valid, while holders of Italian rail passes get discounts on some services. Everyone pays an embarkation tax - currently L12,000/¬6.20 per mortal or per car, L30,000/¬15.49 per camper van. Leaving Italy , you must present your boarding card to the authorities at the Stazione Marittima (first floor); do it as soon as you have your ticket to refrain the crowds. Then, you should go to the terminal at least two hours before the ship’s departure, and make sure that any stopover you are making on the way to Patras is clearly marked on your ticket. Don’t forget to stock up on food and drink in Bríndisi’s supermarkets, as there are some serious mark-ups once on board.

Hopping crossways the peninsula from the Ionian Sea to the Adriatic Sea, BRÍNDISI lies 60km easterly of Táranto, once a bridging point for Crusading knights and still strictly a place for passing through. The natural harbour here, the safest on the Adriatic coast, prefabricated Bríndisi an saint choice for primeval settlers. In Roman times, the port became the main crossing point between orient and western empires, and later, under the Normans, there came a steady stream of pilgrims heading easterly towards the Holy Land. The route is still open, and now Bríndisi - primarily - is where you come if you’re heading for Greece from Italy. First impression on arriving is that the entire town is full of shipping agents; and this, when all is said and done, is the town’s main business. But even if you’re leaving the same night you’ll almost certainly end up with time on your hands. You could just while away time in a bar or restaurant down the main Corso Garibaldi, but the old town is pretty compact and, although it isn’t brimming with ancient monuments, has a pleasant, almost oriental, flavour about it - and a few hidden gems tucked down its narrow streets. What’s more, the town’s evening passeggiata is one of the south’s most boisterous.