¡Hola, fellow travellers!

Just yesterday, we had some super exciting Mexico trips spring right into our flight-hacking laps here at Jack's HQ.

First, we dug up some sweet Premium Economy fares all across the country — a real rarity from the UK, for sure! Then there were the perfect winter sun flights to Cancún from Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg. So far, so good. 

Then out of nowhere, as we were busy imagining ourselves sipping margs by the Caribbean, appeared an error fare from London to Mexico City for under £300! That one didn't last long, but suffice it to say, it made for a very excitable day. 

The thing is, readers, all these surprise Mexican treats were from the European side of the pond. And frankly, awesome fares to anywhere other than Cancún come around so rarely for us that I just don't know where to pick, given the choice.

So, this time, I'm looking mostly to those of you in North America, who are used to a little more Mexico on your plate — where's the place to be? Is it the beaches of Cancún or Cabo? The street food of Oaxaca or CDMX?

Let us know your favourite spots in Mexico in the comments, or by replying to this email.

Happy travels and safe landings,

Katy - Editor of The Detour

Now is the best time to start planning your winter getaways. As a Premium member, you’ll get access to all of our content: 8–10 flights per week, including error fares and business class.

Keep that summer feeling going long into the winter months with 3 months of Premium for €1 - this is our biggest offer of the year!

By Larissa

Larissa is an Aussie expat from Sydney who only sometimes misses the beach. Currently based in London, she’s now working on ticking as many European cities off her travel list as possible, while checking for brunch spots along the way.

I’ve just come back from a week in Puglia, and I didn’t rent a car. That may surprise you, as the number one way to see southern Italy is from behind the wheel — and for good reason. Aside from the lax driving rules and how easy it is to pick up a vehicle at the airport, lots of the major visitor attractions are only accessible by car, like the best beaches in the area. 

Despite knowing all that, I still decided to rely on trains and buses throughout my trip in June 2025. In fact, this is my second time travelling around the boot of Italy this way. You may be thinking, “I don’t speak Italian, I’m not adventurous enough to hop on and off public transportation across the country. Surely it’s not worth the hassle!?”

Well, neither do I! And you don’t have to be as adventurous as you think; the south of Italy is surprisingly well-connected by trains and buses — we saw plenty of people using both as we navigated around, tourists and locals alike.

Why take public transport in Southern Italy? 

If you have the time and don’t want the hassle of renting a car, buying petrol and figuring out your insurance, I’d recommend ditching the car.  

To give you a little background – I learned to drive as a teenager (as most do in Australia) around the suburbs of Sydney, have always enjoyed it, and still have a driver's licence. So far, so normal. That was, until I moved to London when I was 24. It’s been 6 years since then, and that means 6 years since I’ve been behind the wheel of a car. 

When faced with the prospect of navigating tiny cobbled streets, Vespas and overeager European drivers, it struck me that I’d maybe been off the roads for too long. So with that in mind, I decided to throw myself at the whim of bus and train schedules, while baking under the summer Puglian sun. 

Before we go any further, a caveat: yes, trains and buses do get delayed, and the service can be infrequent (especially on weekends and the off season). This kind of travel will only work for you if you’re happy to spend hours waiting around, and you allow yourself plenty of time to get where you want to go. For some people, it’s always going to be easier to just hire a car and have the freedom to move around, which I totally respect! 

Catching public transport between Brindisi, Maglie, Ostuni, Lecce and Monopoli

We flew in and out of Brindisi airport, then (thanks to a very beautiful, but very remote wedding) had to make our way down to a little town called Maglie — it's located almost smack-bang in the middle of the boot, about 80 km from the airport. To get there, we took the airport bus into the centre of Brindisi, stayed overnight, and then spent the next day slowly winding our way down the country. 

First, we caught a train from Brindisi to Lecce, ‘the Florence of the South’, and then hopped on a bus to Maglie from there. All in all, it took a couple of hours and two hops, whereas if we were to drive, we would have been there in just under an hour. Not the fastest way to go, but it was cheap (less than €10 per person) and reliable (especially when compared to other European rail networks). The train and bus both came when they were scheduled. 

We had to do it all again in reverse a couple of days later, which also went off without a hitch. 

On separate day trips, we also travelled from Brindisi by train/bus to other spots on our list like Ostuni (the ‘White City’, full of boutique shops and has views of rolling hills for days), Lecce (the ‘Florence of the South’, with looming sandstone churches and baroque buildings) and Monopoli (easiest access to sandy beaches by foot, also a very pretty town in its own right). 

How to plan your own trip around Southern Italy on public transport

So, you’re intrigued — how do you follow in my footsteps? 

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