My wife and I will be arriving on 2/11 and departing 2/25, both in Rome. Our last trip in 2017 included Venice/Florence/Rome as well as 4-5 days driving in Tuscany based in Montepulciano. For this trip we would like to visit Florence and Rome again, with 5 days +/- driving in Puglia. The question I pose to the forum is whether there is any inherent advantage in heading north or south first, upon arrival in Rome on the morning of 2/11? We plan on finishing our stay in Rome before departing.
1st option would have us taking the train to Florence upon arrival and staying several days before heading south. A nice part of this plan is that there would be no driving on an arrival day that we are sure to be tired, and that we already have some familiarity with Florence.
2nd option is to head south to either overnight in Naples/Salerno before renting a car and driving into Basilicata/Puglia or to train to Bari/Lecce from Rome on the arrival day. I guess the advantage of this option could be that we'd be saving the northern part of our trip for a bit later in Feb, lol.
We'd like 3-4 days in Rome before departing which leaves us 9-10 days to get to/from Puglia with 2-3 days in Florence before or after.
Any recommendations as to whether either options offers logistical advantages over the other would be greatly appreciated. There is one caveat we are trying to work in...part of a day or an overnight in Salerno which is where my wife's family is from. Besides the booked air travel, none of this is written in stone.
Other questions we could use help with:
Where would be the best or most logical point from which to rent a car?
Any recommendations for sights or spots to base in Puglia would be welcome. Hoping to have 2 bases for 2- 3 days each. We love both city centers and being off the beaten path. We like to eat most/all meals out, and love coffee/sweets, so want to make sure we are based appropriately for Feb.
If heading south, how far to take train before renting car and best option to get to Florence
If heading north, best option to get from Florence to Bari/Lecce and where to drop car before return to Rome.
We are open to any/all suggestions and appreciate this Forum's help. Thank You!