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Accommodation/town Recommendation in Italy

We "plan" on traveling thru Italy end of May -end of June. Pretty well set but will flip our intinerary to end up in the North at the end of June. OK........ 1) Midway stop between Rome and Matera....am unsure I want to make a 51/2 hour drive just off the plane.
2) Midway stop between Ostuni and Parma..probably just an overnight unless there is something to keep us there for a few nights!! Thanks.....

Posted by
26840 posts

I can't imagine making a drive like that after an overnight flight. I think it would be extremely dangerous to attempt it unless you're one of those lucky people who can get 6+ hours of sleep on the plane--and even then the jetlag might be disorienting. I see that there are several trains every day from Rome Termini Station to Bari that take about 4 hours (other trains are considerably slower). Bari would be just over a one-hour drive from Matera. I haven't been to Bari, but I've read that it has a nice historic center.

ViaMichelin offers three quite different routes between Roma Fiumicino and Bari. I'm not familiar with anything along any of those routes, but zooming way in on the VM map shows some roads highlighted in green, indicating that they're especially scenic.

Edited to add: It's way past the midpoint of the Ostuni-Parma drive and slightly off the direct route, but Ravenna is just wonderful. It has a lovely historic district plus seven sites with incredible medieval mosaics. Really stunning.

I recall a few previous posts about the central part of Italy's east coast. I'm sure someone here can make some geographically-convenient suggestions. I recognize the names of some of the coastal spots but haven't been to any of them north of the Gargano Peninsula.

Posted by
86 posts

Although it's a 7 hour drive from Ostuni, you will hardly find a more lovely hill town than Montepulchiano in Tuscany. It is just a few miles from the A1. We stayed 2 nights there last October, and it was by far my favorite of all the towns and cities we saw. Sounds like a wonderful trip. You'll get to see so much of Italy.

Posted by
3248 posts

Another option would be to take the train from Rome to Naples (or a smaller city) the day you arrive. Spend the night in Naples, pick up your rental car the next morning and drive on to Matera. I agree that driving the day you arrive could be difficult.

I'm not so familiar with the Eastern coast between Ostuni and Parma but I'd look at a coastal village at the halfway point. You could use Google Maps or Rome2Rio to check out the possibilities.

Posted by
308 posts

A word of caution about getting a rental car IN the city of Naples. Neopolitans drive like maniacs, even "worse" than the typical Italian. If you could arrange to pick up a car on the outskirts of Naples, it is doable but driving in the city is not for the faint of heart.

Posted by
3248 posts

That's great advice Jackie - is there somewhere along the way that would be a reasonable train trip from Rome with easy access for picking up a rental car the next day??

Posted by
3812 posts

Neapolitans are great drivers and they are so good that they can manage the less skilled drivers; they do it without even realizing it: The Nato base has made them used to "special" drivers.

Anyway, there are direct high speed trains between Roma Termini and Salerno Centrale: Salerno is smaller, nicer and closer to Matera than Naples.

Posted by
3248 posts

Grazie Dario!

Salerno seems like a good option if the OP decides to take the train on arrival day.

Posted by
2281 posts

hey hey oswaltben
as others have said, i would not drive after a long flight. don't know where you are flying from, USA, Canada, somewhere in europe?
can't help with places to stop, make sure you get an IDP, coincides with your current drivers license. available at AAA/CAA for about $25 and 2 photos, good for one year, all drivers need one. may be a requirement with rental car company, ask, and big hefty fine if a policeman stops you.
@jackie we have those same maniac drivers here in the san francisco/east bay area. have a great vacation,
aloha

Posted by
11034 posts

am unsure I want to make a 51/2 hour drive just off the plane.

Concur with others who find that a lengthy drive just off the plane, even if you are coming from the US east coast, is unlikely to be your best choice.

For the drive Ostuni to Parma, presumably along the Coast, there several beach front towns that look like they would be a pleasant overnite stay. Saw sandy beaches like Florida. Interesting driving along and encountering Vespas with the driver toting a surfboard under one arm.

Hope your trip happens

Posted by
11056 posts

Driving a long distance shortly after an international flight is dangerous to you and others.
We picked up and dropped off rental cars at Naples airport a short distance from downtown, on the city’s northern boundary, near the Autostrada. Easy. Do NOT drive in Naples itself.

Posted by
1369 posts

You could fly or take the fast train from Rome to Bari --- we've done both. Faster and safer than driving.

Posted by
1542 posts

Don’t know which day you arrive on. If it is a Friday or Saturday, hopefully you arrive early and you can drive to Sermoneta for the day, about an hour and a half from FCO – full of backstreets, steps, twichels, crumbly buildings and Castello Caetani. But the real reason is because it is next door to the Garden of Ninfa, the centre of the universe. Usually open the first weekend of each month from May to November, more or less, but you can book for a spot during the week as we did. The tour is advertised as one hour, we were lucky enough to spend quite a bit longer and our guide was a peach:
https://www.frcaetani.it/en/garden-of-ninfa/

I know nothing about the Adriatic coast. If you are willing to detour to the southern end of Tuscany, your drive time to Parma will increase by a couple of hours. The Val D’Orcia is as good a place as any in Europe to stay for a week.

It is perfectly safe to drive in Italy, unfamiliarity with big cities can happen anywhere.

Posted by
495 posts

2) between Ostuni and Parma there is the half of Italy and plenty of places where you could stop for a couple of days.
The whole eastern coast is plenty of nice towns and villages, so I cannot recommend one or another: depends how long you want to drive each leg. The most of Italian do a route like your one directly, with only a brief stop for the lunch, but can be divided in several shorter stops. Ancona, Jesi, Macerata, Foggia, Conero area, Gargano area Fermo, San Marino, Urbino... all places worth at least one day, without say the villages.

Posted by
4217 posts

1) If you cannot change it to stay in Rome on arrival or use the train (Bari has plenty of rental agencies near the train station), then perhaps stop in Gaeta. Two hours is the absolute max we drive after a flight, and that also depends on the schedule/arrival time, etc.
2) There are several nice places in southern Marche, but I would hate to stay in Ascoli Piceno for less than a few days. San Benedetto del Tronto on the coast looked nice (only passed by).

Posted by
649 posts

We arrived in Rome after a night flight picked up the car and drove to Cassino off A 1. I think it was about 1.5 -2 hours. stayed at a nice hotel just off the highway, then the next day drove the secondary back roads down to Matera- great drive very little, if any traffic.
We needed the car to get down to Lecce after so opted not to take a train to Foggia or Bari. I just checked and the train from Rome Termini to Bari can range from 4 hours (leaves at 8.05 am) to 14 hours. so I would way this out in comparison to renting the car and driving for a couple of hours. Also someone mentioned Gaeta which is a lovely city to visit and an easy drive from the airport.
I second Montepuliciano. Be sure to get your International Drivers License as previously stated and the Michelin Map. I used it extensively over the month we drove - up the Adriatic coast and into the Dolomites. The Garmin GPS we had was not accurate.
Safe travels