Alberobello and Matera

Three days is not much time. One night in Matera, two nights in Bari with a daytrip to Alberobello would be about as much as you can do. Do you have three nights, or three days? Can you add more time?

I travel in southern Italy by public transportation, it's not that easy with limited time. There s a private rail company between Matera and Bari, and a FrecciaLink minibus service between Salerno and Matera, the latter runs twice a day. Check Trenitalia.com for trains from Assisi to Bari or Matera. Assisi to Bari is 7 hours, with two changes.

Puglia and Basilicata are not quick to get to or to move around in. If your three days have to include travel time to and from the area as well as sightseeing within it, frankly I wouldn't do it. There's a lot to see and enjoy in Puglia in addition to Alberobello. There are many wonderful, more convenient places in Italy that you could visit instead of Puglia/Basilicata.

I spent five nights in Lecce (nice baroque city) in June 2015, using it as a base to see a lot of the smaller towns in Puglia plus Basilicata. That year the tourist office was taking reservations for van trips that hit 4 to 6 towns on day-trips. As far as I know the trips were not otherwise advertised, and most ran only if they had seven customers who were interested. I haven't tried to verify that those trips ran in 2016 and/or are planned in 2017 (and I don't know whether they operated year-round, or what month you will be traveling), but I felt that was a fabulous option for someone without a car. The trips really provided just transportation, not guide service, but they were quite inexpensive at about 55 euros for a day-long trip.

I haven't been to Verona but it would be a viable base for visiting both Padua (reserve Scrovegni Chapel in advance) and Vicenza. I myself stayed in Padua (felt larger) and day-tripped to Vicenza (felt smaller). Bologna is also an excellent base for a large number of attractive destinations, my favorite being Ravenna. Ravenna has not only six or seven fabulous mosaic sites but also a charming historic district. And not too many tourists. Others have raved about Ferrara.

Even Padua (good departure at 9:10 AM) and Verona (good departure at 8:45 AM) are within one hour of Bologna by train (take care in selecting your hotel to be sure you're not a 20+ minute walk from the train station in Bologna); Vicenza would be more like 90 minutes away (good departures at 8:45 and 10:10 AM).

Unless you want to travel at 7:52 AM or 11:52 AM (2-hour duration), Ravenna's really too long a train trip to be a desirable day-trip from Verona--as opposed to 1 hour for the 8:52 departure from Bologna. Other Verona-Ravenna train connections are about 3-1/2 hours and could only be recommended for the truly desperate.

If you decide you don't have enough time to attempt Puglia on this trip, you could consider some nights in both Bologna and Verona (or Padua).

Thank you, Zoe and acraven; good advice and much to think about. I have pretty much discarded the east coast plan and will stick to the Bologna area; seven hours on the train is no fun when time is limited. Our trip is in April, for 3 weeks, but includes Germany.

Muchas gracias!

Good decision. Puglia is a large region, and its various provinces all have beautiful sights. Another trip with more time in the region will give you a much better feel for it. Puglia is one of those regions that lends itself to being there rather than going to see a specific thing, although there are plenty of those.

That does it. After this next trip to Rome and Sorrento in March, in a year or two I'm going to concentrate on the eastern coast. And it's true--you almost need to devote a special trip simply because of the logistics. My dad flew out of Taranto during WWII, I can only imagine how cool the heel of the boot is, and then I'd work my way up the coast, stopping in San Marino--I used to collect their stamps as a kid!

And then I've always had a jones for following it all the way up through Trieste and into Slovenia. Maybe that would be the trip to finally rent a car & try driving? I don't know, even though the trains on that side of the country aren't of the Freccia speed, I really like to ride the rails, look out the windows & wonder what people do in those little towns--it's extremely relaxing, almost therapeutic.

Good on ya, Martie!

Puglia is somewhat isolated from northern Italian regions. In order to get there from the north, you have to drive (or cover by train) all the Adriatic coast or take the mountain itinerary between Caserta and Foggia. From Florence, I consider Bari a full travel day - unless I have the occasion to fly.

Also the Pugliese railway network is mostly non-state lines, now much better than 20 or 30 years ago but still not the fastest connections and with timetables mostly geared to commuters. Matera (in Basilicata region) is the only provincial city in Italy not linked to the national railway system.