Bari and Brindisi

October is a great time to go! How much time do you have, total, and how do you plan to allocate it between Puglia (southeast) and Sicily? Both are large regions. I recently spent ten days in Puglia with friends and we split the time between the Gargano Peninsula and the more southern part. Vieste would be a good base in the Gargano area. We stayed outside of Alberobello in order to be further south for awhile, but there are lots of places along the coast, from Trani to Otranto. Sicily is BIG. Will you have a car, or use trains/buses?

Do the trains run well in Sicily? We may have a car for part of the trip. Don't know yet! We have 3 weeks and will end with a few days in Florence. Will begin in Naples area!

Bari and Brindisi are cities without much charm. Polignano a Mare is nice, and Lecce is a good base for southern Puglia. The food is amazing in Puglia and it is not very expensive, especially compared to Rome. 5 nights in Puglia will give you a good taste of the region. Maybe stay in Lecce to see the hell of the boot, then further north -- Polignano or the Gargano -- for something completely different. You absolutely need a car in Puglia, as well as in Sicily. You can "do" Sicily in 10 days if you want to move every couple of nights. That's not how I like to travel. Pick a part of the island: West and North or east and South and select a base. Trapani in the West affords access to Palermo and surrounds, Segesta (ruins), the Egadi islands, Monreale, even Selenunte if you like a longer daytrip. The Parco Natural Riserva delloo Zingaro is great hiking. Many people rave about Cefalu, but I am not sure it's a good base for a week. Someone else might chime in on that.