Best route from DC area to Puglia

The closest likely airports would be Brindisi in southern Puglia and Bari in northern Puglia, though they may be cost prohibitive as you've said. I'm a big fan of Lecce as well as the many attractive, smaller Pugliese towns, so I might try to fly into Brindisi and work northward.

Flying into Rome and doing the rest of the trip by train could well be a lot cheaper and quite a reasonable solution, especially if you can find somewhere along the way for an interesting one- or two-night stop. Most folks heading to Puglia find Matera in Basilicata a very worthwhile stop.

One thing to be aware of is that there's not always a non-stop flight from Washington-Dulles to Rome. I did a winter trip to Rome/Naples/Salerno earlier this year, and I had to make a connection to get to Rome, whereas I had access to a non-stop flight in May 2015.

On that earlier trip (which was very long) I traveled from Rome to Sicily and then on to Puglia. I don't recommend combining those two areas if you have only two weeks. Two weeks is the minimum amount of time I recommend for Sicily by itself (with no time for the Aeolean Islands), and that will require some hard choices, especially if you want to manage the whole trip without a rental car. I had 17-18 days and skipped all three of the major Greek sites (Agrigento, Selinunte and Segesta). Still, I felt rushed. There's not a great deal of train service in Sicily, and none of it is fast. It just takes longer to get from place to place than is the case farther north.

It's a significant challenge to get from Sicily to Puglia. The train trip was scheduled to take so long in 2015 that I decided to take the bus instead. The bus was supposed to a couple of hours faster as I recall, but it didn't work out that way because the bus was delayed while they tried--and failed--to fix the air conditioning. It was late June. Not a fun day. At the moment trenitalia.com is only displaying overnight trains from Messina to Lecce, the quickest trip being 9-1/2 hours. And Messina isn't a place many tourists plan to visit, so the entire trip from any likely Sicilian starting point would be longer. Even aside from the length of the trip, I would consider those overnight trains a risky proposition after the miserable night I spent in a couchette on the night train from Rome to Catania. The rails seemed to be in really rough shape; the train jerked constantly from side to side. It would probably be smart to fly from either Catania or Palermo to Bari or Brindisi. I just hate dealing with flights in the middle of a trip, though. 

In summary: I'd either plan an all-Sicily trip or I'd pair Puglia + Matera with another region of Italy. I assume you've been to Rome and don't feel a need of more time there as part of this trip, but you could consider Naples, Salerno and other parts of Campania; Orvieto, Viterbo and Tarquinia north of Rome; or some less-visited parts of the eastern coast of Italy (where I've never been). Or parts farther north, of course, since there are super-fast trains from Rome to places like Florence and Bologna.

What are your interests as a traveler?

Acraven, thank you for your response. Yes, I’ve been to Rome, flying direct then catching the train to Florence for a week before returning to Rome for another week before flying home. I liked Rome, and I adore Florence, however, I’m curious about the other parts of Italy, thus my plan to explore the southern area. I’ll be in Orvieto and the Viterbo area this spring.

I appreciate the info on getting from the east to the west. That confirms my initial research, so it sounds like I’d either have to extend this trip or plan yet another! I did more of a traveling/moving around vacation a few months ago, and although I liked seeing so many different types of places, it helped me confirm that I like staying put in one place for at least several days rather than just one night. It’s just more relaxing for me.

I’m leaning toward focusing on the Puglia region for this trip and seeing Sicily a different time. Am I correct in saying October through December is a good time to visit? I typically walk 10-15 miles every day, just looking at buildings and people and absorbing the culture. I like looking inside churches here and there, but for the most part I don’t mind skipping museums. I prefer being outside and need plenty of nature, and I don’t mind less than ideal weather, although nothing extreme.

I can tell you that you don't want to go to Puglia during the summer. It bakes. I haven't been there in the fall so I can't provide information based on my experience. You can find actual, day-by-day, historical weather statistics for most cities on the website timeanddate.com. I like to check the most recent five years to be sure I'm willing to put up with the range of conditions my target areas have experienced recently.

Lecce weather -- October 2023

Use the pull-down box just above the graph at the right to change the month and year displayed. Use the Search box at the upper right to change the location.

For precipitation data I typically just use the monthly-average climate charts in cities' Wikipedia entries, but I'm not sure how accurate they are at this point since I've noticed that most of them are based on periods ending in either 2000 or 2010. However, I see no such indication for Lecce, so maybe the data is now more up to date.

I have been to Puglia in several months but as we were visiting friends, weather was not so important to us. My most recent visit was in December, the previous one in February. Both times the weather was quite pleasant for walking around. If given a choice, I prefer late February, when the almond trees are flowering, which can be a spectacular sight, specifically in Valle d'Itria, between Martina Franca and Locorotondo.

Thank you to everyone who has given me helpful input. I love that there are so many experienced travelers on this site who are willing to help.

I was looking at flights from DC to the airports in that area as well as Rome, but now I'm wondering if I should just look for flights to Rome, then look separately at flights from Rome to Brindisi or Bari since it might be cheaper to switch to another carrier for that last section. If I end up taking the train from Rome, I wouldn't want to go much further than maybe 2 hours the first day. Maybe there's a city somewhere between where I could settle in after all that travel to catch my breath for a night before carrying on with my journey.

As for when to go, I'm more stumped than ever now after looking at the historic weather. It looks like anytime between October to March might be lovely for me. I feel seriously thankful that when to visit beautiful places in the world is a legitimate worry of mine though. I never dreamed of going anywhere as a child because I barely knew anything outside my small little area even existed and certainly never would have imagined that I'd be able to explore on my own some day.

We went to Lecce on the direct train this past September after spending a few days in Rome. About a 5 or 6 hour trip if I remember correctly. I would not recommend taking a long-distance train the day you arrive since flights can be delayed and the train times may not line up well with the scheduled arrival time anyway. The stress level and wasted time goes down significantly if you fly to Rome, spend the day, and then take a train out the following morning.

October or later might be a good time to visit. On our trip it was still hot, day temps in the 80's or low 90's

We spent 10 days in Puglia last February- March. The weather was great—lots of sunshine, neither too hot nor too cold, and only 1 partial day of rain (but that was a deluge!). I would expect October to be similar.

We flew into Rome and home from Bologna (having worked our way north via Rimini, Ravenna, and Ferrara after Puglia). The trip from Seattle was longer than what you have from the an east Coast, so we did not arrive ag FCO until 6 pm.

We chose to overnight in Rome (in the city, not at the airport) and take the train to Bari the next day (actually going only as far as Barletta that day). We figured,we would have to get into Rome to catch the train anyway, and preferred a real hotel with walking opportunities nearby to night in an airport hotel. So we took a 50€ flat-rate taxi from the airport to our hotel, near the Villa Borghese but only a 10-minute taxi ride from Roma Termini station. We enjoyed a nice quiet dinner at a restaurant nearby (recommended by the desk clerk as well as the bar an who gave us our “welcome drink”—-both said it was where all the staff went for a reliable meal. The next day we had time for a 2-hour walk in the Villa Borghese parklands before taking a taxi to Termini for our 1:15 train. We allowed time to buy sandwiches at the station for lunch on the train.

The direct Frecce train from Termini to Bari takes only 4 hours, and makes only 4 stops: Caserta, Benevento, Foggia, and Barletta. If you wish to continue partway to Bari after landing at FCO, I would highly recommend Caserta. The train ride is just a wee bit over an hour once you get to Roma Termini station. There is a world-class attraction very close to the train station. (The Reggia di Caserta palace and grounds), with nice hotel options right there too, an easy walk from the train (look at Hotel Royal).

https://visitworldheritage.com/en/eu/caserta-royal-palace-and-park-italy/73cf1988-9d13-4658-99f5-2f23a706bc00

We chose to travel the next day, and for an overnight stay the smaller town of Barletta appealed to us more than the port city of Bari. We found a great little guesthouse, with a spacious room with lots of windows and a delightful hostess, Antonella.

https://www.bbliddo.it/en/

Our dinner at the wine bar named Twine was one of the best we have enjoyed in Italy (and we have spent a lot of time in that country). The ambiance, the food, the friendly welcome—everything was perfect. They do not serve dinner until 9pm but it was worth waiting for.

https://www.facebook.com/twineristorantevineria/

The next morning we toured the stern fortress/castle in town before continuing by train to Lecce.

After our time in Puglia, we made our way north. But if you are considering more time in the very south of Italy, whether Sicily elsewhere, you might like to fly out of Naples.

Remember that the shortest day of the year comes just before Christmas. The days will be considerably longer in February than in December, and March would be even better. I was in Rome/Naples/Salerno between mid-February and mid-March this year. It was still getting dark quite early in February, and--though it wasn't seriously cold--most days it didn't get up to 40F until about noon. I found March more pleasant.

We've visited Puglia several times and have been there in November, December, and March-April. All good times to go, especially if you hate heat. We have flown to Rome, picked up our bags and then checked them in immediately with a small airline and then flown to Brindisi where we rented a car --- that worked out just fine and we did it because we had a preschooler and a baby and their wranglers (i.e. parents) with us and we didn't think they could stand the more complicated trip into Rome and then the long train to Bari. So, that worked that time, but it could easily not have. Separate plane tickets are a bit too risky for me normally.

Another trip, we spent a few days in Rome, took the train to Foggia and rented a car --- that was painless and not risky. You could train from Rome to Bari or Lecce instead. Your best bet, I think.

We've also taken the train from Rome (after a few days there) to Naples and then driven to Matera and then into Puglia. Also good. You could fly from Dulles to Naples with only one stop --- get a flight that gets you to Naples in the morning or early afternoon so that you are not trying to get to a hotel or apartment at night, although with a taxi from the airport to a hotel, an evening arrival would be OK (I'm not alluding to any danger of an arrival late in the day, just the hassle plus being both jetlagged and sleepy). Naples could be your easier, quicker, temporary substitute for Sicily, which I agree with others needs more time and is NOT fun to drive to from Puglia (we drove to Sicily from Pompeii using the ferry). You could look into flying to Sicily from Bari or Brindisi, but that still seems too time-consuming and expensive.

You'll love Puglia in the off-season! Search the Italy forum for lots of advice about what to see and do in Puglia.

Thank you for the ideas! I'd prefer to stick to train/bus transportation if possible, but maybe renting a car is something to consider once I figure out where I'll fly to and from.

I know I've read conversations here about traveling in this area and once I get time to sit down and look things up more, I can start to flesh out an itinerary. Spending a night in Rome once I land might make sense. I could wake up and take a few hours to walk around town before heading out for the day more rested and alert, but for now anything is possible, so please keep the ideas coming!

Don't waste a tiring day of travel trying to get from Sicily to Puglia when each has so many many beautiful places to visit!

Tinac, I've already ruled that out. I think I'll start watching airfare for Puglia next fall/winter. Thank you!