My wife and I will be picking up a car in Venice end of September and heading slowly south to and through Puglia. We will have 25 days to tour and be back in Venice for our return flight. We want to spend the most amount of our time in Puglia, but wish to spend a little time enjoying the coast and interior towns in Emilia Romanga, Marche, and Abruzzo on our way. I welcome any suggestions of where to visit and stay. Also any advice on preferred routes or areas to avoid. Open also to suggestions on return route. Thinking of driving toward Naples up through Tuscany/Umbria back to Venice. We would only spend 2-3 days doing this. Grazie mille for any input from fellow travelers!
Posted by
Washington DC
28436 posts
I've never had a car in Italy, but I'm a big fan of Ravenna, so I'd try to hit it on your trip south.
I think the Gargano Peninsula (in northern Puglia, not often hit by folks going to Puglia) would be fun to explore with a car. I've only passed through on a bus.
Posted by
5250 posts
Viamichelin is invaluable for route planning.
In Marche, we liked Senigallia and Ascoli Piceno. Unless you are on the relatively boring autostrada, the going is slow, but some of the hills towns are quite close to the sea.
I'd start by deducting the Venice time and Puglia time so you know exactly how much time you have to work with--is it 2-3 days total, or each way?
Posted by
Saint Paul, Minnesota
1613 posts
Near the coast south of Venice, we liked Comacchio with its canals and three-way bridge. Then Ravenna, of course, if you haven't been there. Then Cesenatico with its boat museum that is actually the boats floating in the canal and its yummy piadina and its equally yummy tigelle.
I'm assuming you already know what you want to do in Puglia --- I hope it includes Matera in nearby Basilicata. The Gargano would not be in our top ten places to visit in Puglia although we did like it.
A little northwest of Naples, we enjoyed staying in Sant'Agata de Goti.
You must really like driving! On our first trip to Italy together, we drove from Venice to Sicily, stopping only in Brisighella, Orvieto, Pompei, and some place near the ferry. We now try to hold it down to one or two hours driving per day.