East coast Italy

Puglia (Apulia), the heel of the Italian boot, is a nice region. Otranto in the Salento and Vieste on the Gargano peninsula (the spur of the boot) are nice coastal towns. From the Regional Capital, Bari, you can easily cross the Adriatic into Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Do you have a RS Italy Guide book yet? If so, great. If you do not you should get one as it has lots of information that we have used on several trip to Italy. If you do not have one and want one, check out Powells (sp?) or you order one elsewhere on this web site.

Thank you for your suggestions. Rick Steves always goes with us everywhere we travel but he really does not say much about Umbria and the Puglia area. I will check the book store today to see if anything new for next year.
We are thinking of the northern coast rather than the south. Spello, Spoleto, Todi Ancona have been suggested but need to check them out. Anyone know of these places?

Oops! I meant Perugia not Puglia. I have not had my coffee this morning yet!

Hi Pippa You might find this page on the Slow Travel Board also helpful in your research. http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/notes/southern/index.htm

Some smaller towns in that area that you may want to check out: Rimini, Cesena, Cesanatico, Milano Marittima, Cervia. All smaller and seen in a few hours, nice piazza's and good local foods, smaller touristic sights. You could probably check out a couple of 'em in a day. Ravenna of course but I would say stay a whole day for that one. Then you have San Marino and San Leo in the area. Urbino is a great place in Umbria as well as the Grotto di Frasassi.

Ron from Cessna has given good advice. We have family in Riccione, right next to Rimini, and always try to get to San Leo and San Marino. The beaches up there on the Adriatic have (I think) the only really nice sand in Italy, you won't see many Americans, mostly Italian tourists!

Pippa, I'm confused now. First you look for a suggestion on the Adriatic Coast of Italy, and I gave you the recommendation of visiting Puglia (Apulia), since every Italian can attest that is the most beautiful part of the Italian Adriatic Coast (although the area near Mt. Conero, around Ancona, is also nice). But then you start talking about Perugia, Spello and Spoleto, all of which are in Umbria, a landlocked region which is actually on the Western slopes of the Apennines (therefore not even geographically to be considered "Eastern") So which is which? Umbria or Adriatic Coast? For sure there will be no ferry from Perugia to Croatia. For that you will have to go at least to Ancona, in the Marche region, where you can take a boat to either Split or Zadar. However the most beautiful and famous town in Croatia is Dubrovnik, which is more easily reached from Bari (in Puglia).

Sorry for the confusion. You are right. In my ignorance I was thinking Umbria was further East but I see from the map it isn't. I guess we are looking at either area and probably will not go to Croatia now. We were actually in Dubrovnik a couple of weeks ago on a cruise and fell in love with the people and the scenery hence our interest to return next year. But we always seem to gravitate back to Italy so I think for now will just do Italy as there is a lot we have not seen. Done Tuscany and Piedmont area and Cinque Terra so thought East part would be interesting. We always rent a car so can do day trips. So will take all suggestions and check them out. Thank you for your input.

Forgot also Montebello. Around San Leo and San Marino, small town up in he hills, not much to the town but there's a castle with the legend of the little blue ghost, Spirita di Azzurina I believe, which was pretty fun. Nice views of the surrounding country also. @Donna: Went to Riccione a couple of times. Had a buddy that bought a house up in the hills there. Never really looked around town much but the views were beautiful there too. I miss it so much!