Italy Road trip itinerary

We arrange our cars by calling up the broker Autoeurope; get zero- deductible collision, which covers any damage to the body of the vehicle. Read this about driving in Italy and restrictions involved [ZTLs]; never leave anything of value in a vehicle when parked:

http://driventoit.blogspot.com/

Having a car is very handy of not essential out in the countryside, but because of ZTL issues not a favorable way of traveling between cities served by trains. Driving is not recommended at all in the Cinque Terre nor the Amalfi Coast.

For example Sorrento you would get around by local trains, ferries and buses. No one in their right mind would attempt driving in Naples.

As to Greece and Spain, on www.skyscanner.com check flights from IT to GR and ES. Let's say you pick GR and scroll down to Santorini. Then check for flights from Florence, Bologna or Pisa; also Naples for the return.

Over to Italy and back, multi-city into Venice and out of Rome. You could also check Naples, not the best for flights.

I've heard Tropea is very pretty, but I've only passed through Calabria on a bus. I believe there's more variety in Puglia and am a big fan of the lovely, not-large, Baroque city of Lecce. Thee are many small towns to explore in Puglia. Whether it works best to spend all the nights in Lecce or is better to split them will depend on which towns you want to see. Five days will not be enough to attempt all of Puglia, but you will certainly want to see the trulli in or near Alberobello (Google for photos). Most people traveling to Puglia also want to see the cave dwellings in Matera, which is actually in Basilicata. You could catch it on the way to or from Puglia.

Ten days is short for either Greece or Spain. You may find flights home less expensive from Barcelona/Madrid than from Athens, so that is perhaps a point in the favor of Spain. By the time you get there it should no longer be perishingly hot even in the south. Really, any two or three places in Spain would work. You might want to check the Wikipedia pages for cities you're considering to see what the October weather looks like.

I've looked back through your earlier threads and I don't see any discussion of the Schengen 90-days-within-180 limit. It looks to me as if you may have more than 90 days in Schengen countries during your trip. Are you either under the limit, not subject to the limit because of citizenship, or working on long-stay visas?

Florence before the Cinque Terre is good. Avoids the longish slog from Venice to Liguria.

The Cinque Terre has hundreds of trails. The famous Sentiero Azzuro has closures but there are many others, some detailed here https://www.incinqueterre.com/en/trails-all and here is one we really enjoyed a few years ago https://girovaga.com/2012/10/14/on-the-sanctuary-trail-in-the-cinque-terre/. The latter starts above Riomaggiore and we were able to get a shuttle part way up to avoid some of the rigorous uphill. Ask locally!

You know you’ll have to park the vehicle outside of Venice, right? In Piazzale Roma. Also, parking is a pain in Sorrento and on the Amalfi Coast, so make sure your lodging has parking and be prepared to use buses and trains, that is, don’t drive to Naples!!!

Thanks for checking acraven.... we will still be ok within the Schengen zone as we are staying 3 weeks in Croatia/Montenegro.

I will do more research into both Lecce and Calabria regions. It sounds like having a car isn't too bad in southern southern italy but we do realize we will be leaving it outside of Venice, Naples and parking it at our airbnb in the Amalfi.

We will just be going one way to Greece or Spain and then hoping to move onto Morocco or Egypt from there after our 90 days is up.

This is of course....if we even get to do this trip now with this horrible coronavirus that is spreading like crazy every day:(

Thinking I should start booking more places with booking.com then airbnb so that I can get the 100% refundable if things get worse in the next few months?

I have no experience with AirBNB at all but use booking.com all the time. Most of the booking.com listings have reasonable cancelation policies, but they do vary from lodging to lodging, so you must check the details very carefully. Fairly often you will have a choice between [edit >] non-refundable [< edit] and cancelable reservations at the same place.

Yes, booking.com is the premier site for hotels, with reviews by actual guests.

Some thoughts:
If your hotel in the Cinque Terre has no free parking, leave the car in La Spezia and take the trains
There are ZTL areas also in the small villages in southern, southern Italy. Budget a couple of fines into this travel, it will be less painful when they will start arriving
Google "tutor system Italy"
Learn the Italian translation of "Speed trap ahead". There are 3 cameras on the causeway that connects Venice and the mainland. A 50 kph limit means that anyone driving at 56 will be fined 3 times.
Do not leave anything in the trunk. Visible or not it doesn't matter when you are close to a tourist attraction like the Tower of Pisa.

Stay in Salerno instead of Sorrento. Salerno is a reasonable place to have a care. You can drive to Pompeii/Mt. Vesuvius. Another day trip is to Paestum (Greek temples) with a stop at a buffalo farm for great mozzarella, cannoli and gelato. Salerno has a historic center, good choice of restaurants, and a large sandy beach. Sorrento has little to offer over Salerno except good transportation to Capri. Go to Naples by train (40 min ride).

I don't see any reason to stay overnight in Pisa. I'd consider spending a night or 2 in Tivoli. That is about half way between Florence/CT and Amalfi Coast. 2N gives you time to sightsee on the way there, a full day for Hadrian's Villa, Villa d'Este and Tivoli itself, then on to the south, maybe stopping at Caserta.

I'd say Spain if you want mostly sights and history. Andalucia is wonderful, lots of small towns. Greece if you want to relax and enjoy the beach. I spent 10 days on Crete, Santorini and Naxos this past October. Chania is a charming town with some history, lots of restaurants and a few sights. Naxos was low key, good food, great beaches. Santorini was packed with tourists.

Thanks Dario for the parking tips. Very good information for us and Yikes!

Thanks Chani for all your recommendations as well! I will research Salerno tonight for using that as a base perhaps.
And I also like your suggestion for stopping at Tivoli as well....will research that too.
I think we have decided on Spain and will look into Andalusia!!

Itinerary Take 2
Sept 10/11/12 3 nights Venice
Sept 13-22 9 nights Tuscany
Sept 22 1 night Tivoli
Sept 23- 29 6 nights Almalfi coast (Salerno)
Sept 29-7 8 nights Puglia (Ostuni or Gallipoli or Lecce or Brindsi?) Still need to do some research on 2 good bases for here..maybe 4 nights inland and 4 coastal)
October 7-11 4 nights Rome

October 11-23 Optional *** 12 days Spain (Andalusia)

Catch ferry from Algeciras, Spain to Morocco or fly directly from Andalusia..tbd

Salerno, dinner at Il Gozzo.

Much of Puglia is skinny enough east to west that I wouldn't pay much attention to inland vs. coastal locations. I'd be more inclined to try for one place suitable for hitting some northern towns (plus also Matera in Basilicata) and one place convenient to the southern part of Puglia.

Puglia is a great lace to explore by car. Beaches are awesome and water tempeature great for swimming. We were here in October and beaches were deserted. September would be a good time to visit.

We are traveling for 3 1/2 months this summer and have 5 week+/- stays to slow down the pace. Our kid is a big dog, who loves water.

Thanks for the restaurant advice and yes I agree about booking something southern and northern in the Puglia region. I just spent the evening looking at different bases and wow ......The options just look amazing since perhaps it is a more quieter time of year....of course the girls would think it was amazing to stay in a Trullo but the coastal options look really lovely too.

So happy to hear that Puglia may not be that crowded Karen. I think we will be looking forward to that after spending July/August in peak tourist time. Glad to hear you have your beloved pooch with you guys for traveling. We will be MISSING ours so much for 6 months!