Itinerary Help - France & Italy (Puglia)

Hello woodys100, and welcome to the forum,

You're covering a lot of ground with some pretty significant travel times between places. This seems to mostly be a small towns tour of 4 separate countries. Is there any articular reason you're covering so much ground in so many countries? Maybe the Australian concept of of what's "far" is different than the much more compact Europe, but I'm afraid you'll remember trains and buses as much as places with this schedule.

And keeping in mind that 2 nights somewhere is only 1 full day with days of travel on either side I'm afraid you might find the time in places short compared to the time spent travelling. But if you know your travel style and pace then I'm not going to try and talk you out of it if you know what you like.

The connection from Amsterdam to Cologne is easy enough, but Strasbourg is going to be longer and require at least one change and maybe two. You won't see much of Strasbourg because you don't have a full day there and the trip to Annecy is going to be a pretty long day on the train. Once you get down to the French coast the travel times to Italy get pretty long. The alternative is to go over the alps - say Lyon > Turin and the Turin down to the coast or to Florence. Florence is the local hub for travel to Lucca and Siena and then get on fast train down to Rome and/or Naples.

I think most people with a general plan like this would go Amsterdam > Paris > Lyon > Provence but you seem to purposely avoiding larger cities or more famous places so I'm interested in your general goals and "must sees". I'm sure people will have other thoughts but your schedule as it stands is unusual and there may be logistically easier ways to see the kinds of things you're looking for.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Thanks so much Tod on your insights...alot of things I hadn't realised. Smaller town France appeals, hence Annecy. And exploring Puglia is a must. As well as Tuscany. We don't want to see every church or ruins but Pompeii I think would be interesting. Busy crowded, over touristy we aren't keen on.
Other than that we are open to ideas. Would Barcelona, Montpellier, Annecy, Turin, Cinque Terra, Florence, Lucca/Sienna, Sorrento and onto Puglia make more sense?

Would Barcelona, Montpellier, Annecy, Turin, Cinque Terra, Florence,
Lucca/Sienna, Sorrento

With the exception of Montpellier and Turin every one of these locations will be touristy and overcrowded- even in September which is still very much in season.

Okay thanks again for your insights, would the route still be a better route overall if we maybe chose slightly different places to stop at along the way to Puglia?

Try Taranto, a city I knew nothing about before visiting - we loved it. We took the train from Napoli to Lecce and stopped for 3 days in Taranto. We lucked out on a hotel overlooking the sea and the Aragonese castle (Hotel Europa). And less tourists than in the rest of Italy. Highly recommend it.

Thanks, I will take a close look at Taranto...it appears to be down in the heel area - not from from Puglia that we will be exploring.

This is a cool itinerary (I was about to say road trip, but I see you're planning to use the train).

Does it have to be in September? Southern France and Italy can still be quite dry after summer, and September is usually better for people who want beach time. If you have flexibility, I'd recommend April or May instead when nature is lush, and the air is full of fragrance.

Another thought: I think you might be staying a bit too little in Antibes. Of course, you know best what you want to see, but the Côte d'Azur is one of the most beautiful regions in France, with plenty of small villages like the ones you’re looking for - they call them "villages perchés" because they’re usually perched on the top of a hill. Close to Antibes you have Menton and Eze, and a bit further away St-Paul-de-Vence, Peillon, and Grasse (especially if you're into perfume making). September can still be busy along the coast where the beaches are, but if you head slightly inland, it's usually much calmer.

Update***
Thanks for the insights so far, tweaking to adjust for some of that advice.
If going Option 1 Amsterdam to Puglia

Now looking like this -

Amsterdam - 3 nights
Cologne - 3 nights
Strasbourg - 3 nights
Annecy - 3 nights
Turin - 1 night (purely transit stop)
Levento (quieter base option for Cinque Terra) - 3 nights
Florence/Lucca/Siena Region - 9 nights
Naples/Sorrento Region (Pompeii) - 4 nights
Puglia (Monopoli base) - 7 nights
Rome - 2 nights

Would be looking for slightly less overrun areas within those bases with easy access to trains. A bit like the Levento Option as a quieter base to explore Cinque Terra.

Hi Dan, thanks for your thoughts...will take a closer look at your suggestions in the Cote d'Azure region.

Do not forget Matera, on the way to Puglia.

If you do not want crowded and touristy places, maybe you could consider substituting another Puglia town for your base in that region.

Will you be renting a car at any point?

My favorite village at the Cinque Terre has always been Monterosso. The main reason is because it is the only one of the 5 villages with a beach. If you intend to stay at the Cinque Terre proper I recommend it. It is also bigger than the other 4, therefore better able to handle the crowds ad it has more accommodations options.

If you’d rather stay away from the 5 villages, for some reason I’ve always liked Bonassola better than Levanto. Bonassola is the next town to the west, so only a couple of minutes extra on the train. It is smaller and in a quaint bay. I’ve been in the area by car but I think the train station is closer to the beach compared to the station in Levanto. There is a recently built bike path built over a dismissed railroad which connects Bonassola to Levanto. I haven’t done it yet, but you can rent a bike and ride along. It’s a cool path. Check it on YouTube. In any case do your research but don’t rule out Bonassola. It’s really busy there from June to mid September (during school closure) and also on weekends, so plan your accommodations accordingly.

Since you seem to prefer smaller towns, I recommend to stay in Sorrento rather than Naples. Very easy to reach everything from Sorrento: Amalfi Coast (by bus or private driver), Capri Island (by boat or ferry),, Pompeii, and also Naples (by Circumvesuviana commuter train).

For Puglia area Monopoli is a good base. It’s a cute town. However if you plan to see Matera, spend a couple of nights there. It takes too long to go from Monopoli to Matera if you go on a day trip. Basically you have to take a train back to Bari then a bus, but it is still a 3 hour trek. From Monopoli you can take day trips to Alberobello, Locorotondo, Ostuni, to name a few.

Lecce, if you plan to visit, might be worth a couple of nights (or at least one) as well. It’s a beautiful city very vibrant at night. The train trip from Monopoli is probably almost 1.5 hours.

Thanks eskruncy - Matera had been somewhere I was considering.
and thanks Roberto for weighing in re: Cinque Terra and Sorrento/Naples - will explore all of your recommendations.