Itinerary help in the heel of the boot

What a nice trip! My suggestion is to not spend 7 days in Orvieto and add a few days to your seven extra nights and go to Sicily. While you might not be able to explore the entire island, you can easily do the east coast in seven days. Happy travels!

Thank you. We have been to Sicily and loved it .May go back in a year but this year we want to explore ares of Italy's east coast we have never been to
Robert

My favorite place near the heel of the boot is Matera. I really loved this town and stayed the Sassi Hotel, which is carved into the soft sassi stone. Wonderful town to walk around in, lot to see and some wonderful
restaurants.

We liked Lecce a lot and spent 4 nights there. South of Lecce we visited Otranto and Gallipoli - both seaside towns. You could add time to the Le Marche region - we wanted to get to Urbino but didn't have time. There are several cities to explore near Alberobello - Locorotondo, Martina Franca, and Ostuni. Agree with Frances that Matera is really interesting. I could easily spend 7 days in Orvieto - especially with a day trip to Civita di Bagnoregio. Your trip sounds like great fun!

What time of the year?

Roberto We fly out of Vancouver Sept 17 and return Oct 29
Robert

Thank you Frances and Sharon We were thinking of stopping in Matera and the ruins of Paestum on the way back to Rome. How much time do you (Frances) think we should spend in Matera?
Sharon we were thinking of a 1 day trip to Lecce from Alberobelo but I now see it is a 90 min drive . Maybe we should spend 2 or 3 days there What do you think Robert

If you can rearrange your order and visit Puglia earlier you will enjoy the amazing sea more. 2nd half of October may be a little too cool for beaches. Puglia has amazing sea and beaches, in particular in the Salento and in the Gargano peninsula. If you could head there first thing in mid Sept. you would be able to enjoy it more. Rome, Florence, Orvieto can be done with cooler weather, they don't need to be Summer weather. Actually better if it's not too hot when you visit those places. If it's all booked as is and cannot be changed, give it a try anyhow. You are spending a lot of time in any given place. Impruneta and Orvieto you can day trip to places in Tuscany and Umbria if you have a caar, but 10 nights just for Rome is a long time (make sure you don't have a car there). Also 7 nights in Alberobello? I'd be bored after a day. Hopefully you'll have a car to take trips to places while in Puglia.

I agree with Roberto - probably too much time in Albeobello. Personally, I'd add a day or two to Lecce - we really liked the city and it was a good base for day trips south. We stayed at President Hotel which was within walking distance of the city center and also had secure parking available. I would add that we spent 2 nights in Matura and that worked out well for us. Check out Tivoli as a stopping point between Puglia and Rome. We didn't like the hotel we stayed in there but liked our visit to Villa d'Este.

Abruzzo is lovely, both the mountains and the shore. North of Pescara you can stay in Roseto and/or up in the Parco Nazionale di Gran Sasso. Better earlier in your trip than later, though. Maybe start in San Leo, Le Marche, then Abruzzo, Puglia and (while it may be backtracking) on to Orvieto and Florence, ending in Rome. 10 nights in Rome is NOT too long. We spent 16 nights over two trips before we moved here and we still have not run out of things to do! In fact, the list grows longer all the time.