Hi - my husband and I will be in Italy from Mid-September to Mid-October for a total of 34 nights. We are starting in Venice spending time in the Val Gardena, Lake Garda, Bologna and Umbria. We fly out of Rome. We are looking at Puglia after we leave Umbria. We are considering renting a car from Perugia and we have 9 nights before needing to be in Rome. I have been reading the Forum and have found great suggestions from NancyB and ekscrunchy. I am struggling with how to put this together. Our first thought is to drive from Perugia to Termoli for one night. Then do you drive to Lecce and work your way up? Is it possible to have two bases and do day trips? This is the part we are struggling with. We are into some history, some sightseeing, good food and wine. We are wide open to suggestions. For reference, we have been to Italy before and have spent time in Alba, Florence, Lake Como, Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terra, and Rome. We have been to Bologna before and returning to do some day trips around there that we missed the last time. Thanks for all of your help!
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
8478 posts
You might consider taking a train to Naples area and picking up a car there. We found it pretty easy to get a car in nearby Caserta. Nice palace there, too.
Posted by
6880 posts
I think the best strategy is to pick the areas that interest you most, then select bases. If you don’t mind long drives, you could break it up, but I’d compare with the train schedule to Bari and Lecce to see what looks preferable.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
17972 posts
If you need a car in Umbria, rent in Umbria, then drive down to Puglia.
I think you can make it in one shot without breaks in between. I've done it many times from Tuscany, which is even farther. Just plan 6 hours plus pit stops to Vieste, for example, which I recommend.
Take the SS77 from Umbria to Civitanova, then the A14 toll freeway all the way down to wherever you decide to go to Puglia.
First decide where you want to go, then a base.
Vieste and Peschici on the Gargano need their own base (Vieste for example) because the Gargano Peninsula is mountainous and curvy.
Polignano, Monopoli, Alberobello, Locorotondo, and even Ostuni, are close to one another, so you can visit all from one base.
Further south you need a separate base for Lecce, Otranto, Gallipoli, which are all within 40 min from one another. I like both Lecce and Otranto, so it's up to you where to stay.
Matera more to the north probably deserves its own stay for a couple of nights.
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis
26 posts
Thanks Roberto da Firenze - this is helpful. We will take a look at these pockets and see where it takes us.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
8478 posts
Many travelers like to choose just a couple bases and commuting to neighboring cities. My husband and I do choose some bases, but we tend to not enjoy drive times beyond about 1.5 hours/day and backtracking. It comes down to personal preference. However, for Puglia, I feel like its an absolute must to stay in Alberobello in a trullo and in Matera in a cave dwelling. Another consideration is that for certain destinations that tend to have heavy concentrations of tourists, it is really nice to enjoy those cities before and after the daytrippers.
Posted by
new york
1690 posts
Hi, Jill!!
You have 9 nights set aside for Puglia, right? Instead of hopping all over the place, with short stays and lots of hotel changes (I'm writing this because I've traveled like that and no longer do, and I like this "new" way a lot better)
I would eliminate Lecce because it far south and there is so much to see closer to where you will arrive in the region.
If you begin in Termoli, you could have an overnight there. (Oops..a one-night stay,, but you could spend two there..) The Hotel Sveva is a hotel diffuso, which means that the hotel is spread out and rooms occupy several different historic buildings close to one another. It's in the old town, but at that time of year, you can park in the Municipio lot (no charge) and walk easily, slightly uphill, past the Castle and into the old town/citta vecchia.
From Termoli you could head for Vieste in the Gargano (we did this in the opposite direction). Stay a couple of nights there and head, perhaps, through the Murgia, perhaps with a one-night stay near Canosa or nearby (look at the rural farm hotel LAMA DI LUNA. From there you can see Castel del Monte if that's of interest, and even drive to Trani on the coast. (Alternative if you are a wine lover is to pass through the Melfi area..another subject we can discuss if you like Aglianico)
From there you drive to Matera. Spend two-three nights (I'm all for three).
Finally, the Valle d'Itria, with the picturesque towns like Locorotondo, Alberobello, Ostuni, Cisternino, etc.....choose one of these, or a masseria in the countryside (free, easy parking) and spend the remainder of the time in Puglia touring your choice of these towns or others nearby, and also drive to Polignano on the coast...
And then you head on towards Rome....you might want one stop..could be in Molise (again) or Abruzzo, or (probably Lazio)...depending which route you choose. On one of our Puglia visits, we left the region and spent 2 nights in a great agriturismo in inland Molise and then on to a hotel near the autostrada near Montecassino..but there are lots of choices there...
I think I wrote an awful lot here..but I hope you get the general idea......maybe there is even enough time for a quick stop in Lecce--now that I re-read what I wrote, you could skip Gargano and have time for Lecce, I think......you'd have to write up the day-by-day plan.....we can all have fun "guiding" you on what promises to be a fantabulous trip!!!