Last minute trip! Tuscany vs Puglia

I vote for staying north. There is much to see and October is lovely in the fall. Puglia would be warmer, but a long drive from Rome. We picked up a car in Naples when we did a road trip to Basilicata and Puglia. We used the Lonely Planet guide for this area.

What a deal! Congrats on your upcoming trip.

I can't compare since we've never been south of Rome, but I notice you've mapped out a pretty detailed itinerary for Tuscany/Umbria. I like a lot of what I see. How many accommodation changes are you expecting to make?

Since you've been to Italy before I assume you know the drill. Have you rented a car and driven before? If so, there's no need to repeat the drill about driving.

You mention you want to have a "deeper" experience this time. You've listed a lot of places to see in two weeks. There's always a tension between getting to experience a number of places and staying in one place long enough to do more than scratch the surface. I could make an argument for staying in just three places: Parma, Lucca and an agriturismo just outside Siena. You could do some day trips (San Gimignano, Volterra and even Montepulciano from the agriturismo.

Finally, check out Fall festivals in Tuscany. There are plenty in September/October and you might find one that appeals to you.

There are several airlines with non-stop flights from Milan or Bergamo (definitely worth visiting) to Bari. Check skyscanner.com . I love Puglia and as a public-transportation user, I've always stayed in Lecce, which is a lovely Baroque city. I haven't been to Bari itself, but others say it's very nice.

Volterra has a Volterragusto festival over a couple weekends with lots of the new olive oils available to taste and buy, and a cheese rolling contest on one Saturday (I think) afternoon. The Palio di Cacio. You'll have to research for the actual dates but it could be a fun day. You could also consider a drive further into Tuscany, south of Siena and such. On weekends there are other festivals in small towns to such fall things as chestnuts. Turns out they actually DO roast on an open fire! Who knew? Then go down to Pitigiliano and the area for walks along Etruscan roads (vie cave) or check out the small towns. I stayed in the town of Montemerano but there are lots of agriturismos down there. I talked to someone who went to Scansano and that sounded like a nice area. Really, the whole southern Tuscany is pretty and it's not a place you can get around easily without a car. There are also the baths to relax in after a day of sightseeing. (Look up Cascate del Mulino- it's a free one).

You'll be happy either way, but I would not choose Puglia unless you can get a flight to Bari or Brindisi to save those precious hours.
To complicate matters, it's also festival season in the Piedmont, such as truffles in Alba. That could be a nice way to start off a trip.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I will have my husband check on the flights again (he likes doing that) I guess Naples would make more sense then Rome and we knew there was a flight to Bari but I don't remember why we ruled it out...I think maybe because my husband thought we fly down then we would drive all the way back to Milan and see sites n the way back up. I don't want that and convinced him we either have to do Central Italy (Tuscany/Umbria or Southern Italy (Puglia/Basilicata) Hence the post because my mind has been flipping a bit although I don't have that much info on Puglia so I only know a few towns but am sure there is more there.
As to the Tuscany/Umbria towns I mentioned: my thought process is to stay in maybe 5 places to frame the 14 night trip....Parma 1 night to start going down from Milan. Then Lucca 3 nights Volterra 1 night Montipulcianno 1 night, Orvieto 3 nights and Urbino 2 nights and finally Mantua (I really want to see Hall of the Giants! ) 2 nights before heading back to Milan and 1 night in Malanpensa airport because our flight leaves at 8:45am!! . If we do this on the travel days we would stop in some towns along the way. I am not sure If I really want to do the 1 nighters ...maybe I should not stay in Volterra and just do on the way to Montipulcianno and I saw a loop drive RS listed that looks good from Montipulcianno too and that takes us to Pienza I think.. Ok comments? Likes? dislikes? Of course while I have all this I still have the stray thought I should be doing the south for the warmer weather but at this point I guess I am moving towards Tuscany/Umbria.

Good luck--I think you could easily consolidate some of those proposed stops to reduce the one-nighters. Proceed with caution, because once you start looking at Le Marche and other regions, you will be even more hard pressed to make a decision!

You are correct the many of the coastal parts of Puglia will be quieting down, but the inland portion being less crowded makes up for that. In addition to Lecce, for an October trip, I would choose somewhere in the vicinity of Bari (depending on personal interests), somewhere in the Itria valley, and in Matera in neighboring Basilicata. If you get a nice warm day, the drive along the east coast is very nice.