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Naples, Amalfi Coast and Puglia. Suggestions please.

Posted by (Bendigo, Australia) on

Naples, Amalfi coast and Puglia.

We have a two week window (14 nights) and are planning on visiting Naples, a bit of the Amalfi coast, and then Puglia. Starting out from, and returning to, Venice.

I was thinking train from Venice to Naples on April 25th
Three nights in Naples,
Train to Salerno
Two nights in Salerno, visit maybe Positano by ferry
So then there are nine nights left for Puglia, or maybe eight nights for Puglia, and a night somewhere between Puglia and Venice.
Arrive back in Venice on May 9th. We are locked in to starting and finishing in Venice. Train connections from Bari to Venice via Bologna are OK, and we could spend a night in Ancona or Rimini.
So, train from Salerno to somewhere in Puglia, spend say three nights.
Train or bus to somewhere else in Puglia, spend two nights.
Train or bus to Bari, spend three nights.
Leave Bari, head to Venice, with an overnight stop en route.

We would prefer not to hire a car, and would like a combination of smaller towns, a bit of history and a bit of coastal/seaside.

Open to suggestions, and we don’t know a whole lot about southern Italy.

Posted by
28476 posts

Several of us made suggestions for Puglia in this very recent thread.

You'll need buses to reach the smaller towns if you don't choose to rent a car or take advantage of the van trips run out of Lecce (if they're still doing them), and it would probably be a good idea to split your Puglia time between two bases so you don't spend too much time going back and forth on day trips. Don't try to make a bus trip to a small town on a Sunday or a holiday.

Posted by
4105 posts

You may also want to check on cheap flights, Volotea airlines, from Bari to Venice. Most are under 30 E.

Posted by
1074 posts

I actually prefer flying in and out of Venice - I find the airport easier to deal with than Rome or Milan and the view of the city as you fly in and out is breathtaking.

3 nights in Naples would not be my choice but then again, Naples is not my favorite place. Sorrento however can be a good place to call home base while you explore Pompeii, Capri, Positano, Amalfi Town and Sorrento itself. In my 10 stays in Sorrento I have just found it a comfortable place to be. Except for Pompeii you can take the ferry service from Sorrento to all the other great destinations around the Amalfi Coast.

Train from Venice to Naples is not bad at all. You'll have stops (just a few minutes) in Florence and Rome but no change of train. The trains (Trenitalia's Freccia line) are clean, comfortable and pretty much on time. Honestly, I haven't looked into using regional airlines for that connection.

Enjoy your trip!!!

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