Puglia and Sicily

I could easily spend two weeks in Puglia (have spent two 10-day trips there, and they were far from comprehensive), and I am sure Sicily would take much more time than that. But that is based on my travel style, and maybe you are more efficient (seriously--I sleep late and laze around on vacation) and like a quicker pace. One thing I would do first for sure is scope out all of the transport required with your proposed itinerary and use that to decide whether to scale back or not. The places you selected in Sicily are far apart. Would you rent a car there?
Have you read much about Bari? I liked it--it has a pleasant, underrated old town--but I am in the minority. It would however, be convenient for day trips as the transport hub. I would not day trip to Lecce from there (too far).

I think it would be better to visit either Puglia or Sicily rather than trying to include both in a single two-week trip. I'm not sure whether you intend also to spend time in Rome as opposed to just using it as your flight gateway. If Rome itself is on your itinerary, I really think adding both regions is impractical.

Train connections between Puglia and Sicily were quite poor when I visited both regions in 2015. The recent addition of a rail link from the west coast to Matera may have improved things somewhat (or not at all), but 2 years ago I opted for a 10+ hour bus ride since it was so much faster than the train. Except the bus had mechanical difficulties... Flying is definiftely the best way to move between the two areas unless you have a great deal of extra time and are making (costly) last-minute travel plans.

Do not under any circumstances even consider taking the miserably uncomfortable overnight train from Rome to Sicily.

I'm not clear on whether you're thinking of renting a car once you reach Puglia. If not, it may be helpful to know that in 2015 the Lecce tourist office organized van trips (not tours, really just transportation only) to lots of small towns in Puglia and to Matera. The time in each town was rather brief, but the trips were a great opportunity to see lots of picturesque small towns in a single day. I think this year's price for the full-day trips is 60 or 65 euros per person.

Both Puglia and Sicily are seriously hot in the summer, by the way. It can be draining to spend a lot of time in that area with no relief.

Agree with valadelphia. We spent 4 weeks in Sicily where we visited Erice and stayed in the other towns you mentioned in addition to a few others. Last year we spent 3 weeks in Puglia where we stayed in Ostuni and Monopoli in addition to all the towns you mentioned. We also liked the old town of Bari. For the way we travel it is too much to try to see both areas. Assuming you will rent a car as I'm not sure about public transportation in this area, according to google maps it is about a 1 hour drive from Bari to Matera and also to Alberobello. If you want to race through each town you might be able to do both in the same day but, in my opinion, you would not get the true sense of Matera. From Bari to Lecce it is a 3 hour round trip so a good part of the day would be in the car. The same issue holds true for the towns you want to visit in Sicily. You might also have to factor in 1 day travel to get from Puglia to Sicily, taking one day from your actual time. Many people do travel as quickly as you would have to do in order to see everything on your list and they are happy with their method of travel. Hopefully you will get some responses from them. But you asked for advice and mine is to slow down and take the time to enjoy only one area of Italy in the days you have for this trip.

Agreeing with the other posters. We've spent five weeks in Sicily and three in Puglia and haven't "seen it all" yet. We travel only on public transportation, which means a slower pace. Your selected stops in Sicily cover the entire island, so you have a lot of travel involved there.

Spend two weeks in one region, either Sicilia or Bari (and Basilicata for Matera). I think you are underestimating the time it will take you to get around. Sicilia is the largest island in the Mediterranean, so...

I am in Sicilia now, spending twelve days with friends (rented a car). I was here solo for three weeks before they arrived (public transportation).

Hello,

We are going to Sicily in September for only 9 days.

This is what we are thinking:
Starting our trip in Palermo staying there for 3 days. Don't know if we should stay in the town of Palermo, rent a car or stay in the country. .I like the idea of staying at a place out in county where we can maybe can get home cooked meals breakfast & dinner. Then going to Agrigento for 1 night( don't have a place) Then staying in Catania at Terre del Cardinale area for 6 days, But that might not work out maybe to much traveling back & forth to Palermo. By staying in Catania we can visit Mt. Etna, Taormina, & Messina, South of Catania we plan on visiting Syracuse, Noto & Ragusa we were told they are all within a 2 hrs drive Any suggestions on hotel or anything else?

Thank you,
Sam [email protected]

Sam, it would be best if you start a new thread with your proposed itinerary. That way, you'll receive an email notification when someone posts a response. As it stands now, Doreen will be getting your notifications. My initial comment is that I think there's too much to do in the SE corner of the island to make all those day trips from Catania.