We are considering spending a week or so in Marche, Abruzzo, Molise and maybe Apulia, but I'm having trouble finding resources for researching this trip. Most of the travel guides (Rick Steves, Lonely Planet, Frommers, etc.) don't talk about these regions. I know I can poke around the internet, but I'd prefer a print copy if possible.
If anyone has traveled here, do you have any recommendations?
I've been through several guides to Italy recently but was just looking at the northern part of the country. I thought the Frommer guide was particularly weak. Lonely Planet and Fodor were better. I've used DK Eyewitness Guides in the past and found them useful, too. I don't know that I've ever seen the Rough Guide to Italy, but the Rough books are respected. Then there are the Michelin green guides for hard-core sightseers. I've not used those.
The Table of Contents to the Lonely Planet guide to Italy is online (http://media.lonelyplanet.com/shop/pdfs/italy-10-contents.pdf). It covers the areas you mentioned; perhaps you were looking at a different LP guide?
Le Marche: about 15 pages
Abruzzo: about 10 pages
Molise: just 1 or 2 pages (yeah, that's weak)
Puglia: over 30 pages
Check the guidebooks by the Touring Club Italiano (TCI) or also the RoughGuides. For more detailed info it is possible you might need separate books for each region (Marche, Abruzzo and Molise, Puglia) because “Eastern Italy” is not a common designation used in Italy and those regions are not lumped together, except for Abruzzo and Molise, which actually used to be one region until it was split into two separate regions in 1963.
Don’t be surprised at the scant info about Molise. It is known as the “Region that doesn’t exist”.
http://www.laregionechenonesiste.com/
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20191023-the-italian-region-that-doesnt-exist
Bradt Guides has an excellent book on just Abruzzo. It’s 5 years old now but the towns are still in the same places…
My 2020 Fodor’s Essential Italy book has substantial content on Apulia in its Welcome to Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria chapter, and 7 pages on Le Marche at the back of its Umbria and the Marches chapter. No mention of Abruzzo or Molise.
DK Eyewitness Italy from 2019 has a chapter on Le Marche, and one on Abruzzo, Molise, and Puglia, although neither chapter’s definitive.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Every one of your ideas was helpful. Usually I would just go to the library and take out all the books, but when I went last week, the travel shelves were extremely empty!
I reviewed my stack of travel books, and was surprised that I didn't have as much on Italy as I thought I did. My Lonely Planet is the one specific to the Lakes (as you suggested, ACraven), and then I have the Rick Steves. My husband has family in Italy and has been going there his whole life, so somehow we don't feel we need guide books when we visit his family in Tuscany. His uncle is better than any book. :-)
I've ordered the Michelin Italy, because it has a bit about each of the areas. I may end up getting the Bradt (never heard of those), and the Lonely Planet and Rough Guide (they are both over 1000 pages), but I'll see.
Roberto di Firenze - yes, I made up "Eastern Italy" when I typed my question. It does sound odd, doesn't it! The trip I'm planning begins in Greece, and then we are looking at the ferry to either Bari or Brindisi. This would be a great chance to move up the eastern side of the country, because I can't really imagine going there on other trips (this will be my 6th time in Italy). I recently started following the Instagram account Castelliditalia, and I'm amazed at how many fabulous castles are in Le Marche, Abruzzo & Molise.
"Don’t be surprised at the scant info about Molise. It is known as the “Region that doesn’t exist”. " That made me smile. I think I've met Italians from every region, except that one. I love obscure places, so maybe I need to explore Molise. Thanks for the links.
Nelly - "Bradt Guides has an excellent book on just Abruzzo. It’s 5 years old now but the towns are still in the same places"
And that made me laugh out loud for real. Too true!
Thanks again all of you for your help.
Well the actor Robert De Niro traces its origins in the town of Ferrazzano, Molise.
However his ancestors’ last name was spelled Di Niro, a fairly common last name in Molise.
Michelin is great for individual sights, but poor for overviews and regions.
Wandering Italy has some useful maps and articles, such as https://www.wanderingitaly.com/maps/puglia-maps-guide.html
We ended up compiling our own guides from official tourist sites, blogs, Wikipedia, etc.
Puglia is covered in the Lonely Planet Guide to Southern Italy, and it is well covered online.
Here are the books I used for planning a trip to Marche:
Le Marche: an insider's guide by Peter Greene (There is a website companion: http://www.le-marche.com/Marche/html/guidebook.html)
The Marches: A Complete Guide to the Landscape and National Parks, and One Hundred Towns Including Urbino by Touring Club
Umbria & the Marche Landscapes Series 2nd edition by Sunflower Books
Don't forget the Blue Guides.
I don't worry about books being recent, as museum opening hours, etc. must be confirmed online now anyway, and I use the web for restaurant and hotel info.
I have not been to Abruzzo, but I have used Bradt Guides for other areas and found them excellent.
You mean a week for each region, right?
Hi, Neighbor to the North—-I have a suggestion for Molise.
We are hoping to visit Puglia next March, after a few days in Venice, and want to break up the train journey south with an overnight somewhere between Venice and Monopoli. My Puglia guidebooks are no help, so I looked at the train route and made a list of all the stops on the Frecciargento between Bologna and Bartletta, where one can change to the local train that runs down the Apulian coast to Bari, Monopoli, and onward.
I looked at each town on Google Satellite view, for the scenery, location of lodging relative to the train station, and other considerations. I checked Rimini, Catholics-S. Giovanni-Gabice, Pesaro, Ancona, S. Benedetto del Tronto, and Pescara without finding anything particularly appealing—-some of these are beach resorts, but seemed to be cluttered with modern resort hotels, lacking in charm.
Then I found the fishing village of Termoli, in Molise. Bingo! A tiny walled town with a ruined castle and rugged coastline. You can see photos of the town on this hotel’s website:
http://www.locanda-sangiorgio.it/en/#post-50
Among the lodging choices there is an Albergo Diffuso, a concept we really like. And my husband is particularly pleased to add Molise to the list of new places he will see in Italy.
Indeed the coast of Marche is not the main draw--you have to go inland with a car. Though there are some lovely places along the coast: Senigallia is really special, as is the Monte Conero area and the coast just north of Pesaro.
As Roberto says, is difficult think of an Eastern Italy. The point is that everybody (even most of Italians) easily think of Italy as North-South oriented, while in fact is almost NW-SE oriented. As example check for Ancona that is much more west than Naples. In Italy we refer much more as "Adriatic coast" and Tirrenian coast", so if you use this terms for research maybe you can find something more.
I am agree with Roberto that the Touring Green guides are probably one of the best resources to have some details. There is one for each Region, on top of some cities and some themes:
https://www.touringclubstore.com/it/reparto/guide-verdi-d-italia
There is even the ebook version of the guides: https://www.touringclub.it/editoria-digitale/ebook-guide-verdi-ditalia
Some guides are available in English too, but the most are only in Italian.
What Lola says is true: a lot of towns and cities on the Adriatic coastline are mainly beach resorts for mass tourism, with a seafront developed after WWII only with modern (and often not so nice) hotels. But... a lot of them have a very nice and ancient background and could be very interesting visit them. Lola made the example of Rimini and is true: the seaside is only modern hotels, but if you cross the railway and move 1Km inland you find the historical city. First colony of the Romans in northern Italy, the beginning of the via Emilia, the Roman road whom lead the colonization of the Gallia, the Victory Arc and the Romane bridge still present, the Malatestia's temple (designed by Leon Battista Alberti) is a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture, everything in a medieval center.
I talk of Rimini only as example, but along the whole Adriatic coast you will find very interesting places to visit and where to stop; from Otranto to Trieste. ;-)
We ended up compiling our own guides from official tourist sites, blogs, Wikipedia, etc.
You're right, Mike . . . that's the reality. This will be my 6th trip to Italy, so I don't need those "highlights of Italy" type guides, and we have all our own personal tastes and ideas, and family and friends to all fit in. The only way to carry it off is to compile my own. That said, I'd still like some good overviews (even if those books likely stay at home, especially the 1000+ page ones)
Thanks again, everyone. That gives me lots to look into.
And yes, Adriatic Coast is a better descriptor, isn't it!
Whatever you call it, this part of Italy has lots to explore. Have fun planning!
My two cents is to get inland for more history and less concrete block. Just be aware that there is less public transit inland. Are you considering driving?
Are you considering driving?
Haven't gotten that far yet. Certainly my husband is comfortable with driving in Italy -- he's been doing it since he was old enough. The main deterrent for driving is that we'd want to take the car from south to north and not back to where we started. We try to avoid those extra costs.
This all started with thinking how to get from Greece to Tuscany (family), and I thought it would be nice to see a side of Italy we haven't seen yet.
There’s an active Abruzzo & Molise Society in Washington, DC. Like many groups, they’ve temporarily halted many of their gatherings; however, the society website has some travel insights and cultural articles that may be helpful as you’re doing your research.
The fee for (in-country) different-location car rental drop-off is minimal. However, you don't necessarily need the car for the entirety, it just depends on the ultimate itinerary. You could use train, then pick a coastal stop from which to do a round-trip loop. Enjoy the planning!
