We have 34 days for our trip starting mid January. We are flying into Naples and out of Rome. We are in our early/mid 60s. We like unique/special, one of a kind places. We like scenery, churches, mosaics, frescoes, historic old towns, food and wine. We've become less interested in ruins and castles, unless they involve mosaics, frescoes, or unique photo ops. We will have a car for part of the trip. A concern is time of year. We love the idea of fewer people, but don't want to visit deserted places. Another concern is parking. We tend to enjoy midsized to smaller cities and staying in or close to city center.
Working Itinerary:
*Arrive Naples and go to Caserta, 2 nights, pick up car somewhere that makes sense, side trip to Sant Agata de Goti
*Drive to "Bari Area" (possible towns, Polignanao, Trani, Monopoli, Ostuni)
*Drive to Alberobello area (Possible neighboring towns Locorotondo, Cisternino, Martina Franca, Ceglie Messapica), leaning towards staying in Locorotondo.
*Drive to heel of the boot. Interested in Lecce, Otrano, Gallipoli and Nardo)
*Drive to Matera area, possibly via Grottaglie and possibly visiting Chiesa San Michele of the caves, Altamura
*Drive to Naples possibly via Pietrapertosa and Pietragalla, Return car, Naples 3 nights,
*Train to Orvieto, 2 nights
*Train/bus to Rome 3 nights
We tend to like shorter stays in more towns. We don't like long day trips and we like to experience some places early and later in the day. We like to visit unique places and would like to avoid similar towns.
We have been to Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, Amalfi. If we find ourselves with additional time and if Umbria will have "some activity" that time of year, we may be interested in visiting towns neighboring Orvieto.
Questions:
*We like to pick up and return a car in less busy locations. So, like, not in the middle of Naples. Suggestion for car pickup/return?
*The beach towns south of Bari look gorgeous. Will they be pretty and interesting in January?
*Best cities to overnight? We tend to like to be closer to city centers, but would like easy access to parking. We want to visit Bari, but we do not necessarily need to stay there. We are not adverse to adding more overnight stops, though typically not one night stays.
*Suggestions on specific places to stay? We tend to like smaller hotels and BnBs. We tend to not like AirBnBs for many reasons including not having access to a host for questions and suggestions.
*In Naples, we are interested in the archeology museum, pizza and a walking tour of city center including churches. Any suggestions of where to stay? Location or specific hotel.
*We did have some interest in the Gargano Peninsula but will likely not include because it is farther away and may not be interesting in January??
*Special places that I've overlooked?
I know Jean "of Idaho" is planning a similar trip and I've looked at several of her excellent posts. I am hoping to get information more tailored to a January/February visit. We do have similar travel "philosophies" in that we do fewer daytrips and stay in more locations.