Southern Italy Itinerary - input always appreciated

It will be interesting to hear about Bari’s St. Nicholas Festival. When we were in Bari there were many Russian tour groups visiting the Basilica of St. Nicholas, an important pilgrimage site for them. We were told that Putin had donated the statue of St. Nicholas that faced the Bascilica.

Hi Suki, my first search on-line after I’ve decided which country or specific region to visit is to find the list of what festivals will occur that month. I was very excited to see the Bari festival that would work with the timing to also include the Spello festival.

I have planned Southern Italy for November 2024. Since it is out of season, I check the trains/bus/ferry schedules to make sure I can get in as well as out of town, especially on Sundays. So I am fairly familiar with your cities/towns. I don't know why I feel you are zigzagging around the country or did I misinterpret that from your schedule. I tend to stay 4-6 days in one city and travel out from there so maybe are reading your schedule wrong.

Hi Janet,

This one is a bit crazy! I marked a map to look at it overall, and there’s definitely some outliers. It started as two loops: Rome to Puglia, and Rome to Umbria. (I want to see Puglia; I want to return to Spello.). Later the Abruzzo area was added in between, so it was Rome to Puglia to Abruzzo and over/up to Umbria.

After a lot of research and consideration of the location of train stations in obscure cities, I started thinking about Palermo. I sure wish I could just fly from Bari or Brindisi to Palermo, but the connections are too tight when 20% of the flights are delayed. So, that’s what is making me take the train back to Rome for just a straight forward flight the next morning.

Yes, you noticed that I don’t stay put in one location. When I’m traveling solo, it’s my favorite method - travel very light, ride the trains for about an hour, leave off my backpack and enjoy the next location for a few nights.

We were stuck one year at the beach near Grosseto on a Sunday afternoon when the train we had planned for our return didn’t come. I have the Freccia from Rome to Caserta this time; otherwise, I also avoid traveling on Sundays.

I’m looking forward to your trip report to see what activities you enjoyed! Which cities are you planning to visit?

Hi Jean,
Ryanair have always done Bari Palermo direct but the schedules aren't out yet for summer 2024. You might want to wait to book train to Rome and Rome to Palermo in case you can do it in about an hour instead of a day and a half.....

I suggest you eliminate one hotel change by visiting Alberobello from Martina Franca. If you are keen to sleep in a trullo, you can do so in other towns. The Val d’Itria is filled with them. One heads up: M.F. Is situated on top of a very steep hill. We were staying at an agriturismo very close to the center, but at the bottom of the hill. There was no way we could walk to dinner (unlit road with no pedestrian area) and our host warned that parking would be very difficult. He kindly offered to drive us and pick us up after our meal.

13-15 Lecce. Enjoy the architecture & attend a cooking class. Possibly a half-day tour of nearby cities.

By "tour" I'm guessing you mean a van tour such as those resold by Viator or GetYourGuide. It sounds like this may be a solo trip so just want to point out a pair of issues you might run into. Most tours have a minimum number of participants before they'll run it. The RS-recommended company Mondo in Naples requires 6, other tours may require only two. Second, tours & classes may not be offered daily.

We were in Lecce for a few days last month and did day trips by bus and train. The key in this part of Italy seems to be get an early start because around 1pm many stores close until 4pm.

Tinac, that would be wonderful news to not need to take the train back to Rome. I’ll keep an eye on the flight options during Spring. Thanks!

Hi Rosalyn, I will actually be staying in a trullo in both Alberobello and in Martina Franca. Thanks for the warning about the steepness of the streets/roads! My B&B reviews mention several people just walking from the train station to the place and into the old center. I’ll check out the elevation gain, too!

Maybe that’s just getting me ready for the steep hill up into Spoleto! At least they have some inclined escalator walkways there.

Hi Jean,
I think you’d love Sicily and thus recommend that you reconsider and plan a future trip where you can concentrate only on Sicily.

Palermo is a great city but you must experienced the other great places too, such as Monreale, Cefalù, Segesta, Erice, Agrigento (Valley of the Temples), Piazza Armerina (Villa Romana del Casale) Ortigia, Taormina, to name a few. There are wonderful nearby islands to visit too!

It looks like you’ll be taking an extraordinarily long journey just to get to Palermo, from Puglia, especially since you plan to travel to Rome in order to catch a flight to Palermo.

Happy planning!

Hi John, that is a frustrating part of traveling solo, or in your example, needing even more than two people to book a mini-tour!

I had a food tour cancel on me the night before the date when I was in Parma last time. Unfortunately, the museums I tried to use as a Plan B weren’t open that day….kind of a rubbing salt in the wound.

I research day tours on-line, and some come up on Viator, but I don’t book with them since they’re a middleman supplier. Sometimes the actual small business running the tour will allow a solo sign-up while the Viator-types won’t. Anyway, I thought I might also check with my B&B hosts for ideas since they seem cordial.

Appreciate your reply!

Hi Priscilla, I have a few months to solidify my thoughts & plans for Sicily, so maybe you can sway me one way or the other. : )

I have a dichotomy. I love to research on-line for months, find something interesting and delve into it. Then I’m thinking about it, it’s in my dreams, and when I’m there, it’s so exciting! It’s up to me to plan it, but then I’m totally flexible when I’m there. But, that all depends on being locations where I can easily ride a train or an occasional bus.

Contrast that with Sicily where it’s not easy to get on a train or bus and see everything. If I anticipate the logistics will become too difficult (like your crazy train experience west of Lake Maggiore), then I’m not going to enjoy trying to plan a separate trip just to Sicily.

Since Palermo is “calling me” during my research, and I’m roughly in that vicinity - less than two hours by plane, this would be my chance to stop moving locations for five days (which I will appreciate by that time in my trip) and settle in a spot that has a lot I would enjoy.

Do you have a different location, besides Rome or Florence, for those five days that might meet those wishes?

Since Palermo is “calling me” during my research, and I’m roughly in that vicinity - less than two hours by plane, this would be my chance to stop moving locations for five days (which I will appreciate by that time in my trip) and settle in a spot that has a lot I would enjoy.

Believe me, I understand your desire to go to Palermo & experience all that it has to offer.

If you can fly from Brindisi to Palermo that would save you a whole day trying to get back to Rome.

Do you have a different location, besides Rome or Florence, for those five days that might meet those wishes?

You’ve visited Italy more times than I, so unfortunately I’m not much help, however,
I’ve read that the Cilento Coast is beautiful, as well as the Tremiti Islands.

Have you considered starting a new post asking for suggestions?

I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful trip wherever you choose to go. 😉

There’s way more to do in Abruzzo than you’ve allowed time for 😆😆😆. Your first thoughts about going up the Adriatic coast from Puglia to Abruzzo to Le Marche still appeal to me. Have you been to Le Marche? Ascoli Piceno and Urbino are still calling me.

If you do reconsider Sicily, let me know and I’ll throw out more ideas. But if you still want to go, also check Pescara for flights to Sicily. RyanAir flies to Catania, Palermo and Trapani from Pescara in the summers. Not sure how early they start though.

Nelly,

Booking.com probably thinks I’m indecisive by now after booking & cancelling a progression of different locations up into Abruzzo & then Le Marche: Termoli, Vasto, Chieti, & Ascoli Piceno. 😉

Thanks again for all of your help!

Although not in Italy, but Croatia I needed a tour to visit 2 mountain towns. A large operator offered the tour with 3 towns and listed the tour provider. I contacted the tour provider and his price was almost $75 cheaper than the large operator. I made arrangements with him and it turned out it was just him and I--wonderful!

I was in Edinburgh in April and wanted to go to Hadrians Wall and the tour operator goes if just 1 person. There were 3 of us in a 16 pax van.

You never no!

Hi Jean,
I agree with Nelly, it seems a pity considering the rest of your itinerary to go back to Rome and Palermo in the other direction when you are near so many other enticing places….. But this is just my idea and based on my impressions and we’re all different and like different things so…..I don’t know if you should take any notice of it.
Also, I just wanted to say that we travelled a lot in Sicily by public transport and had a great time. It also sounds like you’re a flexible and experienced traveller so I wouldn’t be put off Sicily for a future trip because of the public transport, when the island offers such a lot. Yes, there will be fewer transport options and you may need more patience than in Puglia for example but you could do all this by public transport (we did most of the below by public transport, I can send you the links to my blog if you're interested).
For example from Palermo you can visit Cefalù by train and Monreale by bus.
Palermo by Bus to Catania 2 ½ hours (from there to Taormina).
Train from Catania to Siracusa/Ortigia about 90 minutes or bus about an hour.
Train from Siracusa to Noto 50 minutes
Train from Noto to Modica 1h40mins, from there bus to Ragusa.
Palermo – Trapani by Segesta coach, a couple of hours
Trapani to Marsala 30 minutes by train (and Mazara del vallo a bit further)
Trapani - Favignana island by boat
Palermo- Messina by train, or on the way stop at Milazzo for ferry to Eolie islands and then go down to Catania from Messina (train)
If you’ve been to Barcelona and liked it you will like Palermo, it’s probably my least favourite city in Sicily…but like I say we’re all different and you may love it! We love Ortigia and Trapani the most

I agree with Tinac about Sicily. My husband and I spent a total of five weeks in Sicily on two trips, all by public transportation. We did western Sicily on one trip and eastern Sicily on the other. It deserved all that time and more.

I appreciate your thoughts & details about Sicily, Tinac & Janet. I currently have reservations still for staying in Trani & Vasto before going to Sulmona, so I could go that route and spend some extra days before Sulmona.

On the other hand, I already am building a long list of churches & places I want to see in Palermo, plus the food! (Not the veal intestines). : )

It looks splendid. Anyway, I agree that one absolutely has to follow one's own instinct in travel planning. Not everything that is logical from the outside is necessarily the right solution.