Hello fellow travelers! I am wondering if anybody has a good itinerary for Southern Italy. I did the usual tourist route a few years ago (Rome, Venice, Florence, Naples), and am looking to plan a trip to see Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, and maybe Sardinia or Malta. From what I have been reading it seems that these areas are the least visited, but are definitely still worth visiting. Does anybody have any suggestions for, or must-see cities/towns or unique destinations in these areas? Also, is it best to rent a car, or is there sufficient train transportation? From what I am finding, the weather will be high's in the mid 60's to 70's in November, so sunbathing at the beach doesn't seem to be possible, but i'm sure the beaches are still worth seeing/walking on. I am planning this trip for 4 adults interested in seeing natural beauty and historical sites/art, as well as wandering around quaint towns and enjoying excellent food! The trip duration would be 2.5-3 weeks. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Posted by
Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada
6 posts
Hi Cindy, We rented a car from Auto Euro in Pisa and drove south. We drove all the way down to the toe. There is some great places to see and one I would really like to recomend is Alberobello. It is a UNESCO city and so interesting. All the houses are cone shaped and every house is white. Very interesting. THere is also a town ver close to there built out of a hill and worth a look. We did not book ahead and pulled in..... and the first fellow my husband asked led us to his buddy who gave us a very good deal in a little hotel very close to town. When we drove back we took the road along the coast and although most hotels were closed we were able to get great deals on the ones we found. It was really great. We were there in October.
Posted by
gaston, oregon, usa
842 posts
We have never done Italy/Sardinia,or Sicily that late in the season. We have done Portugul at XMas, and our friends who live in Germany have done Spain/Malta that time of year. The weather would be much warmer, and more places would be open in southern Spain or Portugal. We were wading in the water when we were in south Portugal in the Algave in Dec. I think that Sicily, and Sardinia would have many places closed that time of year, so you could miss many great opportunities. Sicily is just plain awesome in the spring....and absolutly beautiful.. In early May we were swimming...but it was a little cool. We just did Sardinia this June, and combined it with a week in Tuscany/Umbria. Even in early June it was quiet and sleepy in many places. We have combined trips to the Amalfi coast with visits to Sicily, and found that to be a good combination. We love Puglia, but again, that would be best in "shoulder" season. It has fantstic food and great places to see for little money. We use Lonely Planet as our guide book for the areas that Rick does not cover. All of these areas we have done using a rental car. Some places (like Puglia and Sardinia) only can be covered using a auto rental.
Posted by
Watertown, CT
17 posts
I just came back last week from 2 weeks in Puglia, Campania and Calabria. I wish there was a way to post my trip reports on this site. I posted my Puglia trip report on frommers. Here is the link: http://www.frommers.com/community/forum.cfm/europe/italy/trip-report-puglia As for Calabria, there is one English language tour book I found by the Thomas Cook company. I recommend browsing through that. Calabria was the best food of my entire life: fresh, organic, locally grown and/or caught. We had tartuffo from Pizzo, grilled cod with tomatoes, pasta with calamari, shrimp and mussles, gelato smeared in a sandwich of brioche, some sort of meat loaf with ham and cheese rolled up in the center...the list goes on! I think I ate 5 courses at each meal! However, for me, Calabria had a rough and tumble, shabby feel to it. I was with my Italian cousins and I am not sure if I would feel comfortable on my own there. My cousins always talked about which towns were mob infiltrated in hushed tones. In Calabria, we saw the resort towns of Tropea, Pizzo, and Capo Vaticano. Those areas are probably safe on your own. We also went to the beach in Nicotera. The sea is beautiful and crystal clear. Those two towns are tourist destinations with lots of shops and places to eat. We more ran through them rather than sitting back and enjoyed because our time was short.