I have been to Italy before and am flying into Rome - Debating on whether to go up from Rome to Florence and then down to Puglia Area. Thinking of also doing the Amalfi Coast. Any and all recommendations of cities and areas to visit would be wonderful. Flying from and to London to get to Rome initially.
Thank you!
Will you have a car? If using public transit, Florence and Puglia are doable in 10-12 days. Adding the Amalfi Coast is going to make your trip an uncomfortable blur with too much time spent in transit that will require multiple train and bus connections.
While in Florence, it’s only 75 minutes to Siena by bus and 90 minutes to Lucca. Those two add a lot to the itinerary without requiring a lot of time invested to reach them.
sounds good - going at the end of september through early october (Sep. 28- October 14-15 - flexible dates) - I will have a total of 14 days to spend (not including travel days).
I'm very interested in the responses you get. I have a month January/February and we're thinking Naples, Puglia, Umbria and Rome. Trying to decide if we'd like to drive from Puglia to Umbria.
We enjoyed Amalfi though it was very busy. We did really like Ravello and Amalfi town. In the last couple weeks, there was an article by Rick Steves talking about a much less touristed Amalfi city. Perhaps someone recalls the name of the city. When I have time, I'll look for it.
I loved the Puglia area in May! Instead of retyping, I’ll just add my trip report. I did all of it by train, plus a roundtrip to Sicily that you can ignore. If you think you won’t be back to the Puglia region, I wouldn’t rush through it trying to add the Amalfi Coast.
Thank you so much for all of your responses so far!
We are doing much the same at the same time as you for 16 nights.
Starting in Rome, then Naples, Matera, Lecce, and ending in Florence.
Been to Rome, Naples and Florence a number of times, but the southern places are new to us.
We travel by train and or bus everywhere we want to go.
Can’t wait!
Perhaps taking the train Rome to Bari might be your first trip south, then go on into Puglia from there.
After Puglia, if you are set on Florence, get the train Bari to Florence, a long day….maybe fly?…. end up in Rome at the end.
I think I would save the Amalfi area for a different trip, to avoid a lot of long travel days.
From Florence to Puglia is a solid 8 to 11 hour drive plus pit stops (depending on where in Puglia). The train Florence-Bari shaves off a couple of hours, but still a long day. Flight options are few, but in the end not much quicker than the train.
Therefore if you plan to visit those southern regions you should consider going there at the beginning of your trip after you land in Rome (or at the end). If you only have 12 days then you should decide whether to concentrate on the south (Puglia + Naples area) or go north. Doing both in such short time would not be too enjoyable in my opinion. To properly visit Puglia you need at least a week there, and 4 nights is the minimum I'd consider for the Naples area (Amalfi/Sorrento).
my trip is fairly flexible. we are flying into italy from London. So could easily get flights into rome or florence or bari. We have been to naples and do not want to go there again. I do like the suggestion of sorrento/salerno/maybe even capri. we will not be renting a car either. most likely trains and if really need a vehicle hire a driver. thanks for the input thus far! so excited :)
Some news that could streamline your itinerary is that a new airport near Salerno just opened. The new airport is 26 miles from Amalfi Town on the Amalfi coast. Easyjet is now flying from London’s Gatwick airport into “Salerno Costa d’Amalfi” International Airport with direct flights taking 2.75 hours on Tuesdays and Saturdays for fares starting at $45. *** There currently are seats available for September 28 on the direct 2.75 hour flight scheduled by Easyjet for $68. Beginning this month, RyanAir will kick off its flights from London’s Stansted airport to the Salerno Costa d’ Amalfi airport for fares as low as $20. Some of these Ryanair flights also are direct and take only 2.75 hours to reach Salerno from London. The IATA code for the airport is “QSR”.
In the future more airlines will be adding QSR Airport to their routes. You can check www.Skyscanner.com for current schedules and fares.
thanks so much for the flight info!
So I just wanted to update you all on more solidified dates etc.
Sep. 26 fly into London - stay in London until the 29. Then fly from London to Florence. Stay in Florence until October 2. Then rent a car and drive down to Montepulciano area and stay around there until October 5 and driving to nearby areas (areas to not miss or visit here would be helpful). Then drive to the Amalfi Coast and stay somewhere there, Minori, Meiori etc. (recommendations here would be helpful) until October 8. Then drive to Puglia / Bari area and travel around and stay until October 11/12 (recommendations here - but places I would like to go are: Matera, Lecce, Polignano Amare, Alberobello, & locorotondo - 50/50 on Ostuni etc.). Then fly back to London and stay there until the 16th.
Any recommendations on London areas to stay now? Was thinking covent garden area (I have been twice before) but it has been several years and not sure if it's worth getting a hotel or an airbnb there.
Any hotel recommendations or stays along the way in the route enumerated above would be great and helpful.
Any suggestions regarding driving around Italy - hire or a driver? etc.
Thank you everyone :)
We will be stopping in one place along the Amalfi - potentially considering just removing that from the trip in entirety - absoluetly do not feet comfortable driving around there at all. We were going to just park ourselves in one spot. Will be flying out from Bari back to London.
This contains several wonderful boutique hotels and B&B’s where I stayed a few months ago in cities you’re requesting.
If anyone has done a drive from montepulciano to Bari - any specific cities / stops to make along the way?
Thanks!
Thank you! We are renting a car so will be able to leave luggage inside! :)
