Update on Puglia, Abruzzo, Umbria itinerary- any recommendations?

It looks great to me.

I am curious how you came up with Termoli. I have had this little coast side town on my list for the last several trips as an overnight stop on our way north from Puglia, based on the location and photos I have seen. We have not yet made it there, but we hope to be in Abruzzo next September, and Termoli might fit in well on our way to Spello.

Did you find Termoli on your own, or in something you read? Or maybe Nelly recommended it?

Hi Lola, I found Termoli on my own. I looked at the train route from Polignano a Mare to Chieti and looked up each of the cities where it stops. This one looked very interesting. At first look I gave it one night, but that might increase to two.

Some of the options were eliminated because the train doesn’t stop in or on the edge of the city. Termoli’s train station looks very convenient for me to walk to a hotel & enjoy the sites and views.

Hi Jean your revised itinerary looks great! Just a few thoughts:
Fine Alberobello but there are lots of trulli all over Valle d'Itria so you don't necessarily need to stay in Alberobello for that.
Termoli is nice! https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/2022/11/termoli.html?m=1
My only doubt is Chieti. I travel up and down to Puglia twice a year so I'm always keen for interesting stops on the way but so far have always excluded Chieti because there doesn't seem to be much there. Did you decide on two nights for a specific reason? Would be interested to hear if anyone else has visited....

We loved staying in a trullo at Masseria Aprile outside of Locorotondo and then just visiting Alberobello for a couple hours.

Hi Jean,
Your itinerary looks very intriguing!
I can’t wait to read your trip report since I’ve not ventured out to this region of Italy.

What guidebooks are you researching?

Have you considered getting to Umbria, from Sulmona, and leaving Rome to the end of your trip?
Perhaps you chose this route due to limited public transportation between Sulmona and your next destination in Umbria?

I’m so excited for you!

Thanks, Jean. That is exactly how I found Termoli. After identifying the location and looking on satellite view, I searched for photos and was lured in by the photos on the Locanda San Giorgio website, at the bottom of the homepage.

http://www.locanda-sangiorgio.it/en/

I can’t recall if I decided to stay there or another place, somI will have to start the lodging search anew if/when we decide on the 2024 Abruzzo trip.

Tinac & Nancys8, is it handy to stay in a trullo someplace other than Alberobello without a car? I’m just using public transport for my trip. I planned to arrive mid-afternoon in Alberobello and hoped that staying overnight would give me the chance to enjoy some evening & early morning photos without the crowds.

Tinac, Nelly mentioned the two archaeology museums in Chieti. There’s other options that she mentioned for interesting smaller cities where I would need to take a bus from Pescara up into their route. Currently, I was just trying to make it easier on myself since Sulmona is on the same train route, but I am certainly open to other ideas.

The two nights vs. one for Chieti is not from planned activities, yet. I really would like to find a cooking class or food tour type activity in that region, too, and just assumed a larger city would have a better chance of finding one.

Hi Priscilla! I hope you are doing well! I was thinking about you as I was looking through some of Zoe’s old posts last week. I bookmarked the summary posts you kindly shared with all of the links.

My research has been almost all from the internet. Also, a search for key words on this forum. I did purchase Francesco Giampetruzzi’s Puglia guidebook through Amazon. It feels a lot like encyclopedia descriptions with very nice photos of beaches & cities but lacks “guiding”.

There’s so many options that it’s good I made my large Post-It note trip calendar early. I find it very easy to begin looking up details of one location and 30-60 minutes later, I’m completely viewing interesting info about another one! ; ) I can glance at the calendar paper and get back on track.

Looks good to me, Jean. I'd just recommend changing Locorotondo from a maybe to a must-do. If I went back to Puglia, that's where I'd stay.

Thanks, Janet. That’s good to know!

I don't know much about Termoli except as a departure point to get out to the Tremiti islands. Haven't made it yet, we started planning a day trip this spring, got busy, and decided to wait until after tourist season. But it seems to me to be an inspired choice.

A plug for Chieti - it's a very pretty mid-sized city on a hilltop and has excellent public transit connections. The two archeological museums are well done. They're right next to each other, one run by Chieti province, the other by Chieti city, and together do a good job of explaining the various tribes that settled here and up through the Roman conquest. The city museum displays the famous 6th century BCE Warrior of Capestrano, a huge statue found virtually intact by a farmer plowing his field in 1934. It has pretty parks, a historic city centre, and a great weekly market. Maybe not the "most pretty" town in Abruzzo but above average. For Jean's purposes, it's very easy to catch trains and buses from there. Oh, and there is an outstanding artisanal gelateria, Gelatiamo.

The Cesarine group offers occasional cooking classes in Pescara. I also have an acquaintance, a young woman expat from Russia, who runs a very popular food tour in Pescara, Abruzzo with Gusto. She explores Abruzzo relentlessly and occasionally offers small group tours to tiny towns with her finds - a special church, an artist who has restored a palazzo, the last scion of a family who made bricks and roof tiles by hand. Her tours are really unique and well organized, including special lunches at out of the way agriturismi, but aside from the food tour are not regularly scheduled.

I've visited most of Jean's choices in Puglia and Umbria, and I think she's made a fantastic selection from an abundance of riches. Should be a(nother) memorable trip for one of the board's outstanding trip planners!

Hi Jean!

What a coincidence, I was re-reading some of Zoe’s posts last week too!

I know your itinerary is pretty much set but was wondering if you’re going to visit Matera?
I know it was one of Zoe’s favorite places.

Nelly’s post just reminded me about the Tremiti islands.
When I visited Ortigia, I met a woman who owns my favorite restaurant there.
One day after an unfortunate event, I went into her restaurant and we talked for over an hour.
(the restaurant had just closed after lunch)

I’d asked her where she was from, and I’d presumed she’d have said some place in Sicily, but to my surprise, she said that she was born in Calabria.
I still have the small piece of paper where she drew a map of Puglia as she talked about this beautiful region and urged me not to miss the Tremiti Islands.

Hopefully one day I’ll get there!

Hi Priscilla! I posted this early in the planning process, so choices are still able to be switched, and it’s so nice to hear from others!. All of the lodging I have reserved is refundable, so I could shift days around, too.

I do have a couple of days around the time I will be in Termoli that are still very flexible. I will be at Polignano a Mare before that location, so it’s just deciding how many days I want to be at the coast.

Matera may make the final list if I drop Martina Franca. I don’t have enough days in that section for both of them. I didn’t know how much Zoe liked Matera!

Jean, this trip sounds fantastic. I am saving this post for future reference. I love exploring smaller lesser touristed towns and hope to get to Puglia next year and combine it with a third trip to Sicily. I like that all of your choices are accessible by public transportation. Looking forward to reading a future trip report.

Hello again,
If you’re considering adding Matera, you may be interested in reading this old thread where Zoe wrote this:

I love Matera even more than Bari, but a word of caution: there are two bus stations run by different companies, one closer to the center of town and one on further out. The sassi in the middle of town are incredible, and the history of the town is compelling. I stayed at a B&B run by two sisters, B&B Donna Eleanora, just a staircase away from the center of town and the entrance to the sassi. They are very knowledgeable about the area and its history, and will help you with any information you need. They only have three rooms, and I understand that they go quickly. The B&B is spotlessly clean and completely updated inside, has a lift (it's on the first floor), and you will have keys to the building, the B&B, and your room. I found it on Booking.com and it's very reasonably priced. Breakfast is brought in fresh daily by one or both of the owners.

Happy planning!

I'll just throw this in about Matera. The Ferrovie Appulo-Lucane train line, which you can take from Bari, has two stations in Matera: Centrale and Sud. My recollection is that we wanted Centrale but ended up in Sud because Centrale was underground - not something we were expecting. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Where will you be staying Trani? I am planning on being in Trani this fall after a bike tour and am looking for lodging

I would recommend stopping in Orvieto in Umbria and exploring the area.- It's a beautiful spot, worth a stay in a agritourismo.

Hi Tonie, I’ve reserved the Dimore Marinare at Trani. Great reviews on Booking.com, and I reserved a room with a balcony with sea views.

Orvieto is nice! We were there in 2006 with the Rick Steves Best of Italy tour. The tour didn’t stay in Orvieto, but we stopped and went through the cathedral and had time for a quick gelato.

Priscilla & Janet, thank you for the additional info for transportation to Matera.