Southern Italy – 30 Days, Three Ways to Travel

We arrived in Palermo the day before Easter Sunday and spent our first afternoon and then most of “Pasqua” in Palermo before the tour commenced. We visited churches, the Ballaro & Vucciria markets and Quatro Canti. The tour began Sunday afternoon. On Easter, since we were not yet on tour, we had the privilege to briefly attend portions of couple of Easter masses at two different cathedrals. Tour groups were not permitted.

You can see the tour highlights on the RS website: Palermo, Monreale, Segesta, Erice, Trapani & Mozia, Agrigento, Villa Romano del Casale, Siracusa/Ortigia, Mt. Etna (for us … when it was blowing ‘smoke rings,’ an uncommon event), Taormina and Catania. https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/sicily-2024. Our tour guide, David Tordi, an Orvieto native, was a tour de force. He was charming, engaging, funny, and informative. Our bus rides, generally an hour to 90 minutes and no more than 3 or 3-1/2 hours in a single day, were lively as David discussed the sites we would visit, satirized Italian dialects all across Italy (only those from Orvieto speak perfect Italian), and shared his thoughts and lessons on Italian history, agriculture, wine, food, unspoken Italian (gestures, as well as horn honking), music and so much more. He was working and adjusting logistics daily. David kept us active. For example, on our last full day, traffic issues led him to rearrange our scheduled stops to minimize bus time. Earlier, he worked to re-unite one participant with a wallet that had been left behind. And, he assured that dietary needs were accommodated.

This was an engaging, interesting, and active tour. Some of the other specialty guides were excellent. Boris Behncke, the volcanologist who spoke to us in Taormina, hours after we ascended Mt. Etna, was incredible! Early on our Tour, Jackie Alio gave us a great orientation to Sicilian history and the Cathedral at Monreale. Her perspectives on history of 800 and 900 years ago, and more modern history, were insightful and thought provoking, though some historians may well have other thoughts. Our meal at Casa Bianca, on the way from Agrigento and Villa Romana del Casale to Siracusa, was excellent and the linguine alla limone was a highlight for many! On our last night, David finally found a guitar and sang a serenade after our final group dinner. We quite enjoyed it all.

Now part 2: self-guided bike tour in Puglia. We arranged this portion of the trip with Puglia Cycle Tours, which booked all hotels and arranged luggage transfers. This was an “8-day” bike tour through much of Puglia.

But first, we spent a lovely 24 hours in Bari. Our hotel was walking distance to the centro storico. We had a delightful meal at Ristorante Opera. The next day we walked the medieval city, including the Norman/Aragonese Castello and St. Nicholas Cathedral. A wonderful day on our own. We then bussed to Alberobello, as we had added an extra night in a Trulli hotel there to our “8-day” cycle tour that already included two nights.

Despite pooh-poohing of Alberbello from others, we were fine with it. This gave us a day to relax, get our bikes, do laundry and see the town; our second “full day” was not in Alberobello. We cycled a 55 km loop from there to Martina Franco, Locorotondo and back. GREAT day! Next day, a 44 km ride to Monopoli (via Polignano a Mare). The April weather was a little windy, but warm enough to wade in the Adriatic on arrival in Monopoli. In Monopoli, I enjoyed a surrealist art exhibit (Miro, Dali, Magritte, and Ernst) at the Castello Carlos V. The next day we biked 55 km to Ostuni, mostly along the shore of the Adriatic. Before we left Monopoli, we had problems with the GPS mapping device from Puglia Cycle, spent time hassling with that via WhatsApp communications with Puglia Cycle and weak wi-fi from our otherwise lovely hotel. 15 minutes after we left, the driver who was transferring our bags chased us down and presented us with my wife’s purse (with our passports). We somehow left that behind in our frenzy. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers! From Ostuni, we biked a bit, got a train to Lecce and biked on to Martano, where we stayed in an elegant, quirky, palazzo. From Martano, we biked to Otranto on a blustery though still mostly dry and partly sunny day. The Adriatic coast and Roman and Aragonese ruins were enchanting. On arrival in Otranto, we had a wonderful lunch at what looked like an ordinary tourist restaurant. My wife quite enjoyed her orchiette alla vongole (pasta with clams) and I thoroughly enjoyed my seared tuna with sesame seeds; we shared a tomato and arugula salad. Overall, I would say our level of dining and satisfaction with meals was noticeably better than in Sicily.

And now, the day from Hell, courtesy of the weather, our own mistake, and the hotel that Puglia Cycle Tours booked in Lecce. We knew rain was forecast, but chose to bike the first half of our planned 55 km route and then take a train. It was dry when we started, but after about 12 km, we ran into a full-on, cold downpour. Not taking the train to start was our mistake. We were soaked when we got where we could get a train. Once in Lecce, the hotel denied that we had a reservation, was already full and claimed our bags had not arrived, though we quickly found them in a room adjacent to reception. Puglia Cycle Tours got the hotel to find us a place to stay, though that took an hour, for reasons unknown. The hotel acknowledged it had “personnel changes” (new management?) since our reservations were made six months earlier. OK, we get to the substitute hotel. The room is small, the bathroom window is broken, and the shower has no hot water; the first hotel booked us an “economy room” at the substitute. While Puglia Cycle then arranged a better room, there was still no hot water, though it was lukewarm for a minute or two, which fooled me. We are really frosted. AND, we had originally arranged with Puglia Cycle for a total of three nights in Lecce, so we could spend two full days there. More WhatsApp texts with Puglia Cycle, so at least they reserved our final two nights in Lecce at a 5-star hotel (on their "dime"), with nice things like hot water, closet space for clothes, and a large balcony. Whew! E Grazie Mille, PCT.

Finally, Part 3 - Italy on our own. We begin with our two full days in Lecce. This city is known for Baroque architecture and churches. Rightly so. Over the top, not necessarily elegant and rarely sublime. It was nice to slow down, enjoy the passeggiata, gelato, and relative lack of crowds. One highlight was the Museo Castromediano. Its archaeological section pulled a lot together. The amphorae (vessels transported by ship to trade or carry wine, olive oil, and pitch) were impressive, as were pottery, tools, funerary items, and sculpture from neolithic through Greek and Roman times. This was a very nice museum and echoed much of what we saw in the museum at Agrigento on our RS Sicily tour. While Agrigento may have had more artifacts, here we saw wonderful videos showing the marine archaeology and historical context for so much that we saw while cycling Puglia the previous week. The museum also had art from the 17th century that did nothing for us, as well as enchanting works by Puglian artists from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Next, we drove to the Cilento coast (southern Campania) via Matera and Basilicata. We had limited time in Matera, but enjoyed a lovely lunch with a view of the centro storico and we went through some of the sassi (particularly, San Nicola dei Greci), caves carved out stone a thousand years ago where people lived, prayed, pressed wine, and housed their animals until 1950. Onward! Shortly before sunset, we arrived at our lovely Hotel Marulivo on the Cilento coast overlooking the Mediterranean. My wife dubbed dinner at Osteria del Borgo as our best meal in Italy, yet. We had wonderfully fresh fish and linguine Limone.

We enjoyed another day in the Cilento, admiring both Palinuro and Castellabate, as the weather was too windy to simply spend the day in Palinuro for a boat ride to its blue grotto and around the point, Back in Pisciotta, we enjoyed another seafood dinner and tiramisu, again at Osteria del Borgo. We are pleased to have chosen the quieter Cilento coast, rather than the more spectacular, crowded Amalfi. The next day, we drove to Naples with several stops along the way. First, the Tenuta Vannulo buffalo cheese farm. Our host in Pisciotta had called it a spa for buffalo and he was right. We then saw the Greek and Roman ruins at Paestum. We even had a chance to drive a small piece of the Amalfi Coast between Vietri and Maiori, before we turned back to get to turn in the car at the Naples Airport. The final four km of the drive to Airport, to gas up and return the car, took well over an hour, and took the blush off an otherwise lovely day. We then spent four nights in Naples.

After we got to the hotel in the Centro Storico, we wandered along the Spacca Napoli and found a pizzeria for dinner. Ah, the graffiti and madness of Naples! The wine, bread and grilled vegetables outshined the pizza, but hey, at least we were back on vacation and driving near the airport was in the rear-view mirror.

Napoli. Teeming, Loud, Motorini, Locals, Tourists, Rainy, Narrow Streets, Anthropology Museo, Italians, Pasticcerie, Churches, Inefficient, Piazza, Pizzarie, Tired Feet, Statues, Crosses, Mosaics, Lively, Passegiate, Youthful, Decaying, Graffiti, Elegant, Dirty, Palazzo Reale, Street Vendors, Galleria, Fiore de Zucca, Pompeii (Guide Gaetano Manfredi brought Pompeii to life), 2000-year-old Frescoes, Sfogliatelli. Pazzo. Due giorni e quatro notte a Napoli.

For our last full day in Italy, the weather gods smiled on us; not a cloud in the sky and 72°. We got a ferry to Ischia and spent a lovely day walking through Ischia Porta and Ischia Ponte. Our lunch at Ristorante da Ciccio was one of our three best meals in Italy. Pasta with mussels and a little pecorino cheese, a beautiful grilled mixed seafood plate and a Caprese salad with arugula added to the mix. Tutta Bella.

Fred, pausing halfway through your very interesting post! Could you tell me the hotel name where you had the issues in Lecce? I will be in that city soon.

I am loving the timing of your trip report! It’s great to hear a review of the Museo Castromediano that I am planning in Lecce, too, if I have time on my arrival day from Martina Franca. I have a cooking class, etc. planned on the other days. Any issues in general I should be aware of for a female traveling solo?

I don’t have your riding ability - just have an ebike reserved at Alberobello to ride some of the countryside for a couple of hours, hopefully on a sunny day! Thanks again for sharing your trip report!

Jean, I answered your question in a private reply.

Re your e-bike rental from Alberobello, both Marina Franco and Locorotondo are bikeable from Alberobello. Our loop that took in both towns probably took us 6 hours (by e-bike), including time to explore churches in both, the Ducal Palazzo in Martina Franco and to have lunch and gelato in Locorotondo.

Probably 2-1/2 to 3 hours riding and 3 to 3-1/2 hours in the towns.

Again, enjoy your cooking class in Lecce that you’ve mentioned in other posts of your own.

Wow! You did so much! The bike tour sounds fascinating but I am sure I don't have the endurance to do that over multiple days.

You were brave to drive near Naples. I have been there but can't imagine driving. Being a passenger in a taxi was frightening enough.

Fred, thank you for for taking the time to respond to private reply! My B&B has great reviews, so I am hoping for an actual reservation when I arrive! : )

I am actually staying in Locorotondo & Martina Franca, too, even though they are very close together. I enjoy staying in different cities for their evening ambience and early morning photography.

My 5-night stay in Palermo is to see if I would like to possibly take the RS Sicily in the next year or two.

fred, thank you for this wonderful trip report. I enjoyed every word, every phrase, every experience.

And I love and appreciate your reaction to Naples. What a wonderful city that is. Your beautiful description made me long to return.

I’m planning to reread your report tomorrow, and savor it again, more slowly.

Thank you.

Enjoyed your trip report and reliving our 2023 RS trip to Sicily and then a few days in Sorrento, a week on our own in Matera and Pugila and finishing in busy crazy Naples! It was so fun to stay in a Trulli, take a boat ride in Polignano a Mar, and spend a few days in Lecce - we did a food/history tour that was a highlight!

Thank you so much for your trip report Fred. We're headed to the Puglia region in a few weeks for a self-guided walking/hiking tour and your description was nice to read from a different method of transport :)

Carrie

Jean, I think you would love the Sicily tour. We spent time both before and after the tour in Palermo, and loved it.

Hey Fred, what a great TR, sounds like you planned well ahead of time for all but those inevitable experiences. You and many others have raved about Lecce, it's on our list for a long weekend. Yeah, sigh, Naples. Well said, all of it, but "if you don't like Rome try Denmark. If you loved Rome, try Naples", as RS says. Personally, I'm a big fan of Naples, but perhaps as far from National holidays and earlier in the year? You've written on other posts about your biking, all of which sound incredible but I'm thinking an e-bike would be easier. Thanks again!

Sandancisco

Funny what you say about national holidays. We were there on Liberation Day which was last Thursday and was the launch of a holiday weekend. Don’t know if it really affected crowds, the hotel folks said it didn’t and that tourist season had begun, though we saw more French than Americans or Brits. One advantage turned out to be that the Anthropology Musem and Palazzo Reale were both free.

Fred--what a wonderful trip report--and such varied experiences and adventures you had along the way. We really enjoyed Naples--we were there at either end of a week long Capri trip. Particularly remember Archeological Museum, Castel Sant Elmo (overlooking the city and Vesuvius), Piazza del Plebescito, Castel dell Ovo, Galleria Umberto I, Villa Comunale Park, and pizza of course.