dgunbug

We (my husband and I), 70 and 57 respectively are beginning research on a southern Italy trip. We are seasoned independent travelers and will be renting a car. Originally the thought was to do 3 days in Rome (we've each spent time there previously), proceeding to Naples, the amalfi coast and then into Sicily. We do like to take our time and see an area extensively. But now after doing some reading, the puglia area also piques my interest. Are we trying to chew off more than we can handle in a month or can we fit it all in? For those who have been to the Sicily area and also east, which is preferable? Given a month, what would be your essential cities? While beaches are nice, we live in Florida and will not spend a lot of time there. We enjoy scenery, history, ruins, people watching and quaint towns. Thanks in advance for your help. Not sure when we will go, but would like to do this trip when it is a bit cooler, not during the summer months.

Improviser

Well it is a subjective question, not an objective question. How much you can fit in depends on how much time you find you need in places to see/do what you want and how much time you are willing to spend/lose moving from place to place.

For a city in Puglia to visit I would suggest Lecce.

There is no question that Sicily alone could take up your entire month with no difficulty. As always, you can see a little of a lot or a lot of a little.

You can't see 'many' places and 'see an area extensively' in the same period of time. It's one or the other dgunbug. Your decision.

yestravel

Havent been to Sicily in many years, but did like it. Last Fall we went to Puglia and loved it mainly because it seemed very different to us and it was blissfully uncrowded.
We like slow travel these days also and I think if you do the trip as mentioned in your post, adding Puglia would be way too much. If you decide on Puglia, don't miss speding at least a night in Matera which I thought fascinating.
Weatherwise we had good weather in mid September thru early October. A few very hots days which we were told was unusual, but overall nice weather with no rain.
I have a TR from our trip last fall and search out the reports by ekscrunchy. Her TR's are what got me going on Puglia.

isabel

On our trip to Sicily we had 11 days and felt that was a good amount of time - it certainly wasn't 'slow' travel but not really rushed either. We did 2 nights Palermo, 1 Erice, 1 Selunite, 2 Agrigento, 2 Siricusa, 3 Taormina. Could you spend more time, of course. But we got tot see most areas of the island and had a great time. Essential to rent a car, by public transportation it would take much longer.In researching that trip it seemed that most people did between 8 and 14 day trips.

We did 8 days for the Amalfi Coast - based all 8 nights in Sorrento with day trips to Positano, Amalfi, Capri, Ravello, Napoli, and Pompeii (did not have a car, all day trips by bus, train or boat). Also felt like the 'right' amount of time. Would have been frustrated with less but this felt OK, although we are planning a repeat trip cause we loved the area so much.

So if you are like me, that would mean you'd have about one extra week for Puglia or other area.

bobthenavigator

I think you have time for all of your wish list. I have seen both Sicily and Puglia and enjoyed Sicily more. Click on my name above to find my Sicily trip report---heer are the pics:

http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3828

dgunbug

Bob - beautiful pictures. What time of year did you go? I especially love sewing the wild flowers.

ekscrunchy

I wrote out a long suggested itinerary for you only to see it disappear into the ether.

Basically, I suggested that an alternative to Sicily would be to fly into Naples and stay a few days before picking up a car and heading south, via Salerno and Paestum, to the Cilento peninsula. After that, you could stop in Maratea (in good weather only) , or proceed to Pollino Park on the Calabria border, then into Basilicata, to Senise, Metaponto and Bernalda, before heading to Matera.

From Matera you could drive to Gallipoli, and then round the Salento, or cut over to Otranto.
Then visit Lecce, and proceed north to the Murge area and again north to Castel del Monte and Trani, before flying home from Bari. Plenty more in this region, but I mention only a few of the many highlights.

If you have more time, you could make a circuit, returning to Naples by way or either Potenza or, more likely, Benevento. Matera coul fit into the drive back if you do decide to return from Naples.

Take a look at a map; this route or something similar would take you through some beautiful and undiscovered inland areas..

bobthenavigator

May--and the flowers were fabulous.

dgunbug

Ekscrunchy - which do you prefer - Sicily or the eastern and inland route? Any other opinions. Definitely want to spend some time on the amalfi coast, Naples and Pompeii are a must.

dgunbug

Looks like I need at least 2 months to see all that I would like to. Hard to pick and chose.

kja

I managed a trip of 26 or 27 days that included Sicily, Naples and the Amalfi Coast, Matera, and Puglia. I enjoyed it, but I do regret trying to fit all of those places into that short an amount of time. I gave Sicily about 2 weeks, and would have preferred at least 3 weeks -- and that's traveling hard. IMHO if you want to take things a bit more slowly, four weeks would be better. I gave Naples and the Amalfi Coast about a week, and wish I had given it at least 10 days if not 2 weeks. I knew I was only allowing myself a small taste of Puglia with 4 days; it was, indeed, just a small taste. BTW, I personally can easily imagine spending a month in Sicily. A month in Puglia would have driven me crazy, but that's just me and my interests.

I would definitely agree that you should avoid summer for this part of the world.

Of the half-dozen or so guidebooks I used for my trip to southern Italy, I found the Rough Guide most useful.

ekscrunchy

Deciding between the two routes is so difficult! I am partial to Puglia and Basilicata, but a month in Sicily would be fabulous as well. I think a lot depends on the time of year...you can do Sicily in winter (I think that January was the preferred season in Taormina during the Grand Tour era and winter and early spring would be wonderful) but I am not sure you would get the most out of a visit to Puglia in winter.


Just my own thoughts...others might disagree.

dgunbug

How nice to see familiar names that I recognize and whose opinions I value from the Asia forum. I will continue to read trip reports and do more homework. We keep vacillating between this trip and one to Malaysia/central Indonesia/Bali. I think in part it will depend on the time of year we can get away. The beginning stages of planning a trip always seem the most daunting.