cmndesign

We are flying into Rome and are making our way to Perdifumo for a three week stay at a Villa. I have two days to spend in some place special before we start our three weeks. I was planning on going to Ostuni, but I fear that it is way to far to drive right after getting off the plane. It is a 5 1/2 hour drive from Rome. I really want to see Ostuni, and Alberobello. Do you have any good suggestions on what to do? Should I make the drive? Should I drive 1/2 way and find some sleepy village to stay? or should I think of another plan. I am very much into architecture, so I wanted to go to Puglia to experience something a little different. I had been thinking all along that I would try to drive to Alberobello from Perdifumo (Castellabate), but it is about a 4 hour plus drive. Not really day trip material. Anyway....our dates of travel are:

June 9th: arrive in Rome (need a place to stay, I have been to Rome 3 times)
June 10th: need a place to stay
June 11th: move into Villa in Perdifumo
July 2nd: move out of Villa
July 3rd: need ideas of what to do
July 4th: fly out of Rome


Thank you in advance for any suggestions you might offer!

zeppole

Have you checked into the possibility of picking up a flight to Brindisi when you land in Rome? Likewise, there is 5 hour train ride from Termini to Brindisi -- which I think makes more sense than driving from FCO for five hours.

But personally, since your stay in Perdifumo is so long, I would just take a bit of money and spend a few nights in Ostuni/Alberobello as part of your villa stay. That way you can see it when you are rested. If you go the first day, by the time you spend your money on extra plane tix, train tix or two days extra car rental, the amount you spend on a b&b in that area in addition to your "empty" villa for those two night or so isn't all that great.

It's not clear from your post what your interest in architecture is. Quite a lot of people who post on Fodor's or message boards say they are interested in "architecture" but all they really mean by that is that they hate visiting museums or church interiors, and would much rather spend their time walking around an old town than doing specific sightseeing. Others mean that they travel to Italy because they have a specific interest in classic temples, important cathedral complexes, fascist architecture, new Italian showpieces of architecture (of which Rome has several),

If you prefer to get closer to Perdifumo the first day, you might consider taking the train to Salerno and visit Paestum if you've never done that, or take a day trip to Capri the next day and visit its famous villas. You can rent a car in Salerno.

I think you should wait until the end of June to decide how you want to spend your last nights in Italy.

cmndesign

zeppole, I have a degree in Architectural History (albeit American Colonial....), and I am now a professor of Graphic Design. So I do appreciate both museums and interior of churches, walking amongst ruins, etc etc. I have been to all the major sites, and we were planning on going to Paestum as a day trip while in Perdifumo. I really am looking for lesser know sites or interesting villages that I may not have visited. Yes, I am starting to think that I might just take an overnight trip to Ostuni/Alberobello it might just be easier that way. So now, I am looking for an interesting town to contrast the rest of our trip which will mainly be focus on seaside locations. What do you think of Benevento? The other idea I had was to go to Sperlonga, or some other Roman seaside town. I will have my parents and my son with me, so I don't want to exhaust them, even though I love to drive and could kick it for hours if I had to..... ;-)

zeppole

I've not been to Benevento, but if you use the search feature on this board, you can come up with trip reports of people who have and greatly enjoyed it, precisely because it is not a super-touristed Amalfi coast town. As you probably already know, Benevento suffered very painful damage in WW2, yet much of its impressive Roman-era architecture remains.

One of the problems, needless to say, in identifying lesser known sites is that they are lesser known -- including to message board posters like me!

That said, I know that there are people who frequently check into the TripAdvisor and Frommer's message boards who are very familiar with not only Benevento, but the entire southern region of Italy.

Since you mention Sperlonga, I will pass along these links, aware that they don't address question about non-seaside locations. But that area would certainly make an easy mid-way point to or from Perdifumo

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/200...familyholidays

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/sperlonga.html

I also pass this along too

http://www.askitaly.com/info/Campania

and this blog *might* yield something in terms of day trips from Perdifumo, but maybe not. It may be too far south

http://my-bellavita.com/2011/01/13/c...travel-photos/

I've found in the past that if you are sufficiently literal-minded and candid with Google, you can sometimes hit on really great info. Meaning? If you put in a search string like "interesting towns and architecture in Lazio" (or Campania or Latium) -- you can end up with a surprising wealth of information. Here's something I found searching for (literally) "fabulous towns in Basilicata" (I'm researching a potential trip of my own).

http://www.trullobellissimo.com/places_to_go.html

Also from personal experience, I can say that I have found that the Cadogan guides to the regions of Italy are exhaustive when it comes to detailing all sites of potential architectural interest in an area or region. (You might need more than one, since you are abutting more than one region in with a base in Perdifumo.) Also, the Italian Touring Club guides are good on detail and hidden gems, but they are mostly written in Italian ( they have lots of photos and great maps, and the Italian isn't all that hard to decipher).

I've found the websites of b&bs and hotels located in obscure places often include copious info about fascinating little-known sights within reach.

Finally, I'll pass this along: If you haven't already invested in a copy of Fred Plotkin's "Italy for the Gourmet Traveler" i highly recommend it. It not only includes marvelous tips for people who want to know how to eat well seasonally without spending a fortune (lots of great restaurant recommendations too), it has brief but wonderful descriptions of many, many lovely towns not on the tourist trail in Italy. The word "gourmet" isn't about high prices or fussy eating. The book is about appreciating Italy's agrarian culture and eating culture, with tips on finding places to see mozzerella or wine being made, olives or lemons being harvested, which might intrigue some members of your family.

Buon viaggio!

cmndesign

zep,

I checked out all your links, and it's funny because I had looked at them in the past when I was researching and it was a refresher.....since I have been planning for a long time. But I had always planned on flying into Naples and I changed my plans because my parents got a flight into Rome, so I decided at the last minute to hook up with them. So, my huband, two kids and I will probably spend the last two days (saturday and sunday) in Rome. Do you know if all the sites shut down on sundays? I guess I can check out the Vatican's website (it's weird to say that ;-), and see what the hours are.

I have purchased a Cadogan quide for Calabria. It's funny because the Cilento is barely addressed by any guide book. It's lumped in with the Amalfi Coast and Naples, but most books don't address any of the towns. So I bought books on Calabria and it's not in there either. I think I have 4 guide books so far, and I just purchased your suggestion "Italy for the gourmet Traveler". It sounds great. Because my plan is to just drive around to random places looking for good eats and arch. treats.

Thanks for your help. I am now looking at driving to Fondi or Benevento after we arrive in Rome. Then doing an overnight trip to Ostuni. It just makes more sense! Carey