Yes, it will be the third trip to the area! Past trips have been only for a week-long period and this upcoming one is so far just a few days more than that, although that may change.

I want to give you a well-thought out answer so again have to postpone my response until I have more time, hopefully later today. But for now, and with this clarification you have given me, it looks like there are a good options with arrival into Naples. Before I go on and on, let me know if beach time is important at all. I ask because if the answer if "yes," you might want to work in the town of Maratea (Basilicata) which is about a 3.5 hour drive from Naples. The coastline near there is every bit as spectacular as the Amalfi Coast, but without the development. From there you could turn inland to Pollino Park, followed by Matera. More soon...

Hi -- not at all interested in beach time. Don't mind checking beach areas out for the scenery, but lying about or swimming is not something we are interested in anymore. On a trip about 10 years or so ago, we drove from Sicily back to Rome and stayed in Maratea and it was indeed a beautiful spot and drive.
Thanks for all your help!

Ok, so next step might be to decide whether of not to venture to the Gargano peninsula from Naples. An interest in wine might make the Mt Vulture/Melfi area a good stopover on this route.


But I've not been to either the Gargano or northern Basilicata...fromt he small peek I've had into Basilicata, I am eager for more and you have the time for this...

Have you taken a look at Franco's report? (It is the most comprehensive coverage of Basilicata that I've seen on this forum) He also visited the Gargano and much of Puglia with a dedication to the art/architecture than I lacked.


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-revisited.cfm





Maybe start a new thread where we can formulate a 3-week plan beginning in Naples. Hopefully Franco will chime in.

Another option is a ramble through the Cilento en route to southern Basilicata. But perhaps you visited this area before?

U r so helpful! Thank u so much. I will look at Franco's thread and then start a new thread. Have not been through the Cilento.

Interesting NYTimes article on the charms of Puglia in the off season:


http://travel.nytimes.com/2013/03/24...anted=all&_r=0

Hi we are on a 10 night trip to Rome and Amalfi and were planning to spend 4 nights in Rome and six nights on the coast . Then I discovered Puglia on these forums .

Do unthinkable it is worth going into this region for three or four nights . A train from Rome gets is there in 4 hours and then we can drive to Naples in three .

We will need to cut Rome to two and Amalfi to four .

What say ?

Travelling may

Three days is not enough with all the traveling you need to complete...will answer more fully after arriving home from long-distance road trip..can you fly home from Bari?

I need to check that . We thought we will take a train into bari from naples and back or take a car from naples and drive out . Understand it is a 4 hour drive and then drive back straight to airport .

Look forward to hearing from u . We are already quite behind on our planning ::) Totally my fault but now trying to put it together .

Please explain in more detail what you mean by the above post...car from Naples to where?

Please state the time of departure and from which airport... Even better, offer your planned itinerary that would include Puglia and we can then lookk at it and give suggestions as to whether of not this is feasible. Puglia would surely work if you give up Amalfi Coast, and even then, it might work but would be rushed.

Does this trip report help?

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...and-puglia.cfm

Sorry to be brief right now..we just returned from a trip up the USA coast from Florida to NYC, and have only been home a few hours!! Will return soon, though!

I've taken the drive from Bari to Naples a few times. It's a surprisingly nice drive. Very good roads all the way, and minimal traffic. One thing that impressed me- when driving near Foggia, there is a strech of land which is very densely packed with wind generators. I drove for about ten minutes before the wind farms were no more. I wonder what they do with all that electricity there. That might be the place where the US had a very, very large air base during WWII.

I know you wrote this report a few years ago, but I SO enjoyed reading it and am thankful it had been topped!

topping/ re bookmarking as we are actively looking into an October 2014 trip.

None years later..bringing this up so I can acess it easily to refer to when writing current trip report..

eks,
When we stayed in Polignano a Mare at Hotel Covo dei Saraceni , we could see the statue of Dominico Modugno right outside one of our windows with a constant playing of “ Volare” which we loved during our ten day stay there!