We are heading to Italy from Chicago. Flying into Rome with visits to Amalfi coast, Puglia area and back to Rome. Is it possible to make the drive from Rome to Martina Franca after arriving in Rome early morning? I have no idea how long the trip would really take. Distance estimates indicate 4 to 5 hours....not sure how true. Need to consider tired factor after the long flight too.

We have 10 days for the trip. Are we biting off too much by trying to get to Puglia. I was hoping to spend 3 nights in Martina Franca as a base and then move on to Ravello and then back to Rome.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

PS Ekscrunchy, I have enjoyed your review very much!

Possible? Yes. Recommended? I would say no. It is indeed at least 5-6 hours of a drive and if you are coming off a long flight and have not slept it could be unwise.

Agreed - I would never get in a car and drive that length of time in a car after an overnight flight. You may be fine, but with jetlag etc its dangerous not only for you but for the rest of the people on the road.

Not sure if the train is an option, but something to look into...or maybe pick up the car and drive an hour to a town and spend the night?

We did more or less this exact journey last year. We landed in Rome and drove to Monopoli- roughly three-quarters of an hour from Martina Franca.
The journey was easy and took almost six hours- we left the airport at about 12.00 lunchtime.You need to factor in the time it will take to get your hire car. It was completely quiet when we were there and took about 45 mins. However I passed the car hire desk at the same time of day in February of this year and the queue was out of the "door" and down the passageway and we commented on how we seemed to have been lucky.
We went to Puglia at the very end of August last year and by the time we hit the east coast of Italy the temperature at 5p.m. was 39 degrees . It had climbed steadily all the way across.
On the way back, having spent some days in the Gargano, we took a night in Sulmona after a recommendation on this board.I enjoyed this very much and the journey back to the airport from there took (I think)three hours exactly.
I also do not suggest you make the journey to Puglia the same day you do your transatlantic flight. We flew in from the U.K.

I think it is too much to do this after a flight from the States. I suspect that Frances did not fly so far (clue is that she gave the temperature as 39-degrees!)

Why not fly into Bari or Brindisi, connecting in Rome? Did you buy your air tix yet?

I hate to say this, but for me it would be a long drive both ways for only three nights. See if you can add more time to Puglia. Perhaps you could post your complete itinerary and we can take a look and make suggestions!

See if this is of any help:


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

I agree with the others - I would not want to try that much driving while dealing with jet lag!

> We have 10 days for the trip. Are we biting off too much by trying to get to Puglia?

Maybe, although it really depends on what you want to see and do. I think 10 days would be great for just Rome and the Amalfi Coast. Keep in mind that you will lose a fair chunk of time getting to Puglia and back. If you do decide to include Puglia, ekscrunchy's suggestion of flying into Bari or Brindisi seems worth considering.

Thanks everyone... We still have not firmed up our plans. The kids are opposed to spending all of the trip in the car! I may be back with more questions.

EKS your linked helped...looks like you had the same question way back when.

Our flights are in and out of Rome, so we are tied into to driving.

The plan is to land in Rome and head out. My husband really wants to see the "Martina Franca" area. If that happens, we would limit Puglia to that surrounding area. We have 3 nights to give to the area or stay 2 and use 1 as we make our move to Ravello. We have four nights in Ravello and 3 nights in Rome. I am still wondering if we should take a night away from Ravello and give to Rome.

In Ravello we plan to visit Pompeii, Capri, and the coastal towns. Not going to Naples. We also want to visit Paestum.

In Rome, we hope to do as much as possible. We have been there before, but always like seeing the sights. A Vatican visit is definite.

As you have read earlier, the question is if there really is enough time to "squeeze" some of Puglia into the trip. I realize that there is more to be seen in Puglia and requires a separate trip in the future. There was hope to just see some highlights.

So that is a general idea of what is happening.

Have you considered buying separate air tickets from Rome to Bari, one way? I think you can do this quite inexpensively.

I will return to address more or your post in detail when I have time later today...