Centralparkgirl

We are planning a trip to Puglia for next spring. I’ve read so many terrific threads and reports here that I can taste the pettule, but I still need help with the sequence and logistics of my itinerary.

Already booked: flights in and out of Rome and planning to stay 5 nights there before heading to Puglia for 12 more. There are actually 18 nights in our stay.

We were thinking of staying in or near (in no particular order):
Ostuni – 3 nights
Lecce – 3 nights
Matera – 2 nights
Gargano promontory– 4 nights

1) We are comfortable driving around and have a few options to get there:
a) Taking a train to Foggia and picking up a car there.
b) Flying to Bari or Brindisi and doing the same.

My concern about option ‘a’ is getting the type of car we would like to rent (decent automatic) in a small location. Is this concern unfounded?

2) Since we will fly back to Rome from either Bari or Brindisi, what should be the order of our itinerary? With the Gargano far from everything else, this has really stumped me. How would you organize this?

Lastly, we plan to fly back to FCO late afternoon and stay nearby before our flight home the next day around noon. This is our 18th night. I’m afraid to fly the morning of our flight home in case of some unforeseen issue. Good idea?

3) Is 12 nights enough in Puglia? I could cut a night from Rome. (We have been there before, but not in many, many years.)

All you Puglia experts, thanks for any insights that you could share with me!

kja

If you are committed to flying out of Rome, and can put all of your time there at the end of your trip, that would cut down on a change of hotel. You might be tired upon arrival, but if you can push on it might pay off. And yes, I, too, try to make sure I'm near my departure airport the night before a departure -- there are simply to many breakable moving parts for me to justify taking the risk of a missed flight. YMMV.

If you need a car with an automatic transmission, I would think you would want to make reservations in advance with a very reliable car rental agency -- JMO.

Consider ordering your itinerary based on what you want to see and experience. Plot things out on a calendar, mindful of the extremely long "pause" in Puglia, which can be from noon or so to 5 p.m. or so. I like to use midday closure times to move from place to place; you might want to see if that works for you.

How much time you "need" really depends on what you want to see and experience, your preferred pace of travel, and so much else! I spent 1 night (just over 1.5 days) in Matera (which is not in Puglia <i>per se</i and only about 5 days in Puglia itself -- but I just wanted a bit of a taste of the area, and I travel at a very intense pace. Obviously, many people spend much longer there....

Hope that helps!

Centralparkgirl

kja- RT JFK to FCO on Delta already booked with points. Because I wanted Delta non stop, I could not connect with Alitalia to Bari on one ticket (using points). Hence, Rome at beginning of trip (which I actually prefer).

Using a reliable car rental is a given, but wouldn't there be more inventory in Bari or Brindisi than in Foggia?

The biggest question for me is the layout of the trip and which is the most logical order of driving around to get to the four bases of travel.

I like your suggestion of travel during the 'pause.'

With 12 days, we want more than a taste and would explore the surrounding area from each base.

bilboburgler

I've flown and taken the train Rome to Puglia.
1) the Rome to Potenza train bit (esp Naples south) is wonderful with trains cutting through mountains etc.
2) The Potenza down to Taranto train is less good, but you pass close to a Greek temple on the beach.
3) The Potenza to Gravina train (different station from inbound Potenza) is magical narrow gauge.
4) Flights into Bridisi are dead easy and Brindisi is a good place to start if you are using public transport
5) Lecce train to the southern tip is another strange railway system, which if you like quirky might amuse

If you follow my name back about 5 years I got married in Lecce

Travel during the pause, yep, either eat, swim, sleep or travel. Or in our case ride a bike from town to town.

"inventory" sorry you lost me in your English

Do use AutoEurope, it saves so much hassle, don't be fooled into "I use Hertz in USA, so...."

yorkshire

Only one way to find out about availability of automatics in Foggia--check with some agencies. It was no trouble in Bari city and Bari airport, but I booked well in advance. I have a discount with Hertz, and they were great both times.

What month in spring? Weather would be a big factor in determining if I went to the Gargano. I am sure the wildflowers are amazing, I think a number of orchids are found there. It is somewhat isolated, so most day tripping will probably be within the park. (I think just driving the length peninsula one way takes nearly two hours.) I would let bloom times (if that is part of why you are going) and transport logistics determine if Gargano comes first or last. Unless you are outdoors types or just wanting to chill, you might move a night from Gargano. There is actually a lot to do around Matera. Looks pretty great, and makes me want to return a third time--I could not ever fit Gargano into my plans.

Sketch out the itinerary in various ways after some train and rental car research and it should become clear which order to go: Rome-Gargano-Matera-Ostuni-Lecce, or
Rome-Lecce(say if you fly to Brindisi)-Ostuni-Matera-Gargano (see if you can drop car in Foggia or fly from Bari airport). Probably a few other iterations as well, but those are the obvious to me.

jubilada

Re car rental: I am renting through Autoeurop in Bari and though I don't want one, there do seem to be automatics.

MyriamC

We are doing exactly the same trip next month.
We fly into Bari early in the morning and rented a car (manual) from Sicily by Car [doesn't get the best reviews but we have rented from them before and were very satisfied] through AutoEurope.

This is our itinerary:
-Fasano (5 nts) - to see central Puglia (Alberobello, Locorotondo, Ostuni, ...)
-Specchia (6 nts) - to see the Salento (Lecce, Gallipoli, Otranto, Leuca, ... and the beach)
-Matera (2 nts) - for obvious reasons
-Vieste (3 nts) - to see the Gargano area

As per google maps, Vieste to Bari airport is only two and a half hours. Our return flight goes at 8:25 pm, so we have plenty of time to drive to Bari.

Centralparkgirl

Bilboburgler - I read your report a long time ago!

In fact I have read contributions from most of the above posters and they're invaluable.

As far as inventory - I was referring to the cars that a rental company has on hand when you pick up your car. I have often found even in airports and large cities that the company doesn't have the type of car that I've contracted for and would like me to take either a large suv type or a very tiny car. I was wondering if that situation would be likely in a town like Foggia.

I think we will fly in and out of Bari and possibly follow Myriam's plan or reverse it.

MyriamC

If you order a compact car, the rental companies should give you a compact and if they don't have one, you are entitled to an upgrade. We have never had a car smaller than the type we booked. Larger, yes ... which isn't always an advantage in towns with narrow streets.
I think you will have better chances of getting the type of car you want in a bigger location, such as the airport.

bilboburgler

My advice would be get one as small as possible. Last time we had a Fiat 500 which you would think would be useless, it proved to be perfect for the streets of Lecce. It came with a steering wheel lock and given how close the port of Bari is (and the sell-on market in Albania etc) was probably a good thing.

If you have stuff in the boot (or what Brits call the boot) then back the car up against a wall and don't leave anything visibile in the body of the car. Parked this way means that if you have to drive off fast you can, also, leave a car length in front of you in traffic queues, avoids the issue of kids with motorbikes coming down and smashing in the windows as you sit there stuck.

Dukey1

IOW, Bilboburger, have insurance, is that it?

bilboburgler

Isle of Wight Dukey? Yes probably, it's my anti-kidnap training coming through.

Centralparkgirl

Wow! Wow, Bilboburgler! Living in NY, I am always super careful everywhere, but you're scaring me

I've read so many TRs here and didn't come across those issues.

I never, ever leave anything visible in my car, but how do you fit your luggage in a mini boot? On one trip, our rental in Milan wasn't available and they wanted to give us a great two seater convertible - no room for luggage and we refused! This is what I was referring to earlier and what I wanted to avoid in a smaller location like Foggia.

yorkshire

Of course anecdote does not equal data, but just to calm you about all the horror stories, we--first time overseas car renters--drove all over Puglia the last two years and a parking ticket was the only harm. We even did stupid things like leave our luggage in the car while we spent days at beaches and parks. I am not recommending that.
We fit our luggage in the boot of the Fiat 500L. The second year, my husband insisted on the Opal Mocha, which looked like an SUV in comparison, but we had no trouble in old towns. In torrential rain, I was kind of glad to have the larger vehicle.

Centralparkgirl

We've been renting over 30 years and - knock wood - never had a problem either, but I know break-ins can and do happen. yorkshire, was your luggage carry-on or regular size when you rented the Fiat 500?

Now that we're on car security, one of the things that always concerns me in an overseas rental is when the rear of the car is a hatchback type so you can see the luggage through the rear glass. That's like an invite. Any one have troubles with that?

yorkshire

The hatchbacks usually have a pull out cover that at least obscures luggage from view.
We had carry-ons, so if you can do that, it helps. You could make sure one of your accommodations has laundry services if not an apartment with a machine.

MyriamC

We had a small Fiat 500 in Sardinia last year. One suitcase fitted in the boot, one was on the back seat as well as my carry-on. We have ordered a slightly larger car this year (type Alfa Romeo Mito / Lancia Ypsilon) and we hope our two suitcases will fit in the boot. None of our B&B's / small hotels have laundry service.

PS There must be a reason why the excess for theft is so high in southern Italy ...

Centralparkgirl

I will need a trunk/boot that will hold our luggage. We travel somewhat light, but a carry-on would limit our ability to bring home some purchased treasures.

Myriam - are you sure about the laundry? Have you emailed them? We've had very small hotels do ours. I don't mind the light stuff, but I don't care to hand wash jeans.

MyriamC

No, I didn't email them. But then, I don't usually do laundry when on holiday.