We are in the very early stages of planning a trip to Sicily and have begun pouring through some of the trip reports and taking copious notes. For those or you who are unfamiliar with us, we are 75 and 62 yrs old and are well seasoned travelers. My husband enjoys driving so we intend to rent a car for a good portion of the trip. We enjoy history, archeological sights, strolling through cities and countrysides, interacting with the local people and trying the local food. We live in Florida and are less interested in spending time at resorts or at the beach, although if the weather is nice, we may happily take a few days for relaxation. We enjoy hiking if the terrain is not too strenuous.

We intend to spend approximately one month on this trip and would like to book airfare as soon as possible. Having read many of the trip reports, I understand that we can easily fill the entire month in Sicily. My question though is whether we should take a week from the trip to either visit the Puglia area or an island off of Sicily. I know this is subjective, but for those of you who have done extensive traveling in Italy, what are your opinions?

I wouldn't add one week in Puglia -- I think that would be too little time for Puglia

If you want a week in islands, you could include the Aeolians, but do check the weather first. And look at dayle's trip report.

I'll be the contrary voice, having been to both Sicily and Puglia. I think you can add a week to Puglia if you really want to. I think the biggest drawback would be that it will take you most of a day to drive there from Sicily. Southern Italy is one of my favorite places and I loved Puglia. If you click on my name and go to my website, you can see my blog posts on Puglia (and some very old ones for Sicily). Can you get a ticket into Palermo and out of Bari? Or vice versa? Or Naples if you have to?