rnman

Bought the airline tickets ($650 RT from Salt lake to FCO)good price!
5 days in Rome (already rented a small apartment)
fly to Brindisi pick up a car and drive to Lecce 3 nights in Lecce
Drive to Matera.. 2 nights
Travel to Santa Nicola Dell Alto ( my grandmother''s town) will probably stay in San Giovanni de Fiore.. or pehaps in Santa Nicola... The hotels in San Giovanni were the only ones I could find online. The closet large place is Crotone.
Drive to Lamezia Terme drop off car at the airport.. take train to Sorreto via Naples. Two night in Sorrento...
Travel to Rome late in the afternoon, stay near FCo for early morning flight.
So any thoughts? critiques? Hotel recoomendations.. I have thus far only have Rome covered. Any insight greatly appreciated. Thanks!

ira

Enjoy your visit, rn

Dukey

Sounds a lot better than being stuck in SLC

Dobermina

February is rainy, but Italy is pretty in the rain too, so good for you Traveling in off season saves you a lot, and it's nice to see places when they're not packed with crowds. For hotels, I'll refer you to a place that's always treated me well with a lot of selection and price range...and English speaking staff: www.italiancollection.com.

Happy travels!

ekscrunchy

I recommend that you read the memoir Stolen Figs:


http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Figs-Ot.../dp/0865476276

There have been a few excellent recent trip reports that covered Puglia--you should be able to find the others with a search...

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

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



Here is a thread that I began--perhaps there is some useful info here; you should state a vague budget if you are looking for hotel recommendations:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-the-south.cfm

rnman

Thank you all. I will try and get a room at the Locanda di San Martino in Matera. It was in one of the threads. Price wise I would like to hold things to around $100 Euros.. should be doable in the off season. We prefer B&B's or small hotels. I know it could rain buckets and be cold. But Salt Lake will be Very Cold! The unkind Euro makes winter the only time I can currently afford to go back to Italy! I have been there in the Fall ( wonderful) and summer.. too hot and crowded (never again).. Ideally Spring would be nice.. but instead of the beach we are Italy bound!
Does anyone have a good recommendation in Lecce?

LBev769375

Whether its the hottest day in August or the coldest day of February any day in Italy is great. I spent several years in the 60's in the Brindisi, San Vito, Ostuni, Specchiolla area and I would go prepared for it to be cold. Being in Southern Italy is not like being in South Flordia, as some might tend to think. On rare occassions you snow is possible. So long as you are prepared you will have a great time.
How that I've you prepared for it being somewhat cold, I have a challenge for you. It's like finding a needle in a hay stack, but its as rewarding as grabing the brass ring on the merry-go-round or winning a teddy bear for your girl friend by knocking down the bottles at the county fair. That challenge is to look for small pizzaria's that makes a "fritilli" (fritille)(unless you are in Ostuni where its a "pazoretti). To keep it simple, it's a pizza sandwich deep fried in olive oil and while it is shaped like a calzone it is NOT a calzone. These are made by small pizzaria's for the "walking around crowd" and it comes out of the deep frier while you wait and wrapped in a piece of paper for your walking and eating pleasure. It has a crusty shell with a very slight honey glazed donut taste, that contrasts wonderfully with the marimara sauce and hot cheese interior. I'm here to tell you when you bite into one on a cold February day you'll think brass rings and teddy bears... I've looked for it all over Italy and after 16 trips have come to the conclusion this is strickly a localized southern Italian thing and only at small pizzaria's. PS: the dw after much research and several experiments has accomplished the near impossible and when I get the urge to go back to Italy, she whips out a batch... Have a great vacation, enjoy the gelato (even in Feb) and the fritilli if you can find it....

rnman

My mouth is watering....thanks for the post.