Hello my dear friends, You have once again come to the rescue and helped so very much! We are grateful and based our decision on your advice. We decided to keep the flights. We are going to either fly to Sicily and spend the trip there or focus on the Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria region. The only other place DH would like to visit is Herculaneum, which we will work into in, or out, of Naples. More will follow as we delve into this more. Our Michelin map arrived minutes ago ;).

Oh, Bravo!
Most archeological sites are interesting, but Herculaneum is actually beautiful. Some of the painted wood is still there. You get a really good idea of how beautiful the setting was when people lived there and, of course, the newer town that was built on top of the ruins has great views. It is a bit of a walk from the train station to the site, but there are restaurants along the way where you can take a break and get a bit of lunch before or after the visit. It is downhill getting there, but uphill walking back is tiring. Take water and a hat.

It sounds as if your DH likes archeological sites. If so, and if you go to Sicily, Agrigento is probably one of the most impressive sights you will ever see. Simply astonishing. I kept thinking how amazing it must have been to people seeing it for the first time from the sea. You really cannot imagine how magnificent it is from pictures.
We have not made it to Paestum, It is still on my wish list.

Wishing you a most happy and memorable trip, whatever you do.

Oh, one last thought. You said you like the people. Well, for me anyway, the further South we have gone in Italy, the warmer the people. In Naples (though a somewhat gritty city) the people are just lovely and kind and helpful. The exception is taxi drivers who may overcharge if they can, but other people have given us fruit, shared wine and invited us to join them at a wedding party.

We are leaning towards the Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria regions, thinking we will visit Sicily another trip. That said, we are feeling compelled to quickly book some lodgings at bases, wanting to be in one place for 2-4 nights at a time. Since this trip is only about 8 weeks away, things are, or have, filled up. Given these cities on a quick search that we may want to explore, what would be suggestions for 4-5 bases? Alberobello, Monopoli, Ostuni, Lecce, Matera, Polignanon, a Mare, Carovigno. Possibly Paestum...? We have 14 days without travel. Thank you so much in advance!

P.S. any recommendations for accommodations with be wonderful! Looking for moderately priced, parking possibly.

We stayed in Ostuni for a few nights as a base to visit some of the towns of the valle d'Itria in 2022. We stayed at Relais Sant'Eligio which has free parking; the hotel is located at the base of the hill so to access the city you will need to walk up the hill. You get used to the hike after the first time and you work up a good appetite for dinner! The hotel itself was a bit on the basic side but very clean, the included breakfast was adequate and the staff on the front desk were helpful in booking us into a beach club for a day. Moderately priced. From Ostuni we explored Alberobello, Polignano a Mare, Martina Franca, Locorotondo, Cisternino.

In 2014 we stayed at a gorgeous masseria near Ostuni called Masseria Cervarolo and would have stayed again this last time but they were fully booked. This is really a lovely property with great food, a huge beautiful pool, lovely staff, lots of free parking,the option to have dinner on site etc but it is probably not what I would call moderately priced. On this trip we did a long day trip to Matera, perfectly doable and it was well worth it. We hired a guide, Nadia Garlatti for the day.

Lecce is worth staying a few nights but with a car you will likely have to stay outside the old part of the city or leave the car in a parking garage or have the hotel do that for you. From Lecce you can explore the towns in the southern part of Puglia. I can't recommend the hotel we used as it is not moderately priced.

Yes, agree. I had a car but (weirdly) didn't book any accommodations with parking. Just sorta rolled the dice. It worked out fine for me this past May in Lecce, Monopoli, and Locorotondo but maybe I was lucky? Only once, returning to Lecce looking for a spot outside the ZTL on a Thursday or Friday evening around 7, was it a bit stressful.

I don't like to drive in the country after dark, so I always stay in cities/towns where I can walk to restaurants. But many folks love the countryside and Puglia has a wealth of masserie for you to consider.

Thanks, so much! As of now, we are going to go from the airport to the area near Paestum for the first 2 nights and then head east. More soon.

Hello, we are looking at our itinerary and need some thoughts please.
The trip is 14 nights. Here's what we have so far:
Paestum 2 nights Casale Giancesare Villa Agricola
base between Alberobello and Matera area 4-5 nights
base around Lecce for 3-4 nights
near Bernaldo or Pietrapertosa 1-2 nights
Ercolano 1 night Il Giardino Dei Glicini

You will need to be in Naples the night before your flight home, so you need to figure at least one night there at the end,

Ercolano is about a 15-minute drive from the airport, so a last night there is perfect.

That was my thought. Thanks for your thoughts, SusanP, too.

question: if we want to have a day in Naples, and increase this to 2 nights, will we be able to easily get into Naples for a day tour or such?

We have booked 4 nights in Locorotondo @ Masseria Aprile as our second base.

I didn't realize that Ercolano was so close to the airport, that's great.
Naples is definitely worth going to, not sure about driving or parking in the city, as I haven't driven. However, there is a 23-minute train from Ercolano to Naples that you could take to spend the day there.

Abandon all thought of driving into Naples :-). The train is perfect for day trips.

The National Archeological Museum and Jesuit Church were highlights for me, but there is so much to choose from.

We stayed several nights near Bernalda one year at Hotel Torre Fiore Masseria and found that whole area so interesting. It was in May, off season! We went to Bernalda a couple of times and spent much of a day in Pisticci. There really are many interesting hill towns in that area near Matera and Pisticci and the history of their landslide and the town are a highlight.

That same trip we visited Calabria and stayed near Altomonte. I don't know that I would recommend that just because I think your itinerary seems full and it would be a lot of driving. There's no need to see it all IMHO. Our favorite spot in southern Italy is Cilento but again, you would end up spending a lot of time driving. Someone recommended you train to Taranto and we spent a day there last September and the museum is excellent. Highly recommend that! And taking a train across and then renting a car isn't a bad idea. We drove from Lecce to Naples in September and it felt long. Pretty though!

Also, we went to Pietrapertosa for a day trip and it was as cool as it looks in the photos. But I wouldn't want to stay there - we preferred being near Pisticci and Bernalda.

Thank you. We are looking at a hotel in Bernaldo and think we will stay there 2 nights between our time Lecce and Ercolano.

Absolutely agree with staying in or near Bernalda.

Torre Fiore is lovely but it is a bit far from Barnalda, closer to Pisticci, which we drove through but did not have time to stop. Looks worth exploring.


Bernalda is a quintessential Baslicata town that retains an air of decades ago, even now that Francis Coppola has opened his hotel there. (If you are not staying there you might enjoy having a drink in the bar off the hotel, with old film memorabilia). The Coppola hotel, PALAZZO MARGHERITA, is expensive. I think either the small GIARDINO GIAMPERDUTO or the BORGO SAN GAETANO would be my choices if I were fortunate enough to return. Keep in mind that everything in the town closes tight for lunch break, as is the case is much of the region.

We stayed two nights at AGRITURISMO SAN TEODORO NUOVO (Tenuta Visconti) near Marconia but next time I would stay closer to Bernalda so cut down one driving time.

https://tenutavisconti.com

Eating in Bernalda, I recommend the very local EQUINERIA DA MIMMO, a meat-lovers Mecca as well as a butcher shop where they will cook your selections for you. Horse is very popular, and delicious and sweet, but they have other meats as well if you are squeamish.

https://www.facebook.com/equineria/photos

[QUOTE=ekscrunchy;17542798]Absolutely agree with staying in or near Bernalda.
Bernalda is a quintessential Baslicata town

Thank you! We had contacted Borgo San Gaetano and have booked 2 nights there. The itinerary may need a little adjusting, but we want to secure what we can for now. Everyone's help is wonderful!

We are finding somewhere to stay in the Lecce area challenging. Suggestions welcomed. We are thinking 4 nights to really enjoy the heel area.