Southern Italy itinerary
 

As a new participant to this forum, let me first thank all of you who have had already provided so much valuable information!

I’m looking forward to spending about 3 weeks in southern Italy this coming May, and would welcome thoughts on my preliminary itinerary. For context, I’m a woman who has had the good fortune to take a number of fabulous solo 3-week trips abroad. This will be my first visit to southern Italy. I travel primarily for art, architecture, and natural scenery, with great food and wine as a much appreciated bonus, so I’m sure that I will enjoy this trip. I don’t travel to relax; instead, I keep a fairly active pace and count on unwinding while on trains or busses and over dinner. Also, while I understand the advantages of “base” cities, I generally prefer to stay overnight at places that I’m likely to spend the better part of a day, even if that means moving around a lot.

My preliminary itinerary is:
o Palermo — 3 nights (2 days for Palermo’s highlights plus time for Monreale and Segesta)
o Agrigento — 1 night
o Enna — 1 night (including the better part of a day in Piazza Armerina)
o Caltagirone — 1 night
o Siracusa — 2 nights
o Noto — 1 night
o Taormina — 2 nights (including a day trip to Mt. Etna and perhaps Gole dell’ Alcantara)
o Overnight ferry from Lipari to Naples (after a few hours in Lipari and, I trust, views of Stromboli from the ferry)
o Naples — 2 nights (2 days for the highlights of Naples plus a day trip to Pompeii and Herculaneum)
o Capri — 1 night
o Amalfi Coast — 3 nights, probably 1 in Ravello and 2 in Salerno (including day trips to Paestum and, if possible, Padula)
o Matera — 1 night
o Trani — 1 night (with a day trip to Castel del Monte, if possible)
o Lecce — 2 nights (after traveling through Alberobello, if possible)

For now, I’m assuming that I will rely on trains and busses, although I am considering renting a car just before I leave Palermo and using it to visit Segesta, Agrigento, Enna, Piazza Armerina, and Caltagirone before dropping it off in Siracusa. I’m also considering renting a car for 1 day in Puglia.

This plan calls for about 2 more days than I consider ideal, but I’m not sure what I would eliminate. It was hard enough to decide not to include Erice, Selinunte, Cefalu, and a few other places.

Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions!

Wow---you certainly travel differently that many--includuing myself.
I have been to all of those lovely destinations---except Lipari---and I would hate to have all of those one niters. This seems to be an expedition. For instance, with a car you can easily see Noto, Caltigirone ,and Siracusa from one location. See my trip report for a good place to stay. Same is true in Puglia. You know your style--it would wear me out. Here is my report.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

Thanks, BobtheNavigator - I read your trip report and viewed your pictures while developing my plan, and found them inspiring! I selected May in part because I'd heard that the wildflowers would be in bloom then - your pictures really showed that!

One of the reasons that I'm willing to put up with a lot of one night stays is that I like to see things in both daylight and at night, and to anchor my memories of the wonderful things I see by linking them to memories of a specific room and specific meal.

Seeing Caltagirone and Noto in a single day is well worth considering. Do you think I would be too rushed in either location?

I know you're looking to drop nights/places instead of add but have you considered Caserta just north of Naples. You say you "travel primarily for art, architecture, and natural scenery". We happened upon it as an overnight stay on the way to the Amalfi Coast, and we were more than pleasantly surprised. We didn't visit Caserta Vecchio up on the hill (didn't know about it at the time), but visited the Royal Palace and Gardens. Amazing! We were there to specifically visit the gardens, and when we bought the entrance ticket, the young lady asked if we wanted a bus ticket as well. "No, thank you, we'd just walk around." "But, sir, the gardens are three miles long!" About the length of the fountain that spills from the hillside. No pictures really do it justice, but go to wikipedia.com, enter Caserta, and see some examples.

Not with a car. The farm country between those cities is also worth your time. The Masseria farm houses are impressive. Also, Enna is a long way from the Villa Romana--think about that. The Il Gigliotto agriturismo is a good location to consider.

Bob,

I have been looking at the Il Gigliotto agriturismo myself. Do you think you could use it as a base also for Agrigento? Or strictly for Piazza Armerina? Their website implies that it is close enough to many sites, but I wasn't so sure about that. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Sally

Good question !
We drove to Agrigento from there on our way to the west coast. We drove via Gela and the coast and it took about 2.5 hours--we got the last parking spot in the public lot. Frankly, we were disapponted in Agrigento after we saw Selinunte, but differnt day and weather.
Just me, but I would get the car as you leave Palermo and keep it for all of Sicily and then drive to Puglia and see the AC last---dropping the car in Salerno or Sorrento. If you end in Puglia how do you get home?

Thanks again!

Toni_G_B: I do hope to make it to Caserta if time permits - it sounds like a very special place. Your endorsement of it will help me as I plan my time in Campania.

And thanks again, BobtheNavigator. Seeing Caltagirone and Noto in the same day would make sense if I decide to rent a car. And I'll reconsider Enna in light of the distances. I had hoped to see Enna in part because it sounds different than anything else I'm likely to visit - a hill town that isn't particularly "tourist-y". Is there somewhere similar that would likely fit my schedule better? As for getting home, I plan to fly out of Brindisi.

kja-
I took the overnight ferry from Napoli to Lipari then got a boat a couple of days later to Palermo....etc.

Just curious, your itinerary says you'll be in Taormina for 2 nights and then take the overnight ferry from Lipari to Napoli-

There seems to be a segment missing- that is- getting yourself from Taormina to Lipari.

For sure- you will be spend alot of your time on the move!! More power to you! It's very different from my experience of how to best absorb life and culture when traveling in Italy-especially in the South.

I like to get to a location and then relax there and drink things in a bit- which seems to fit very well into the pace of life in the South..... my experience has been that I always arrive with an extensive and ambitious plan, and then realize that I need to really simplify things when I get there. And sometimes flights can change schedules without advance notice in some of the smaller airports, so it's good to leave yourself some leeway about that.

I certainly wish you luck though!

Caserta, a kind of Italian Versailles, is special indeed and Caserta Vecchio offers some very special fabrics, silks, etc that you don't find everywhere.

Thanks for you comments, bellastarr!

You noted that I hadn't described getting from Taormina to Lipari: I haven't checked bus schedules yet, but there is a train from Taormina (through Messina) to Milazzo that would get me there in what I assume would be plenty of time (almost 2 hours) to get to the dock for a hydrofoil to Lipari.

Maybe I need to make sure I have a back-up plan for how I will simplify my trip if I find that the pace is too rapid. There's just so much that I want to see!

Thanks, LJ - I hadn't heard about the fabrics in Caserta Vecchio!

kja- I really syma\pathize with the passion to "See everything". Just relax, do your best, don't be surprised if, when actually being there, you feel the need to slow down your pace a bit. And don't kick yourself for it! You may not see everything, but you'll see enough to have a rich experience, it's impossible not to!

There is so much to see in Southern Italy, it's unbelievable. I know, because I just got back. If you are only going to have time to do so much, I highly reccommend you do some serious research because you will end up wasting a lot of time if you are not sure of exactly where you are going. For information on Campania, the province where Caserta is - you might want to check site this out:

http://www.italianvisits.com/campania/

I'm sure you'll have more of a solid idea of the big choices you have to make after visiting there.

Thanks Bob! Sorry kja for interrupting your thread, but I figured my question might be relevant for you too.

Sally

I agree, bellastarr - it will be impossible for me to have anything other than a rich and wonderful experience in this part of the world!

Thanks, LoveCalabria, for the link to that web-site. It looks like it will be quite useful!

No problem, SRS - as you say, your question is relevant for me! Thanks!

For the Naples, Capri, Amalfi Coast part of your vacation it is very easy to just stay in one place in that area and visit the others from that one central area. You can consider any of the lovely towns in that area instead of picking up and moving each night as they are pretty close together.

For Sicily I would suggest having a car because the buses don't run that frequently and if they go no strike with no warning you will be stuck. I also think you should have a car in the Naples, Amalfi / Ravello area but just not do the actual drive in Amalfi, hire a driver for that

Also checking in and out of each hotel every day or every other day will really cut into your sightseeing time. You will see more when you can just head out early without the hassle of moving hotels

Noto isn't a far drive from Agrigento and I would definitely stay in one area for two nights.

Sounds like a great, if very busy, trip. But don't short-change Naples itself. Fabulous city, very beautiful churches, amazing food, the single best cup of espresso EVER (Caffe Mexico, piazza Dante)... And one of the great museums of Europe, the Capodimonte, just on the outskirts. I am itching to go to Caserta; next trip...
Yrs, Robert

Thanks for your suggestions, ga9497. Your warning about possible transit strikes underscores the value of a rental car!

My thanks to miasmadude, too - the Capodimonte is one of my highest priorities for Naples. And I'll be sure to make note of that caffe!

The wealth of information on this site never ceases to amaze me!

flagging! :)

MP