Castellanese

Thank you again, I forgot to include Ostuni on the list. However, I am more inclined to visit Locorotondo and Alberobello from Castellana because I want those three days to sort of rest in the masseria and do easy day trips.

I've read similar opinions about Monopoli. The beach looks inviting, but I'm already visiting a few in Salento, so Monopoli is off the list.

Daniel

Castellanese

Hi again everybody,

I have to admit that I am little bit embarrased to write about this, but I have changed my itinerary once more. However, I have booked my flight for 18 nights, so I think this is my final itinerary considering I have even located and contacted where I am staying:

6 nights in Lecce, with day trips around the Salento and Ostuni.

3 nights at a masseria in Castellana Grotte (my mother's hometown), with a day trips to Alberobello and Locorotondo. I'll probably visit Martina Franca, too, since Alberobello-Locorotondo-Martina are on the same train route and very close to one another according to this schedule http://www.fseonline.it/pdf/orariBari.pdf

6 nights in Ischia (this is the new change), where I plan to explore the island for some hiking and beach time.

3 nights in Rome.

Why the new change again? I think that Sulmona and the Tremiti islands make more sense exploring other areas of Abruzzo and Gargano respectively, as I am doing with Salento and the Valle d'Itria. The logistics for Valle d'Itria-Gargano are bit of a nuisance, let alone Gargano-Rome. I think the area north of Bari and the Gargano deserve time and not just a couple of nights for the sake of visiting them. I've already been to the usual places in Campania, and Ischia had always been on my list, which also makes a closer transition from Apulia to end my trip in Rome.

Anyhow, I've read so many wonderful things and trip reports here on Fodors about Ischia and Salento that I cannot wait.

Daniel

bobthenavigator

Makes more sense to me---you will have a great time.

franco

Perhaps it's due to public transport connections that you plan on visiting Ostuni from Lecce (I don't know much about public transport), but at least as a car driver, I would visit Ostuni from Castellana Grotte, which is not only closer but also makes more sense in terms of local culture (Ostuni belongs to the group of white towns, with Martina Franca, Cisternino, Locorotondo).

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Daniel, perhaps I can offer a few things that may be of assistance with those new plans?

If you've not found them already, there are backnumbers of our island's visitor magazine (bilingual Italian/pigeon English since April 2011) - with giugno for June, luglio for July - that you might like to download, or read directly, on:

http://www.ischianews.com/it/home/ar...ategory/2.html

No index as far as I'm aware - but articles on specific places and events are scattered though the year, so you might also want to try the site's English pages - which begin here...

http://www.ischianews.com/en.html

(Over winter the newsy stuff is mostly in Italian, but lots of background items in English!)

Otherwise, for way, way too many photos of mine taken on Ischia - with a few tips and notes - start from:

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/allaboutischia

... or here, for those of places that are within a reasonable day-trip's range:
http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/tele

And do shout if you're uncertain about anything!

Peter

ekscrunchy

Maybe you will find something helpful in my (alas, unfinished) Ischia report from 2009; we had planned a week split between Ischia and Capri but we loved Ischia so much that we remained there for the entire time. I do not understand why the island is virtually ignored on this forum:



http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-its-spell.cfm

Castellanese

Thanks, Bob!

Hi Franco! Indeed, it's due to public connections why I am visiting Ostuni from Lecce. I agree with you that, culturally, it would make more sente to visit it from Castellana, but Ostuni is not connected to any of the inland Valle d'Itria towns directly by bus/train, while, from Lecce, there is a direct 45 minute train. From any other town, I'd have to go via Cisternino or Monopoli, and it'd take me more than an hour either way.

Thanks, Eks! I was reading your trip report last night, and it reassured me that a week in Ischia was a good idea. I also read Caroline Edinburgh's as well as Jojonana's. I also read your thread about your Ischia dilemma when planning your trip. It reminded me myself when I am planning an itinerary. I agree with you concerning Ischia being neglected, in fact, even guidebooks offer little information about Ischia compared to Capri. Guidebooks usually say that Capri is more famous and coveted than Ischia for good reasons, but I've been looking at pictures of Ischia on flickr and it looks GORGEOUS!

Thanks for the links, Peter! Specially for the one featuring your pictures, hiking options around Barano, bus routes, you name it... there's everything in there! I love hiking! I am glad that there are so many good websites about Ischia. They offer so much information.

Thanks again... Daniel.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

From a post elsewhere last year....

"I've never known whether or not to believe it, but a little bird once told me that this all goes back to one of the first international travel conferences, some time in the early 1950s...

And my feathered friend's story had it that, after a long night's session of poker and drinking, the delegates came up with an agreement to rival the one made at Potsdam only a few years before - whereby, rather than risk being played off one against another by the local hoteliers, the Brits would get Sorrento, the Americans Capri and the Germans Ischia... with poor little Procida being left open for grabs!"
.......................

Either way, the last count (for 2010) looked like this:

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/133250480

... with non-Italians generally favouring the shoulder periods...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/122604639

... although summer does often see quite a lot of people over from Los Angeles - twinned with the city of Ischia - where a big community of immigrants settled in the San Pedro district.

Peter

Castellanese

Quite interesting, Peter. I visited Procida in 2008 and there were a few weddings celebrated by Germans. I remember Capri being international, the same as Positano, unlike Amalfi town, which seemed to be more visited by Italians.

A question: Sundays are inevitable, but I have realized that my trip starts on a Sunday in Lecce. Will everything be absolutely closed? I have also read about siesta time from 1 to 5pm, so will Lecce be a ghost town on my very first full day?

Daniel

ekscrunchy

I don't know specifically about Sundays in Lecce and Peter and Franco are the ones with the vast experience in Italy in general, but I CAN tell you that even on weekdays, all of the Pugliese towns that I visited, as well as the city of Lecce, were shut pretty tightly. Since I often arrive in Italy, and begin my week-long trips, on Sundays, it has been a slight problem for me as well. Many restaurants are open for Sunday lunch but not for dinner on the same day.

On the last trip to Puglia, last year, I solved this issue by making Sunday lunch the centerpiece of the arrival day and foregoing dinner on that first day. I know you have lots of experience in Italy, but even though I'd been there many times, I did not remember the experience of a full-blown Sunday lunch in the south, with the many generations of families and all the attendant bustle, laughter, and high spirits, not to mention great food. And if you are traveling alone (not sure if you are..?), I can't think of a better way to meet a few local people than over the lunch table. Maybe I just had great luck at Masseria Barbera, (and again at Da Cesare near Maratea later in the year) but those two Sunday lunches were among my favorite experiences in southern Italy! I'm sure you can find a suitable place in Lecce that would afford similar.

kja

When I was in Lecce on a Sunday a few years ago it was, indeed, hard to find anything open after church services ended. Since part of the joy of visiting Lecce is (IMO) just walking around, it didn't bother me too much, except that I wanted some caffeine after a while. As I recall, I found 2 cafes that were open during the afternoon, one in the old town (it was packed, so the service was very slow) and one in the newer part of town.

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Oh yes! All too often our arrivals at a new town have been marked by the sound of shutters slamming down - but siesta time is still a reality here in the south!

And in smaller places, most if not all the trains and buses may be those arranged to fit the needs of their 52 week clientèle - aimed at getting people to work or school early in the morning and back home again for lunch, with perhaps a repeat later in the day.

That's just how public transport is - and, if planning only very short stops, having a car may work better... otherwise about all one can do is try to adapt to the situation?

Can't tell you about Sundays in Lecce from first-hand experience - the second time we arrived on a Monday and on the 1st trip we'd left by then to spend a Sunday birthday in Gallipoli - but Lecce's castle, for example, seems to have opening hours like this:

http://www.arte.it/guida-arte/lecce/...o-carlo-v-2993

I rather doubt that every shop will stay closed until quite as late as 5PM - here, even in August when there can be very very few 'customers' not on the beach, they're usually going by then... with most carrying on until 9,10 or later.

With new "liberalisation" rules coming, almost anything could happen this year - however you could well have to make your own entertainment for a while on that first day!

But just wander and you'll find there's lots to see. When exhausted, as I recollect, the Cin Cin bar - near this taxi rank in the centre of town - kept fairly long hours and offered a great range of icecreams, patisserie etc etc...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/140120458

http://www.salentovip.it/index.php?lng=&sstr=cincinbar

However it was on the Monday evening that we had particular difficulty finding a restaurant in Lecce (still only just after mid-September) - but that's perhaps typical of cities that get lots of weekend visitors?

Peter

PS - As for who's where.... although only annual totals (and perhaps predating the increase in Puglia's international popularity), this table lists places where the split of visitors is most different from the southern Italian average of 28% / 72%...

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/138495555

Castellanese

Thank you for the links, Peter! I'm arriving on a Sunday evening now instead of a Saturday. I'll be in Castellana Grotte on a Sunday and Monday, but, like I said before, Sundays are inevitable like siesta time. When I went to Naples in 2008, I used to go back to the hotel to rest for a while until the siesta was over, besides, it was scorching hot and it was unbearable to be around the city.

I have just paid for my ticket, so Lecce-Castellana-Ischia-Rome is my final itinerary. I am traveling on June 16... I cannot wait!

Thank you so much everybody for your time and opinions... they have been very helpful!

Daniel

A_Brit_In_Ischia

".... to rest for a while until the siesta was over"

I'd call that having a siesta?

Hope you'll have a great time!

Peter

cindyjo

Just to add my two cents! Am working on trip report for our Puglia and more trip last October/November but in a nutshell: We stayed in Galatina which is a great base and a lovely town, easily walkable, nice restaurants, great architecture. From there we travelled almost every day with the highlights being Otranto and driving the coast to Gallopoli. My husband rented a bike and rode the coast road while I was sag wagon.

I thought Otranto was not to be missed although i could see how this might be wall to wall tourists depending upon the time you are visiting. In late October, it was almost deserted.

We spent one day in Leece walking throughout the old city. I don't think I would have chosen to spend more time there.

We stopped in Trani for 2 nights on the way from Abruzzo to Amalfi Coast and really liked Trani. Would go back. It seems like a friendly and prosperous town with a lovely setting and the cathedral is outrageously beautiful. Stayed at Albergo Lucy and would do so again in a minute.

We also spent one night in Matera on the way from Abruzzo to the Amalfi Coast and one night was enough for us though I am glad we had a chance to see it. It was especially worthwhile because we had Nadia Garlatti as a guide. She brought a lot of history and politics into the visit as well as a big personality.

We stayed a week in Bugnara which is about 10 minute from Sulmona and loved, loved, loved Abruzzo. We liked Sulmona very much and think it would be a good base. We prefered a smaller town (Bugnara) and of course, a rental car made a difference. We did a lot of driving in the area, there is quite a bit to explore including some very nice hiking.

Will try to speed up my report to add to some small bits to the great information we all glean from this forum.

Castellanese

Thanks Cindyjo!

I have been reading about Galatina and was interested in visiting it as a day trip. I read in Franco's latest thread that he thought it had been an architectural highlight in Salento and that Lecce was more about atmosphere. However, besides the Santa Caterina basilica, what did you think of the rest of Galatina? Why wouldn't you have spent more time in Lecce?

Which coast did your husband bike, Otranto's or Gallipoli's? How did he like it?

Daniel

4carolina

Hi Cindyjo,
I am very interested in your Sulmona experience,since we are looking for an interesting route to Trani from Rome airport.I just added a new post this morning..REVIVING PUGLIA and am anxious to find an interesting route.We have travelled lots in Italy but never to Abruzzo.Would Bugnara be a good place to stay for 2-3 days of exploration??Family crises have prevented me from getting our late April itinerary together,and I am now in a panic.Any ideas,suggestions based on your experiences would be appreciated !! As soon as I decide on our pre-Trani itinerary,I intend to contact Albergo Lucy.Would you share your Trani "favorite things"???
Many thanks,Carolina

4carolina

Castellanese,
Apologies for "coat tailing" your forum.I need to make so many plans in so short a time,and did not realize where I was,when I made the above entry.That said......Did you do much Sulmona research??If you have any suggestions,I would be most grateful for the sharing,really!!!
Carolina

Castellanese

Hi Carolina,

I didn't get do much research about Sulmona before I changed my itinerary. Sorry for the delayed reply.

Castellanese