Traveling around Puglia and Sicily
 

I am planning our trip in the South of Italy for our honeymoon next year - and the thing I am finding the hardest is the best way to get around!

I am hoping some people with experience traveling between these cities can share their knowledge and make some suggestions- obviously the most time efficient itinerary is best- and I am willing to swap cities around if it makes more sense logistically.

However, I am also trying to make the most of the warm beach weather! Mid May to Late June:

Fly into Rome

Rome-Naples *fast train

Naples - Lecce *train

Lecce- Matera *drive?

Matera- Tropea *drive?

Tropea- Sicily *drive?

Sicily -Amalfi *overnight ferry to Salerno?

Amalfi- Rome *bus and train

Rome- Sardinia *fly

Sardinia - Rome *fly

Any advise would be appreciated!!!!

DId you know that you can click on your screen name to access your previous post?

Anyway, here is the response I put in that thread to your question:

You can fly from non-stop from Bari to Cagliari on Ryan Air, so you might consider another Puglian idyll closer to Bari than Lecce. (Maybe Ostuni?).

You can also fly non-stop from Rome to Tropea on Alitalia and Ryan Air, so I would consider ordering the trip this way if you don't want to rent a car for much of the time and want to up your chances of snagging beach weather everywhere you go:

Fly to Rome, go directly to Tropea
Train to Messina (Sicily), bus to Taormina
Train or bus to Palermo
Fly to Naples/Amalfi
Rent a car in Salerno, drive to Puglia (Ostuni, Monopoli?)
Fly from Bari to Cagliari (and you will need to rent a car in Sardegna to access best beaches)

Just to add a few extras in there, try rome2rio to see the options using a bus as well as train. I've done the Naples to Lecce train, great fun through the mountains and out along the coast.

You are covering a lot of ground, do you have a month planned in?

We have just over 4 weeks. I would prefer to take the train to the south rather then to fly, I am not the biggest fan of planes and avoid them when I can, so the first stop in the south looks to be Puglia

4 weeks would be perfect

Maybe this would work for you:

1) Arrive in Rome, train to Bari, rent car or use public trans to get to nearby beach town

2) Drive or Public transportation to Matera

4) Drive or Public trans to Napoli (drop off car at airport), public trans or taxi to Amalfi coast

5) Bus or taxi to Salerno, train to Tropea

6)Train to Sicily/Taormina

7)Bus from Taormina/Catania to Trapani or Palermo, rent car go to beach town or use public trans to get to beach town

8) Ferry from Trapani or Palermo to Cagliari in Sardinia, rent car go to beach town

Agan, I am going to suggest to you that you consider Trani as your Puglia destination rather than Lecce, simply because going to the heel of the boot adds hours to your travel logistics. (Also, I sort of had the impression you wanted seaviews for your Puglia stay. Lecce is inland.)

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/puglia/trani.html

Another popular seaside destination that would be simpler to fit into your itinerary as a base if you also want to see Matera is Polignano al Mare, but it is smaller and most would say more touristy

http://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/...no-a-mare.aspx

another possibility is Monopoli

http://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/.../monopoli.aspx