Planning a trip to southern Italy in early Spring

[Pauline]

I am finally getting organized on next year's travel. I would like to spend 10 days or so in southern Italy in April, after Easter.

This year we went to Sicily at that time and loved in. Next year I want to spend a week either in Puglia or on the Mediterranean coast south of Salerno. Then into the heart of Basilicata to visit @Valerie and Bryan for a few days. And a day in Matera.

We have never been south of the Amalfi Coast (except for Sicily), so don't know the area at all. I hear a lot about Puglia from @jonathan and other travel friends. I don't know much about the other coast in southern Italy.

So, looking for advice. It would be a week in one place, in a vacation rental, wanting some sunshine and milder weather than at home. We are not foodies or drinkers, but like to explore historic sites, love the coast, do some walking, sit in cafes.

We would probably fly in and out of Rome and rent a car.

 

[Valerie]

Hooray! Pauline's coming to Basilicata!

We'll get trail maps for you. One hike you might like is called the Sette Pietre, that goes from one gorgeous mountain hamlet (Castelmezzano) to another (Pietrapertosa). There are some nice places to walk along country roads that are on ridges with amazing views, too. We'll start thinking about the castles and cool places to show you. And you'll have to go into the cantina and sample Bryan's beer making skills while you're here

Puglia - I'll leave to expert Jonathan as we've not given enough time to exploring there, though we went for a day to Polignano a Mare, which we enjoyed a lot. We have spent a lot of time on the other side in the Cilento, which is an area we really like, especially Castellabate. The nice thing about Santa Maria di Castellabate is that it has a kind of microclimate due to the two promontories, which bumps up its temperature a couple of degrees from the neighboring towns. They swim there right up until November, even. The coastline is hilly, which we like, but not as "cliff" type as Amalfi Coast.

 

[Pauline]

In Puglia, Lecce looks interesting.

 

[jonathan]

Lecce is a lovely little city: wonderfully decorated baroque architecture, plus some Roman remains, as I'm sure your research has already told you! The capital of the Salento (the southernmost tip of the heel, it has its own distinctly regional feel, though we've only explored the area very superficially). Easy drives to two interesting towns on the coasts: Otranto on the east and Gallipoli on the west.

I'm afraid all our good local guides are in the house at Ostuni! We can talk more about this, of course - but N,P,P & I will be in (rather squashed) residence in Ostuni 8-13 Apr, if you've arrived by then. And then our friends from Berkeley (CA, not Glos) John & Louise will be there until the end of Apr - drop in, read the books, drink wine on the roof terrace

And, thinking of Berkeley, Judy has stayed in Lecce...

 

[Pauline]

Some spring dates for me to think about when planning:

• Easter is Sunday April 5.
• UK Early May Bank Holiday May 4
• UK Spring Bank Holiday May 25
• UK School holidays end of March - Monday April 15

 

[Pauline]

FLIGHTS
I am back working on this trip and looking for opinions. I think we can fly British Airways from Gatwick to Bari, mid-week. They don't have flights every day and the Wednesday flight arrives at 3:25pm, leaving enough time to drive to Ostuni. We could then spend a week in Ostuni (providing we find a vacation rental that is flexible on start day), drive to Basilicata for a few nights. We could either fly back from Bari, or spend some time in Campagna and fly back from Naples.

Other flying options are - Gatwick to Naples and drive from there but all the BA flights either leave too early for us or arrive too late. For the late flights we would have to overnight in Naples. We could fly into Rome, spend a few days there and drive, but it is a 5+ hour drive.

PUGLIA VACATION RENTAL
Everything I read, plus advice from @jonathan who has a second home there, says Ostuni is the best place to stay.
The place that Amy from ST rented last year is not available - Her review on ST.
I looked at some of the agencies I have listed on Slow Europe and see only Trullis or large houses with swimming pools.

So I am looking on Homeaway and thought this looked nice. We would not have to rent Saturday to Saturday, so could take advantage of the mid-week flight to Bari:
Homeaway - Casa Tavani - Four lovely luxurious apartments in the centre of the 18th century area of Ostuni, each a few minutes' walk from the main Piazza and from the Centro Storico, each very different and each special in its own way. They are called Casa Esmeralda, L'Alcova, La Terrazza and L'Ombroso, all part of a house called Casa Tavani that was built between the 17th and 18th centuries.

Ostuni the White City has some interesting looking rentals.

Thoughts?

 

[Valerie]

That place in Ostuni looks nice! The apartments have some cute touches, and it's in town. If you prefer out in the country, there is this cottage: http://www.summerinitaly.com/eng/rent/property1854!italy_.htm

I'd fly into Bari if possible, to save time and effort driving from Rome. If you're wanting to explore a bit in Campania, then flying out of Naples is a great option. Only caveat would be the drop charge on the car for dropping it off at a different locale than you picked up.

The Basilicata part of your trip will be very personalized!

 

[jonathan]

Casa Tavani is very close to our place - a good part of town (though not totally easy for parking). Preferable to the out of town locations of a lot of the White City properties.

I think our friends Kate & Nick know Angela Devlin. Someone I vaguely know stayed in one of her places about 8 years ago... But they all look very nicely restored & kitted out: obviously the two with the terraces are the ones to go for, because lunch outdoors will certainly be a possibility by April.

Bari is a decent airport; about 60-70 minutes drive to Ostuni (that was the route we did last April, and several times in the past).

 

[Chris]

Many of the photos seem to be duplicated for all or some of the four apartments. How do you know what you're getting?

 

[Pauline]

Thanks, I will email them now and will ask about the photos.

I think we will fly in and out of Bari and leave a re-visit of Pompeii for another time...

 

[Pauline]

The photos on Homeaway have captions, so I can tell which photo is for which apartment. I emailed them and it is available and they will rent Wed to Wed, so we could take the Wednesday Bari flight. They don't use air fresheners. And they have their own website: http://casaostuni.co.uk/ Plus good reviews on TA.

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

All looks wonderful. i'm jealous and ready to travel again. I keep meaning to post about our week in Rome but...
It was wonderful! Great time of year. Mid Dec. Bright and cool. Almost spring like. Miss my walks. Depths of winter here.

 

[Pauline]

Booked for the last half of April!

Flying Gatwick to Bari.
Arrive in the afternoon with a one hour + drive from airport to Ostuni.
One week in Casa Tavani apartment. We miss @jonathan by a couple of days - too bad! I was able to book Wed - Wed stay.
Two hour drive to Matera where we spend one night. Valerie is booking her favorite hotel for us.
Thursday we drive one hour to Valerie and Bryan's village near Potenza where Valerie has booked an apartment for us for four nights.
Monday morning flight home from Bari.

We finally get to Puglia and we finally get to see where Valerie and Bryan live (which we have wanted to do for several years).

It takes so much time to work out trip details. We wanted to fly into Naples, but the flights were either very early in the morning, or too late in the afternoon. Our choice was to be exhausted picking up the rental car in Naples and driving, or to spend the night in Naples and drive out a day or too later - all complicated. I thought direct flights into Bari and Brindisi were only in the summer, but on my 700th time searching the BA site I saw they flew a few days a week into Bari with good arrival times. We arrive at 3:25pm, so have plenty of time to get the rental car and drive to Ostuni.

I will start a new thread about Ostuni so @jonathan can tell me everything that I need to know

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I know what you mean about how long the planning takes. It seems I'm forever looking at flights, times, accommodation and half the time I end up not going to the destination.
Example(not Europe). My daughter and I were thinking of taking a short trip together. I looked into Savannah, Charleston, Isla Mujeres(Mx). Then decided US too expensive and not worth it for a short trip. Isla was also expensive to get to as everyone wants to go at the same time. So she's coming to Ottawa and we're doing a stay at home vacation
It took me hours and days and hours to arrive at this place. Honestly!

 

[Valerie]

The queen is coming! The queen is coming!

 

[Pauline]

I know what you mean about how long the planning takes. It seems I'm forever looking at flights, times, accommodation and half the time I end up not going to the destination.
Example(not Europe). My daughter and I were thinking of taking a short trip together. I looked into Savannah, Charleston, Isla Mujeres(Mx).

If you reopen this discussion, Savannah is amazing. We had a bit ST GTG there years ago and had a great time. We also stayed in Charleston and liked that too. Lovely beaches in Charleston. Beautiful old neighborhoods in Savannah.

The queen is coming! The queen is coming!

Yes she is!!

 

[Sharon J]

And if you are visiting Charleston and Savannah, don't miss the lovely Beaufort, SC, between the two. Absolutely lovely little town, with stunning old homes. Make sure you take the horse and carriage ride to hear the history and see the historical homes. The Big Chill, Great Santini and Forrest Gump were all filmed there. Even the Vietnam Jungle scenes for Forrest were filmed at the nearby Hunting Island. We now live there and are in heaven.

 

[Valerie]

Pauline, have you and/or Steve read Christ Stopped at Eboli? We could visit the town of Aliano while you're here, if you have. The entire town is now a "literary park" and the landscape there is completely different than our area. There are some cool places to see, we'll just need to narrow it down, unless you want to stay for a couple of weeks!

 

[Pauline]

Pauline, have you and/or Steve read Christ Stopped at Eboli?

It is on my list to read before our trip to Basilicata. I wish now I had booked for longer, but we didn't want to be away from the cat for too long (and now he is gone). This trip will at least give us a taste of the area - I bet we will be back.

I understand Basilicata is the new Puglia, which is the new Tuscany. But isn't Umbria the new Tuscany? Is Basilicata now the new Tuscany?

 

[Valerie]

I understand Basilicata is the new Puglia, which is the new Tuscany. But isn't Umbria the new Tuscany? Is Basilicata now the new Tuscany?

Haha. Is anything really the "new Tuscany"? No need to ever think Basilicata is the "new" anything, and certainly will never be the new Tuscany. Which is part of its charm, in the end, I think.

Off to look at your Puglia thread; we need to get over there and spend some time. Despite being close we've spent precious little time exploring that direction.