Southern Italy destinations

My family of 5 (DH + DDs (ages 11, 13, 15)) will have a week post-cruise to tour Southern Italy.

We'll have a car and are coming from the San Giovanni Rotondo area beforehand.

We'll have visited Herculaneum/Naples already and we don't mind staying in the countryside and doing day trips to points of interest.

I'm tossing around the idea of homebasing in Sorrento, but am curious if going to Sicily would be worth the time and effort.

Any other suggestions?

This is awfully open-ended. What kinds of experiences does your family enjoy? What time of year will you be traveling? Are beaches of interest/important?

This is awfully open-ended. What kinds of experiences does your family enjoy? What time of year will you be traveling? Are beaches of interest/important?

Thanks for the questions, euro cruiser. Those are great prompts.

It'll be early December, so although we enjoy the beaches, I don't think we'll be able to swim in them. That being the case, beaches are nice, but not high on the list. We appreciate a beautiful sunrise and sunset...nature.

We're looking to live like the locals :) We like to eat, see historic sights and churches, experience the culture.

While we expect to dine out some of the time, we'll want to stay in a place with a kitchen and be able to go to the market. Again, we'll have a car.

Since we'll be with the children, safety is also a factor - which is why we don't mind staying away from the crowds.

Once in major areas, we're fine with taking public transportation.

This is a "take it slow and soak it in" trip.

Consider renting an apartment or a house through airbnb. I have rented a beautiful apartment in Rome for this fall for half of what I would have paid for one small room in a hotel.

Sicily is a bit of a leap if you're starting from San Giovanni Rotondo.

I wouldn't suggest Sorrento as that's a tourist resort, if you're looking for an Anglo-Italo perspective you'll find it there but if you're looking for a truly Italian town/village I'd keep looking.

One other consideration is where are you flying home from? Where do you need to end your trip?

Definitely going to rent an apartment for that time.

Euro cruiser, we have to be back in Rome. We don't mind the drive/ferry to Sicily if it would be worth the stay.

One week is not enough time to drive from San Giovanni Rotondo to Sicily and back to Rome (1,000 miles, and that's if you limit yourselves to easternmost Sicily) unless all you're interested in is the drive.

In your situation I would explore Puglia (Alberobello, Matera, and Lecce in particular) and check out the royal palace at Caserta on the drive up to Rome.

One week is not enough time to drive from San Giovanni Rotondo to Sicily and back to Rome (1,000 miles, and that's if you limit yourselves to easternmost Sicily) unless all you're interested in is the drive.

 

In your situation I would explore Puglia (Alberobello, Matera, and Lecce in particular) and check out the royal palace at Caserta on the drive up to Rome.

Good point. We're used to long road trips in the US, so I was thinking it would be the same. But you're right, it's a lot of driving...particularly back up to Rome.

I'll check out those places. Thanks Euro cruiser!

We have stayed in Alberobello in a trullo house and visited all the local towns including Matera from there. We really enjoyed it, but went early October.

Many of the seaside towns will probably have a lot of places closed for the winter, so best to stay in a proper working town.

I doubt if it will be beach weather in December. However, it's a lovely area and much cheaper than Rome and northern Italy.

If you go to Sicily, which is also worthwhile, remember you would also have to take a ferry.

We have stayed in Alberobello in a trullo house and visited all the local towns including Matera from there. We really enjoyed it, but went early October.

 

Many of the seaside towns will probably have a lot of places closed for the winter, so best to stay in a proper working town.

 

I doubt if it will be beach weather in December. However, it's a lovely area and much cheaper than Rome and northern Italy.

 

If you go to Sicily, which is also worthwhile, remember you would also have to take a ferry.

Where did you book your the trullo? I'm glad you mentioned that - it had fallen off my radar.

In Alberobello, were you able to go the market and prepare meals on your own or did you eat out often?

In your situation I would explore Puglia (Alberobello, Matera, and Lecce in particular) and check out the royal palace at Caserta on the drive up to Rome.

That is a wonderful suggestion. Alberobello is a jewel unlike any other place you may have visited. You are going in December. We once saw it under a light dusting of snow and the town looked like a field of snow cones. Amazing!

Another idea would be to stay the last day or two in the Castelli Romani area outside Rome.

You might want to get the Michelin Green Guide to Italy. It is geared specifically to driving vacations with suggested routes, times between towns, time to allow in each place, places to stay and eat, etc, etc.

sunfan03

I can't remember where we booked the trullo, but I think it was from one of the websites like owners direct. It was very central in the town, so yes, we went to the market, local small shops and cooked at home, but we also ate out too. We had a hire car, so we normally like to have lunch out and just have local cheeses, cold meats, nice bread, fruit and wine in the evening.

We loved Matera and was definately worth the drive from Alborobello. The Castelli outside Rome is also very nice.

IMO Alberobello is a very good suggestion! We stayed there in a trullo for 3 nights as part of a tour last September. An amazing town and a very different experience. We also loved Matera, where we stayed for 2 nights. We also did a trip out to the coast to Monopoli & Polignano a Mare. In the latter we had a great walk through narrow streets along the cliff edge. Very photogenic! We also went to Ostuni - pleasant, but not quite so interesting as Polignano. Also Lecce is very well worth visiting, lots to see there if you are into history. We really enjoyed the Puglia area of Italy - so different from other parts.

Save Sicily for another trip - too much to see and do!

roaming-kiwi

Yes, we visited all those places that you went to and a few more. We also loved Puglia. It is somewhere we would go back to, but we would also revisit Sicily. There are so many nice places to go to that we very rarely revisit places.

Consider renting an apartment or a house through airbnb. I have rented a beautiful apartment in Rome for this fall for half of what I would have paid for one small room in a hotel.

If you are still responding to posts - would you mind telling me what area in Rome you booked your Airbnb? I'm very torn on the best area and would appreciate input from anyone. We will arrive at Termini station from FCO airport so don't want to travel over 20-30 mins from there if possible.

cyberjoys - what's important to you? Location, budget, size of apartment?

With our large group of 9, we stayed south of Termini, close to the Ponte Lungo station. We loved being in a local neighborhood and having the convenience of the subway so we could still sightsee. When it was just my family of 5, we stayed near Ottaviano station and again, loved being close to the subway AND also being within walking distance to St. Peter's Basilica.

How large is your group, how long are you staying, what do you want to do/see...if you give us a better idea, I'm sure you'll get better advice for your specific situation. Happy planning!

cyberjoys - what's important to you? Location, budget, size of apartment?

 

With our large group of 9, we stayed south of Termini, close to the Ponte Lungo station. We loved being in a local neighborhood and having the convenience of the subway so we could still sightsee. When it was just my family of 5, we stayed near Ottaviano station and again, loved being close to the subway AND also being within walking distance to St. Peter's Basilica.

 

How large is your group, how long are you staying, what do you want to do/see...if you give us a better idea, I'm sure you'll get better advice for your specific situation. Happy planning!

There are four adults and we are fine with lots of walking. Want a relatively safe area reasonably priced. We are willing to walk more or use some public transportation to get to city center. We just don't want to eat up our entire first day traveling from the airport to our Airbnb location so easy access is what I am looking for. Like to experience some local living and less touristy areas whenever possible.

We felt safe in both areas (around Ponte Lungo station and Ottaviano), the latter is a little farther away from Termini (about 30 min vs. 15 min to Ponte Lungo).

Definitely around more locals in Ponte Lungo (gelato was only $1.50/cup and so good! :D) and it's less expensive to rent, but in Ottaviano, we could go to the fresh market for groceries - in both places we definitely had a chance to practice our Italian.

With 4 people, you should have a lot of options. My suggestion is to carefully look at the airbnb map to see how far they are from the subway station. THAT will determine how much walking you have to do just to get going every day. We are big on being close (1-2 blocks) to the subway because we had kids, but you might be able to spread out a little more.

You know, in December the locals are doing what most of us mostly do in December; going to work/school and giving some thought to Christmas coming. It is not the time for beaches, festivals, museums etc. Life in Italy is more seasonal than in some places (especially here) We were shocked in Pescara last May when it was warm and sunny as we did not see a single person in swimming. But at the hotel we were told, rightly or wrongly, that it was not allowed until a certain date.

We found Matera to be fascinating and it is a place that would possibly interest kids. Perhaps the Castellana caves near Alberobello also.

But I have to say that we find the autostradas to be very fast compared to our roads here and I would think that you could actually get to Sicily and back without too much trouble if you wanted to. Not as many tolls as the north as we were told many of the roads were built with EU money as aid.

We felt safe in both areas (around Ponte Lungo station and Ottaviano), the latter is a little farther away from Termini (about 30 min vs. 15 min to Ponte Lungo).

Thanks for the information! We are just a little north of Ponte Lungo and close to the metro. Ready for some local food and gelato! ~Joyce