richarde99

My spouse and I will be flying out of Catania, and we will have 14 days remaining on our trip. We will not have a car, and we would like to see some of Apulia (Lecce, Monopoli, Bari) and the Amalfi (Ravello, Amalfi, Positano) before leaving from Rome. Although we have been to Rome once before, we would like to spend 2 days prior to our flight home in Rome. So, we have 12 days to apportion, and we realize we will lose (considerable) time in transit from the East to West coast. I would appreciate your suggestions on how you would do it. Thank you

HappyTrvlr

Honestly? Puglia 10, Amalfi 2.

bilboburgler

Much the same Puglia (who calls it Apulia?) would get most of my time. Though I might give Paestum a day. If you want to travel I'd take the train, not from Taranto but try and use the narrow gauge railway that sort of starts at Gravina and goes to Potenza before a taxi ride across town to the main line. If this is just too much bother then the Taranto line to Naples is fine and has some lovely mountain views.

neckervd

You tell us that you will fly out of Catania and fly home from Rome?????

annhig

<<You tell us that you will fly out of Catania and fly home from Rome?????>>

After spending time in Sicily was my take on that, Neckervd.

richarde99

US into Malta 4 nights, then 4 nights Palermo, 3 nights Ortigia, 4 nights Catania, then [a] Puglia and onward.....
Thank you for your comments.

bilboburgler

Note that Ortigia has a timed ZTL and you need to tell your hotel your number plate

dreamon

bilboburgler, I'm interested in knowing more about the train route from Gravina to Potenza. I can't easily find details of it online, only a bus. Could you help please as it sounds interesting.

bilboburgler

Well I do know it keeps breaking down and they stick buses onto fix bits. I last used it about 6 years ago. I'll have a look, ah it looks like they have given up but it may come back (see bottom link)

As you may know the Italian rail system was supposed to come under one company back in the 50s, but they sort of forgot a few places in the south, so there is a line south from Lecce that is its own little company (and it shows) and there is this https://ferrovieappulolucane.it/tratta/linee/ which links Bari to Matera again with a certain level of poverty.

https://ferrovieappulolucane.it/comu...13062020_1857/ maybe the newest timetable available for the route.

progol

I’m guessing you haven’t gotten a lot of concrete suggestions to your request because this is a bit vague and, as you see, travel from east to west (or west to east) is not easy without a car. Also, if you are spending 2 days in Rome prior to departure, will that mean 2 FULL days, which would really mean 3 nights, leaving you with only 11 nights to play with?

In an earlier planning thread, you mention flying to Naples from Catania. This is a more logical route as it is closer to Catania and means a few more options for nonstop flights. You can choose, then, to see Naples and the Amalfi coast comfortably in that time frame. We did a trip like that 2 years ago, and stayed in Sorrento, Capri and Atrani (a lovely small town a 5 minute walk from Amalfi that doesn’t have the intense tourist crowds), then visited Paestum, and took the train to Rome from Salerno - an easy transition. I like travel in this area because so many towns are accessible by ferry.

Are you interested in any of the ancient sites, like Pompeii, Paestum or Herculaneum? if so, then focus on the Amalfi coast and forget about Puglia this trip.

Or, fly into Bari, and enjoy Puglia - trains from Bari to Monopoli to Lecce look easy. Maybe a trip to Matera (highly recommend). You can take a train directly to Monopoli and on to Lecce, then bus to Matera and end in Bari, where you can fly to Rome.

This past fall, we did, in fact, travel from Puglia (Polignano & Lecce), Matera, revisited Atrani and ended in Naples. But we had a car - and honestly, I couldn’t imagine traveling from Lecce to the Amalfi Coast or Naples by public transportation. Maybe if you want to hire a driver privately, but otherwise, there is no easy way to go from one end to the other. I’ve been trying to figure out exactly how to get from Lecce to anywhere east, and it’s a schlep. I wouldn’t want to spend a day doing that by public transport.

However, if you still decide that you want to see both regions, I’d probably fly into Naples, allocate whatever time you choose to the Naples/Amalfi coast region - and I do recommend Atrani as a lovely and convenient place to stay. And then figure out how to get to Puglia. Personally, this isn’t something I would do. Then fly Bari to Rome to end your stay.

I really do recommend that you consider focusing on one area.

kybourbon

** I'm interested in knowing more about the train route from Gravina to Potenza. I can't easily find details of it online, only a bus. **

Some of these lines have changed as they have been doing construction on various lines plus covid. It's Ferrovia Appulo Lucane (FAL) that ran these trains/buses. In the past, I had to take FAL from Matera to Bari. Bari had three different train stations (operated by different rail lines) within a block or so. Trenitalia and FAL stations in Potenza essentially next to each other. The Trenitalia station is Potenza Centrale and the FAL station is Potenza Inferiore. In Bari, they are both called Bari Centrale but they are about a block apart with FAL being inside a building upstairs, not ground level.

https://eticket.ferrovieappulolucane.it/FAL/

FAL did remodel the Gravina station a few years ago.



In the past, Italo was running a train/bus combo from Amalfi area to Matera. You couldn't buy one without the other. You had to buy a bus/train combo. I believe these bus connections have been shut down due to covid and not enough travelers. I think Trenitalia started offering something similar between the regions after Italo did, but I used Italo. Italo train from Naples to Salerno where I had to switch to the bus to Matera. The bus stopped at Potenze Centrale. Italo's website says the bus routes are currently undergoing rescheduling. You can scroll down this link and see the line connections.

https://www.italotreno.it/en/destina...#reggio-emilia

Trenitalia's bus/train version.

https://www.trenitalia.com/it/le_fre...eccialink.html

I did use the FAL train from Matera to Bari,

If you want a fast train connection between Puglia and Campania, Trenitalia runs one between Lecce/Bari to Caserta (doesn't go into Naples). Caserta is worth a stop/overnight as the palace is right across from the station. Trenitalia does run an IC train and a few R trains between Salerno and Potenza. The last IC train I took in the Campania (from Pompei Trenitalia station not the Pompeii Scavi Circumvesuviana) area was one of the newer ones with large handicap access bathroom and AC. YMMV

kybourbon

**But we had a car - and honestly, I couldn’t imagine traveling from Lecce to the Amalfi Coast or Naples by public transportation.**

It's really easy. You can catch the fast train in Lecce to Caserta and switch to the R train to Naples. It's usually the Frecciargento train between Lecce and Caserta (4 per day), but there is also one Frecciarossa. Travel time between Lecce and Caserta is about 4 1/2 hours. The Caserta station is small to it's an easy change to Naples, but it is a regional train to Naples (about 1 hour).

https://www.trenitalia.com/it/le_fre...ciargento.html

https://www.trenitalia.com/it/le_fre...ossa_1000.html

FWIW - Trenitalia has recently added a fast train between Milan and Paris (6 1/2 hours, 2 per day).

progol

It's good to know the options, though it does mean spending pretty much an entire day in transit. That was my point - not that it wasn't possible. The OP hadn't indicated staying in Naples (though it's an option) and, if he wanted to continue on to a stop on the Amalfi coast, he'd still need another form of transit to the day. It's doable , but a long day.

bilboburgler

But in Puglia the days are very long with a big Pausa in the middle

neckervd

Ryanair has non stop flightds from Catania to Bari.
Bari - Naples is best done by marinobus.
From Apulia to Salerno - Amalfi you may travel by train or bus via Potenza (direct from Taranot, with a change from Bari or Brindisi)

richarde99

The long story -- So, we want to meet up with our daughters and son-in-laws for 5 nights abroad. They found flights together from New Orleans (June 2) > Miami > London > Catania. Jennifer and I will get to Catania from Palermo -- and then we travel together to Ortigia and sleep there the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. The morning of the 6th we train to Catania. The morning of June 9, one set fly to Naples, then train to Positano > train to Rome > train to Venice > Ireland and home. The other group is Rome > Paris > London and home.

We will stay another day in Catania. Jennifer and I have spent 7 nights in Rome (day trip to Pompeii) on our first trip, and our second trip included -- Milan, Verona, Varenna, Florence (day trips to Sienna, Pisa & Lucca), Bologna (day trip to Parma), Venice (day trip Murano & Burano) and home.

My maternal grandparents, married with one toddler in tow from a village outside of Palermo, sailed from Palermo around 1923 or so and my paternal grandparents, married, with no children from a village outside of Pescara, sailed from Naples around 1910 or so. I would like to visit the regions they are from, but I do not intend to find their villages.

As I had previously booked a start in Malta, and return from Rome, this was actually the simplest way we could figure to get 6 of us together as we had no other location where everyone would stay put for 5 or 6 days.

There was a mention of Naples, I'm still undecided. There was a question of days vs sleeps. We leave the US on May 25 and fly out of Rome the morning of June 25 (see attached). My research confirms that a rental car would be (extremely) useful in both Sicily and the East coast of the mainland. However, we'll have to work around it. The train and airport maps I rely on are attached. We've not been to Cinque Terre or the Amalfi, and we were hoping to see one this trip.

I hope this adds some level of clarity.

dreamon

bilboburgler and kybourbon, thanks heaps for the information about the Gravina train route, really appreciate it and hope I get there soon. Hopefully it will also be useful for Richard.

progol

<<My research confirms that a rental car would be (extremely) useful in both Sicily and the East coast of the mainland. However, we'll have to work around it. The train and airport maps I rely on are attached. We've not been to Cinque Terre or the Amalfi, and we were hoping to see one this trip. >>

Is there a particular reason you don’t want a car in S. Italy? This would be when you and your wife are on your own. Picking up a car in Bari and dropping it off in Salerno will give you a lot more flexibility. This is what we did on our recent trip. Again, depending on your interests and how much of a road trip you want, you could cover all or most of what you mentioned in your first post. From Salerno, you can take a ferry or bus to your destination on the Amalfi coast, then travel to Naples or Salerno for the train to Rome.

richarde99

Short answer -- we will celebrate our 33rd wedding anniversary at then end of this month, and I would like to see 34 next year. There is a restaurant we frequent -- and we frequently disagree about the best route given the day and time. Travelling we have missed train connections in several cities, and gone the opposite direction than intended on a double decker bus in London once -- without conflict; which brings me back to our local restaurant. One of us, and I'll not say which, can be hardheaded and argumentative when navigating a car, add in signage we can't read -- well you get the gist.