Thanks Alpinsta, with the last comments I will reorganize my thoughts on packing.
I thought I was doing well with only taking 8 shirts for a 10 day trip, plus some dress shirts
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Over the weekend I revisited the list of places I want to see matched to the places I am staying, so not to travel too far.
Ian's last mail makes me think I have gone overboard a bit with what I want to accomplish.
Here is current plan:
- USA - BCN - Bari
- stay overnight in Barcelona
- Bari to Trani for 4 nights (no car)
- visit Trani, Barletta, Molletta, Bitonto, Castel del Monte (will check transport to these outside Trani, probably train or excursions or ?
- Pick up car at Bari and drive to Castro di Lecce - Hotel for 4 nights
- visit Brindisi ?, Lecce, Otranto, Mariana di Leuca, Gallipoli maybe Acaia
- Drive to hotel in Putignano - 4 nights
- visit Martina Franca, Ostuni, Cisternino, Locorontondo, Alberobello, Monopoli, Polignano a Mare - is this number too many
- Drive to Matera - 2 nights
- visit Matera and Gravina
- Drive to Bari, drop off car and stay in Bari for 2 nights
- visit - walk Bari plus ??
- Train to Roma Trastevere
- Visit the Trastevere area/restaurants etc., (which I like) for 2 nights
- Flight to USA after 19 days
Staying in Rome for 2 nights is still not firm as I was there some months ago, just a direct flight back to US is the reason for going this way.
I am sure there are some great places I am missing, plus some that I could miss, plus I haven't looked at reasonably priced places to eat, visit etc., or times to visit based on "siesta" times. So work to be done. Unless I forget, I like weekly markets so will try and match with my location and days. Your input based on your experience will be appreciated as I can still change dates/cancel hotels.
Many thanks
I like the 1st stop, as Trani is on pretty close to Bari airport, avoids crossing the city, and is a joy to stroll around and without 'bright lights', so getting aver jet lag here feels ideal. Personally we'd probably do max 1 or 2 day trips for the 4 days, but that's reflective of our being happy to more fully explore the base and factoring in relaxation time.
The Trani to Castro di Lecce drive a reasonably long transfer (but 3 hours not bad at all), but could be made to work ideally if you can avoid rush hour around the Bari, Brindisi and Lecce autostrada junctions. If this were a Sunday it would be absolutely ideal, but otherwise pick up the car after c. 9am, and that should avoid heavy traffic.
A day trip into Lecce feels good, ideally if there is local transport in, but otherwise plan a route to a car park in advance to de-stress the journey. You can be pretty free-form on day trips here, driving a route and stopping where it takes your fancy.
Putignano. Possibly too many stops, but it's not unreasonable to have 1-2 day trip locations per day. Critical to this is timing re: the classical lunchtime closing. If doing 2 locations in a day, one gets the morning, the other gets the afternoon, with lunch in either or a planned stop en-route. Also remember it's somewhat stressful driving through towns, but very easy outside them. However once you've been through each one once, it will be much easier. I'd certainly see Alberobello (morning) and Locorotondo (afternoon) as absolutely viable. However if there's somewhere that really sounds appealing, plan to go there in the morning, eat there at lunchtime, and then if you do like it, stay into the afternoon. It's here I'd say have no hard plans, but let your energy levels dictate whether you do 0, 1 or two stops in a day.
Matera (Gravina). Although I recommended Gravina, I think it's a quirky (humdrum but with a huge gorge cutting it in two, spanned by a bridge) place that's worth further research to see if it really appeals to you. If you coincide with the (weekly?) street market, that might be enough to ink it in, but it's absolutely also an option on a transfer day, if you need to lose an hour or two to avoid arriving before the next room is ready.
Bari (2 nights) and Rome (2 nights) feels a bit rushed on both, plus 2 night stays we find the most disruptive to feeling settled/relaxed. Personally I'd remove one of those locations and give its time to the other one (and as you were leaning against Rome, I'd give it to Bari). Plus if doing so, that leaves a solid 4 day rhythm to the holiday (excepting Matera) which is nice, but beyond that brings us back to the laundry. If you can get laundry done in each location, you'll only need 4-5 days worth clothing. If there's one that's awkward for that, then I'd still aim for 6 days clothing and use the end/start of the bookend locations to do the laundry.
Finally, I always like to look at a plan, and see how it feels in reverse. In doing so I'm generally looking at:
- how easy is it to get over jet lag
- does it allow me to take the hire car direct to the departure airport
- does it create any logistical improvements / detriments (that can include hitting local events like festivals, markets, or shifting an awkward Sunday to somewhere else)
The original wins on the former for me, as I prefer coast/rural over cities for getting over jetlag, but conversely being in the city allows you to recover and find your feet without the car. It also means you could have a car in Trani, which I think would be beneficial for interesting day trips. Also reversing the order gives you the ease of driving direct to the airport, avoiding hassle of lugging heavy cases on trains / buses.
