Southern Italy recommendations (October)?

kalamalka

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I'll be going to Italy for the first time in mid-October - flying in to Brindisi, for a program that meets and ends in Lecce (but doesn't spend time there). I'll have a week and a bit afterwards to do other things. Since I don't have a lot of time to plan - this was short notice - and no familiarity with the region, does anyone have suggestions about where to go/what to do? I have been thinking that, although it's on the opposite coast, this could be a good opportunity to go to Pompeii/Herculaneum.
 
I haven't been to the Amalfi Coast recently enough to help on that score. I've never been to Pompeii.

I can tell you that Lecce is a lovely Baroque city very worth exploring. I'd think the weather in Puglia should be pleasant in October. There were walking tours offered during the summer in 2015, and the tourist office's website indicates they have more of them now. What's happening in October I do not know. Puglia's a popular beach destination in the summer, at least for folks from the UK.

There are many cute small towns in Puglia if you can get to them. Each tends to be worth a couple of hours for wandering around, plus perhaps time for a meal. The tricky part is to get to more than one of them per day if you don't have your own wheels. Many are accessible by bus; probably a few have train service. The problem is linking them together. Rome2Rio.com is a good place to explore transportation options, but you absolutely must ignore the fares, travel times and frequencies shown on that website. Just use it to figure out who runs the buses and trains you need, then click on the links to those companies' websites to look for the schedules. Sometimes it's easier to Google something like bus Lecce to Gallipoli rather than working through Rome2Rio. Although most trains in Italy are run by Trenitalia, there's at least one other company operating in Puglia. I trust Rome2Rio will provide that information when pertinent.

I spent nearly a week in Lecce in the summer of 2015 and took advantage of van transportation (not really tours) organized by the Lecce tourist office. I don't know that there's enough demand in October for those trips to run; they were on-demand rather than scheduled even in the summer. You can take a look at the currently-posted options here, if only to see what towns are popular enough to be included. It would be worthwhile to stop in at th tourist office in any case, to get suggestions and tips on things to see in the area.

It would be sort of a shame to miss the trulli (Google for photos) around Alberobello, though the town is admittedly touristy.

I've heard that the city of Bari has an attractive historic district but have never been there.

Matera, in Basilicata but covered by some tours from Lecce (and possibly also Bari), is known for its cave dwellings. It might be possible to see Matera on your way west; there's rail service to Matera from either Rome or Naples, I believe.
 
Thanks a lot, acraven. Those are the kinds of things I was hoping to hear about. I was thinking about spending a day or 2 in Lecce - I like baroque and interesting architecture in general - and Bari and Matera had also attracted my interest, but I hadn't got as far as looking into logistics for getting around (other than getting to Pompeii). Didn't know if it would be worth trying to get to the trulli, so thanks for that recommendation.
I use Rome2Rio a lot, especially to find out what options there are to get between two places, but you need a better idea of the places to start with. If I decide I'm comfortable with leaving some of my planning to the last minute, I can use it as one of the conversation topics for the English language learners in the program I'm volunteering at, but I'd rather have at least some of it nailed down before I go. I thought October would be s good time for Puglia and nearby, both for weather and crowds.
(this trip is a substitute for one I'd planned to take this month to Vienna and the Zagreb JGP, but I broke a bone in my foot a couple of weeks ago so had to find an alternative a few weeks later)
 
I'm sorry you missed the Zagreb JGP. I went to the 2015 event in Zagreb and had a very good time. I like Zagreb a lot.

If you're prepared to rent a car, it would make your life easier in Puglia and on the tip across the boot. The usual guidance is not to try to drive yourself around the Amalfi Coast, but I have no idea how dicey that would be in October. You'd probably have to be insane to choose to drive in Naples.

I don't drive in Europe--as you might suspect from the fact that my original response assumed you would not have a car!
 
I too enjoyed the last JGP in Zagreb (and hanging out with you and kosjenka there), and was looking forward to going back (especially given the men's field and that they have pairs this time) but it wasn't to be this year.
I haven't rented a car yet anywhere in Europe (usually I'm in more urban areas). It doesn't look too expensive in that area, but there's a tradeoff between mobility / flexibility to get to places that are off the beaten path or take significantly more time by public transport, and increased hassles., congestion and parking issues in some places.
 

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