SOUTHERN ITALY ROAD TRIP / CAMPANIA, BASILICATA & PUGLIA

This was our 2nd time to choose road trip as a type of travel. The 1st one was the road trip through Scotland. You can find my story about that beautiful trip here.

So, Italy.. a truly big country. One can think that seeing Rome or Venice he saw Italy but that is far from the truth. The truth is that Italy has many regions and every single region has its own stories. Also, the country is long and big and it will take you a while to see it whole. This was our seventh (or more) time to visit Italy. We saw a big part of Northern and central Italy but this was our first time in the South, and it was amazing. We decided to visit Napoli, along with the famous and I dare to say, commercial, Amalfi coast on the Tyrrhenian sea, but also to visit the other side - Puglia and Basilicata, near the Adriatic sea. That way we saw two completely different parts of Italy, both situated on the very South on the country. Once again, Italy is truly a special country, with lots of different cultures and lots of different traditions.

Napoli

First, we visited Napoli. We wanted to enjoy Napoli's soul so we waited in line for the famous Sorbillo and tried the most famous pizza in Napoli. We walked some time through the Old Town streets and than continued towards Pompeii, a truly amazing thing to see. It is indeed a whole city full of ancient Roman ruins. Also, it is a part of the Unesco World Heritage Sites. If you want to see it properly, it will take you few hours. After Pompeii, we continued to Sorrento, a coastal town in the southwestern Italy. We had a short walk, went to our accommodation in the countryside above Positano (Arola-Preazzano) and the next day continued towards Positano.

Capri

When we came in the accommodation, the airbnb hosts gave us the traditional Italian cheese, Scamorza, along with the famous small yellow tomatoes - which came directly from their garden. It was an amazing snack.

In Positano we took the ferry to Capri. We spent few hours on Capri, took a boat around the island, had lunch and then went back to take a walk around Positano, a very popular, colorful town on the coast. It is magical to take few photos there but to be honest, Amalfi was far more attractive and interesting for us. Positano is like a beautiful postcard, Amalfi has soul.

Positano

Also, we ate an amazing pizza in Amalfi, ordered it for take out and ate it in the Amalfi streets. It was even better than the one we had in Napoli. Just being honest. :) So, after Positano, we went further and visited Ravello, a nice small town on the hill, and Amalfi. That day was a little bit exhausting but it was worth it. We went in our accommodation in Tramonti area (beautiful countryside), had a glass of homemade wine and overall had a short but beautiful stay there and the next day continued towards Salerno.

Salerno has a small but interesting old town. We spent few hours there and continued for Basilicata and Puglia - on the other side of Italy, 2 hours further.

Sassi di Matera

In Basilicata we visited the mesmerizing Sassi di Matera. I will not lie, that was one of our main goals of this trip. Sassi di Matera is a 9000 year-old town. During years, it was under different authorities so today you can see how some streets were build on the roofs of older houses. The whole town is situated very low which also indicates on its age and history. It is often compared to Jerusalem and used instead of Jerusalem in movies (The Passion, King David), because of the ancient look. In 1993, Unesco declared 'Citta dei Sassi' (City of Stone) a world heritage site. I need to say, and it is not a paid partnership, we had an amazing dinner in a place called 'Quatroquarti'. Check it out if you ever find yourselves in Matera. It is simple but perfect, truly.

Bari Vecchia

After Matera, we went to our accommodation in Adelfia. The next day, our last day on our short but beautiful trip, we visited Bari. We weren't expecting much, having in mind that Bari is a port and a capital but we were very pleasantly surprised because the Old Town (Bari Vecchia) is beautiful. Piazza Mercantile, Basilica di San Nicola and all the old and gorgeous streets are worth seeing! We spent few hours in Bari and we were very pleased. Also- we ate an amazing panini - mortadella and cheese Provolone in Italian homemade focaccia - it was so good that I am still dreaming about it.

After Bari, we went on the road to Napoli airport and went home.

To sum up, it was a crazy and beautiful road trip. I must say - if you want to take a car on the Amalfi coast - you need to know how to drive because there - there are no rules. Also, the streets are very very tiny, full of curves and you go up and down the whole time. It is an adventure in every single way. Also - in Italy, you can eat great pizza anywhere, not just there where everyone goes. The last thing - Amalfi coast is beautiful, but overpriced. I will write down one thing and you will see why. One hour of parking in Amalfi is mostly 5 euros, in Positano you can find it for 3. In Matera, one hour is 50 cents, in bari is 1 euro. You can clearly see that Amalfi coast is seriously commercialized. It was still nice to visit it, of course. But, if I am speaking in terms of knowledge, history and tradition, I preferred Matera and Bari. However, everything is worth seeing and we have amazing photos which can prove it.

This road trip was a beautiful 4 day experience. We visited 10 towns in three regions, stayed in the countrysides and small towns, eating traditional Italian food, driving on the crazy and chaotic Amalfi coast and had an amazing time indeed.

Thank you Italy and once again, it was a pleasure!

Our 4 day road trip!