Hi NONAME , I was very tempted to snap at you go to the library, buy a
guide book search google, but I realise that eviler tongues than mine
may shortly take over.
However; I've spent the last few trips exploring the Adriatic coast of
Italy. You have one clue already....you mentioned going to the Greek
Islands....well so have millions of people done over the centuries.
The East coast of Italy has always been the gateway to the Eastern and
Southern countries. There are Greek ruins peppered along the coast all
the way to the heel of the boot. The food is flavored by Greece and
Africa as you get further South. Also realise, the towns along the
coast are favorite seaside resorts of millions of ordinary Italians:
there are lots of inexpensive restaurants and lots of night
entertainments aimed at the young and also at anyone who likes to get
out there and dance the night away. Mixed in among the Italians are
lots of strangers who are headed for Greece, (yourself among them?) so
there is a lot of lively interaction among the young and not so young.
Please don't consider the long train ride a waste....you get to see a
lot of coastline as you go South. I'm going to be on a train going
South along that very route next week. buon viaggio! bill

In article , NoNameAtAll
wrote:

I'm planning my first trip to Italy for the spring of 2005. I want to see Rome
and Venice for sure. However, my trip to Europe was to some of the Greek
Islands, and it's hard to pass up the opportunity to visit one I didn't have a
chance to visit by taking one of the many ferries from Italy to the island of
Corfu. The most logical way to make the trip would be to take the ferry from
Venice to Corfu since I'll be in Venice anyway. However, it's a 24-hour trip,
which is a long time to waste on a boat in the middle of a great vacation.
Ferries also depart from other ports on the east coast of Italy that make the
trip a lot shorter, but they are places that never pop up while discussing
tourism in Italy (i.e. Brindisi, Bari, Ancona).

Anyway, my point is that I don't want to take a train all the way to one of
these other port cities just to shorten the duration of the ferry trip if
there's nothing else to do or see in those places. What, if anything, do these
other port cities on the east coast of Italy have to offer?