On 22 Mar 2004, NoNameAtAll wrote:

trip a lot shorter, but they are places that never pop up while discussing
tourism in Italy (i.e. Brindisi, Bari, Ancona).

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?

We call it "Adriatic coast" (costa Adriatica), not East coast.

Depending on what you want to do, you might consider stopping underway
in different places, or choosing a port and visiting that city before
embarking. Also depends on how much time you want to spend.

The only time I went to Greece by ferry, my obvious choice was Ancona
because the train trip from Milan was rather short to be done during
daytime, I could sleep on the ferry, and Brindisi was considered an
unsafe place.

If you want to stop underway, from north to south you may consider the
following places on the coastal railway :

Ravenna with nice byzantine mosaics and other monuments,

Rimini (which is not just a beach resort but has a nice historical
centre), from there you might take inland excursions to places like
Gradara (this is close to the coastal train, but only very few local
trains may stop there), San Marino or San Leo,

Pesaro (few nice monuments in the centre) or Fano (nice centre also with
roman remains) (from either place you could take an entire day excursion
inland to Urbino and the Ducal Palace, but it has to be by bus, no
trains any more). There are other nice little towns inland but will be
not of easy reach.

Ancona is a busy city. Between the station and the harbour there is the
Lazzaretto (a former fortress by the dutch-italian architect Vanvitelli,
later used for quarantines and now for exhibitions). Inside the harbour
there are two triumphal archs, a Roman and a Papal one. The historical
centre can be reached by foot just outside the entrance to the harbour
area. You can also climb up monte Guasco with the romanic Cathedral of
S.Ciriaco (also nice view from above there). On the way down (to the
archeological museum) there are some archeological areas which are been
rearranged after the earthquake (I visited the roman theatre on the area
of the former prisons, but I guess one needs special arrangements as the
works are not completed. The cathedral is on the tip of the "elbow"
(Ancona meant "elbow" in greek) of the Conero cape. There is a modern
area of the city called Passetto on the back (south) of the cape, with
nice views. You need to move by urban bus (from station to Passetto or
to harbour), and walk in the centre or to the cathedral.

From Ancona you can take a trip inland to Loreto (large ancient
sanctuary, worth a visit from the artistic point of view). Other
possibilities would be to visit the sea villages of Numana and Sirolo on
the south of the Conero cape (one of the only two rocky capes in the
otherwise sandy adriatic beaches). I've never been there but heard they
are quite nice.

The southern part of the coast of the Marche is nothing special, nice
towns are in the interior on the hills. Possibly the only one in easy
reach is Fermo (which is 6 km from the coast).

I do not know at all the coastal and inland areas of Abruzzo (the next
region south).

Once you get to Puglia, the rail line leaves the coast for a while. I do
not know Foggia (from there you can reach the large rocky cape of
Gargano which should be interesting from the natural point of view).

There are interesting small cities along the coast like Molfetta,
Barletta and Trani (I'd recommend this one with its Cathedral along the
sea). I'm not sure what's the best place to go inland to visit Castel
del Monte (an octagonal 12th century castle built by emperor Frederick
II).

Bari is mostly a modern city with a long seaside promenade, and a small
labyrinthic ancient centre. This area is considered a bit unsafe if you
go around alone. There are at least two nices romanic churches (the
cathedral of S.Nicola, and the Odegitria. S.Nicola can be reached also
from the seaside way outside of the centre. The rail station is at the
other end of the 18th century area (the so called "Murat Borough") with
respect to the sea.

I do not know Brindisi at all, which I'm being told is a rather unsafe
place. Close to it there are nice places like the baroque city of Lecce
with its several buildings in a honey coloured soft stone, and the small
city of Otranto, with a walled centre, and a cathedral with a "popular
style" medieval mosaic floor.


Ravenna and Urbino would require a day, in the other places a few hour
stopover may suffice at least to see selected sights.


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