We will be spending a night in Rome and Bari Italy as part of a Eastern Mediterranean cruise in September and am looking for someone to advise us on hotels, transportation between Rome and Bari and what to see/do in various ports. Looking for suggestions on who to work with.
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Ian Sutton
1000+ Posts
For a night in Bari, I'd be looking at choosing between:
- Staying in the city and exploring it
- Hopping up to Trani for a chilled, yet interesting coastal town with superb architecture
- Taking an excursion to see the Trulli. Alberobello is the trulli tourist hotspot, but other lovely nearby small towns have plenty as well.
There are direct trains between Roma termini and Bari Centrale, about 4 hours and running every 1-2 hours. That's almost certainly your best option, and if booking in advance, it's often silly cheap (such that we tend to upgrade to 1st class).
Sorry I can't recommend any hotels - we tend to stay in agriturismi / apartments.
- Staying in the city and exploring it
- Hopping up to Trani for a chilled, yet interesting coastal town with superb architecture
- Taking an excursion to see the Trulli. Alberobello is the trulli tourist hotspot, but other lovely nearby small towns have plenty as well.
There are direct trains between Roma termini and Bari Centrale, about 4 hours and running every 1-2 hours. That's almost certainly your best option, and if booking in advance, it's often silly cheap (such that we tend to upgrade to 1st class).
Sorry I can't recommend any hotels - we tend to stay in agriturismi / apartments.
Thank you for your recommendations!
I wonder if I can jump on here for advice. If not I'll create another Post. I'm planning to travel from Camogli near Genoa to Mirabella Eclano, Avellino which is an hour and a half bus ride from Naples around September 19. So far it looks like I have the option of traveling to Genoa by taxi (40 minutes ) or train (1.5 hours) and flying by Ryanair to Naples airport and catching a bus from there. An alternative is to travel to Naples via Rome. The train will take about seven hours. The plane will take about an hour plus the travel time to Genoa, checking and deboarding in Naples. Both means of travel are about the same price. I don't mind train travel. The thing that concerns me with Ryanair is weight restrictions on luggage but I'm not sure how much it will cost if I have to check a bag or pay for a slightly larger carry-on. That wouldn't be a problem on the train. Any thoughts?
Ian Sutton
1000+ Posts
Ryanair do show the cost of hold luggage, and whilst such surcharges are irritating, they are balanced against an often cheap base price.
The 'Ryanair experience' is pretty scummy. The worst sort of passenger herding, irritating attempts to sell extras (when booking and in-flight) and a strong degree of deception in how they present prices vs. more hidden costs. We've still used them, where the arrival/departure airports are convenient.
# of train changes is a big factor for that travel. If having to change trains at Roma, then that's a lot less appealing that a 7 hour direct train. With the latter, once on the train you can settle in and relax, have a lovely picnic, maybe even a snooze. It's always easier to stretch your legs mid-journey, plus it avoids the passenger herding of modern air travel.
Booking a few month in advance for both travel methods usually gets the best prices.
Finally, this won't appeal to everyone, but there are some overnight sleeper trains, and that can be a different experience.
The 'Ryanair experience' is pretty scummy. The worst sort of passenger herding, irritating attempts to sell extras (when booking and in-flight) and a strong degree of deception in how they present prices vs. more hidden costs. We've still used them, where the arrival/departure airports are convenient.
# of train changes is a big factor for that travel. If having to change trains at Roma, then that's a lot less appealing that a 7 hour direct train. With the latter, once on the train you can settle in and relax, have a lovely picnic, maybe even a snooze. It's always easier to stretch your legs mid-journey, plus it avoids the passenger herding of modern air travel.
Booking a few month in advance for both travel methods usually gets the best prices.
Finally, this won't appeal to everyone, but there are some overnight sleeper trains, and that can be a different experience.
Thanks Ian, good advice. I think the defining factor on this journey will be the set off time and the connections. The train from Camogli gets into Naples at either 1.10 pm leaving at 7.07am or 3.10 pm leaving at 7.54am. The plane from Genoa at 11.05am and arrives in Naples at 2:05pm. The plane also has a stop in Rome and would be about AU$50-100 more expensive depending on checked baggage. And of course for the plane I have to get myself from Camogli to Genoa first.
Ian Sutton
1000+ Posts
Hi Don
7:07am departure slightly faster and only 2 changes vs. 3 on the later train. For me minimising changes when carrying heavy luggage is very preferable. On that note, I see a slightly later train, leaving at 8:41am, with a single change (at Milano of all places - so a properly weird route on the map). It gets into Napoli at 4pm. There's 30 mins between arrival and departure, so decent mitigation in the event of a delay.
Personally I'd strongly lean towards the train (but I really like Italian train travel), especially as you'll likely be on the train anyway to get from Camogli to Genova (to then get shuttle bus or taxi to the airport). Less hassle to just have a single change of platform, than having 3 different modes of transport.
Worth keeping an eye out for special offers, or just great prices or booking months in advance. Sometimes I've been bemused at how cheap we've got the train tickets for. With such good prices, we've often paid a bit more for 1st class on the Freccia trains, which are very comfortable, so ideal for a longer journey.
You should have some lovely walking around Camogli, but I'll throw in an offbeat suggestion for when you're there. I love the early evening 'passeggiata' in Italy (~4pm - 7pm) when everything opens up again after lunch, and people head into the centre in a relaxed way, catching up with friends, family, parading babies, etc. I remarked to someone I know about how lovely it was in La Spezia for this, and he said it's also really good in Recco. Both are somewhat humdrum places, but it seems that's a good recipe for a lovely passeggiata, so if that appeals, consider this a recco for Recco!
As an aside, if you like wine, you'll be exceptionally well served in Avellino. Taurasi a long term favourite red, and Fiano one of many great white wines in the area.
7:07am departure slightly faster and only 2 changes vs. 3 on the later train. For me minimising changes when carrying heavy luggage is very preferable. On that note, I see a slightly later train, leaving at 8:41am, with a single change (at Milano of all places - so a properly weird route on the map). It gets into Napoli at 4pm. There's 30 mins between arrival and departure, so decent mitigation in the event of a delay.
Personally I'd strongly lean towards the train (but I really like Italian train travel), especially as you'll likely be on the train anyway to get from Camogli to Genova (to then get shuttle bus or taxi to the airport). Less hassle to just have a single change of platform, than having 3 different modes of transport.
Worth keeping an eye out for special offers, or just great prices or booking months in advance. Sometimes I've been bemused at how cheap we've got the train tickets for. With such good prices, we've often paid a bit more for 1st class on the Freccia trains, which are very comfortable, so ideal for a longer journey.
You should have some lovely walking around Camogli, but I'll throw in an offbeat suggestion for when you're there. I love the early evening 'passeggiata' in Italy (~4pm - 7pm) when everything opens up again after lunch, and people head into the centre in a relaxed way, catching up with friends, family, parading babies, etc. I remarked to someone I know about how lovely it was in La Spezia for this, and he said it's also really good in Recco. Both are somewhat humdrum places, but it seems that's a good recipe for a lovely passeggiata, so if that appeals, consider this a recco for Recco!
As an aside, if you like wine, you'll be exceptionally well served in Avellino. Taurasi a long term favourite red, and Fiano one of many great white wines in the area.
Thanks Ian, I tend to agree with you. Better to get on the train in Camogli and keep going! As as booking is concerned, I noticed your comments about about fares opening up later on. I was more inclined to book early on the principle that the earlier you book the better the fare. But you think that fares may get cheaper later on?
Ian Sutton
1000+ Posts
Hi Don
I tend to bite when I see a fare I like (and never look again to see if I could have got it cheaper), but those promotions can make the prices crazy cheap. @GAC on this forum is the master of train travel here, and she'll often alert here when there's a good one. Her posts on the mysteries of the Italian train network are wonderfully informative.
As to when it's cheapest, I think in general you're right, earlier is usually very good, and only if sales are low might the price dip further still. As tourists we're lucky as we typically plan and ink in dates/times weeks, even months before a local might.
I had a quick look at Trenitalia and it looks like 2 for 1 is a decent current offer https://www.trenitalia.com/en/offers/freccia-2x1.html
and seemingly only on the website in Italian, there are also variable discounts for off-peak days (Tues, Wed, Thurs and Sat) https://www.trenitalia.com/it/offerte/frecciadays.html
Thanks all. It appears that the Trenitalia Pass for 4 or 7 journeys may be my best bet. I'm still trying to work out the conditions though. In Japan you could either book or take a chance and turn up at the station and see if there was a seat. My itinerary at the moment looks like arrive Roma Fiumicino 6.00am 7 September, travel to Viareggio. If I book a seat but the flight is delayed, what then? 18 September, Camogli - Naples (then bus to Mirrabella Eclano. 22 September, Naples/Amalfi. Depart Roma Fiumicino 26 September 11am (probably stay near the airport somewhere 25 September.
Whoops, on going to the Italian site (helpfully translated to English by my computer A1) it appears there are other options for multi ticket purchases, 'Smart Carnet' and 'Regional' purchase options. Any views on these. Still doing the math on the Trenitalia Pass though,
Ian Sutton
1000+ Posts
I'm hoping GAC joins the thread, as her knowledge of the various options is exceptional.
Andrew
500+ Posts
GAC is a he. I haven't followed the terms of the currently available passes much; my quick look would indicate that they don't cover the Regionali, so you'd need to buy separate tickets for the Regionali, and otherwise figure out what's the better deal. DonPolo, for a train after a 6 a.m. flight arrival, doing a search on Trenitalia for Fiumicino Aeroporto-Viareggio, you can take a train from the airport as late as 8.57, connecting to a reservable train at Ostiense at 10.07. With the Economy fare you can change your booking up to departure time, so it's possible if you can get online while you see that you'll miss the train. I favor that train because you just have the one change at Roma Ostiense coming from the airport; most other itineraries show 3 changes.
Ian Sutton
1000+ Posts
Oops - sorry I had the wrong recollection.
Wow thanks Andrew that's very helpful. I will say though that when I've done a couple of tries to search for the Rome Fiumicino to Viareggio journey on the 7th, I don't get any results at all. Maybe I have to restart my computer to refresh the cache or something. But I'll keep trying.
Andrew
500+ Posts
Entering something like this at https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html ? Then in the results I select the one listed at 08:57, a routing with one change.
