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Rome - Bari transportation recommendation

Rome - Bari transportation recommendation

Old Mar 4, 2019, 4:43 pm
  #1  
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Rome - Bari transportation recommendation

Originally Posted by Perche
3 options. You can use,
Trenitalia.com It is in italian. On the top right there is a British flag. Click on it to get to english, but you still have to type in the names of the cities you want to go into in Italian, or else it will say city not found.

Italotreno.it is available in english. You still have to type the cities in Italian. It's a private company with newer trains, but with a less extensive network. It has far fewer departures from Rome Termini. It's main terminal is rome tiburtina, which is a bit out on the outskirts of the city, making it a little harder to get to.

Italiarail.com is powered by Trenitalia, but has complete english functionality. For some reasons, it sometimes doesn't show some city pairs, but only for obscure cities. It's the most user friendly for non-italian speakers, and it's virtually the same as being on Trenitalia, but you'll be able to read the FAQ's, email questions to them in english, understand what you are buying better, etc.

Family of four (two adults and two children) need to go to Bari from Rome to take a cruise. Either June 30 or July 1.

1. Train
Based on the rail booking information, I checked the availability.

Trenitalia.com - It looks like booking is not open yet for the second week of June or after travel. I checked June 2nd schedule. 3hr 30min-4hr train ride. However, only morning departure 805AM or somewhat afternoon departures 255PM, 410PM 600PM 655PM.

www.italotreno.it no city pair between Rome and Bari. Maybe there is no service between two cities. Or maybe I did not put the right city names in Italian.

Italiarail.com it shows one train option on the day - 13hr 25min with a connection.
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2. Air
Ryan air 810AM or 935PM departure USD26
Alitalia 6 nonstop service USD74
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3. Bus
Flixbu about 7-9 hours connecting through Naples
www.omio.com (formerly goeuro.com) 5-6hr
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Question 1
I am assuming Trenitalia.com schedule will open up soon.
If this is correct, the logical decision would be booking Trenitalia.com instead of all the hassles for going to/from airport or sitting on 5+ hours in bus.
The cheap price of Ryan air is tempting. But I heard about bad stories about the airline.
Am I missing something?

Question 2
What is the difference between Intercity and Frecciargento?
Intercity 703 Departure 728AM Arrival 200PM 13.90Euro (43.70Euro for 2 adults and 2 children)
Frecciargento 8303 Departure 805AM Arrival 1204PM 39.90Euro (119.80Euro for 2 adults and 2 children)
We would not mind leaving 40 minutes early and arriving 2 hr late to save 80Euro and have a nice meal. instead. My children are very good with long ride as long as they have their ipads.
But the difference between Intercity and Frecciargento is safety, we will go with safer one.
If the difference is only number of stops and small comfort of seats, then we will consider intercity.

Question 3.
I am looking at Rome Termini to Bari Centrale. Am I looking for a wrong pair? We will be staying near Pantheon in Rome and we have not decided hotel in Bari.

Thank you in advance,
poohhead80 is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2019, 5:44 pm
  #2  
 
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Train tickets will indeed become available at a later date. I recommend using www.loco2.com - same price as Trenitalia, much easier to use. They also display Italo tickets but I don’t think they have any routes to/through Bari. Here you can read up on train travel in Italy https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm and find a lot of answers your questions (intercity vs frecciargento)
VitaliU is offline  
Old Mar 4, 2019, 5:59 pm
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Question 1: The schedule will open up soon, yes. It's generally 90 days before, but it can be less than that due to time table changes (they are coordinated across most of Europe, Mid June and Mid December).

Ryanair is perfectly fine when it works, but can be a nightmare if it all goes wrong. Everything is an optionally extra, including cabin bags. By default you can only take a bag which goes under the seat in front of you. That being said I've never had a bad experience yet.

Question 2. Intercity trains are basically regional trains which do long distance services, generally stopping at smaller stations along the way. The trains are generally older but are comfortable and well maintained. The Frecciargento are newer, faster and they tilt! However because they tilt the cabin is a little narrower. The seats are similar/the same however. I would recommend for that distance spending a few extra euros and getting First class. The seating is 2+1 rather than 2+2, plus you get extra legroom and some snacks. They are both equally as safe and both require mandatory (free) seat selection. Seat61.com is a good resource for trains across Europe.

Question 3: Under both options you have 'Roma ( Tutte Le Stazioni )' and Bari (Tutte Le Stazioni )', which means 'Any Station' or 'All Stations'. Bari only has one main station, where as Rome has 2 or 3 (or 4) depending on how you look at it. Termini seems to be the best one for you though, as you're staying in the centre.

Give yourself plenty of time though, especially if you're catching a cruise. The airlines, airports and rail system can have strikes with little warning. I would recommend travelling to Bari the day before your cruise, maybe in the morning as a buffer.
streetmagix is offline  
Old Mar 21, 2019, 3:54 am
  #4  
 
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Italo train is far better for a premium travel, but they dont have all the destination to south Italy.
GiorgiaWilliams is offline  

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