Adriatic (Bari general area) without a car?

When are you planning to go and what are you planning to do? Where are you planning to go? What’s your travel style - hit it and move on or linger longer?

“When” could be a factor in a response to your question if your vacay is in August. “What are you planning” is a factor if you plan to stay in Bari with a car, for example. Also, what are your plans…

Lecce is a good choice. Are you staying in Puglia or are you going to travel in Calabria, too?

There is a train line along the coast which you could use.

I spent time in the area twice without a car and was able to go everywhere I wanted using public transportation. It takes longer but is stress free.

When are you planning to go

I should have added that. At this point it will probably be the last week or so of September. I'm starting to research it (should have started sooner) but I know I want to go to Lecce, after that perhaps a bit more up or down the coast. Watching some YouTube videos Ostuni seemed interesting, maybe a daytrip? Then I'd like to go over to Sorrento for a few days.

You are asking about Puglia. We were just there last month. Trains run along the coast between Bari and Lecce, and the regional trains stop at all the towns, including Ostuni (though the station is at the bottom of the hill and Ostuni is up on top). We spent 6 nights in Lecce and loved that city. We traveled there from Rome by train,,via Bari. From Lecce we visited the coastal towns of Monopoli and Polignano Al,Mare by train.

You wil have no trouble seeing the coastal area without a car, although if you want to go inland, such as to Alberobello, you will take a bus. We did that later when we joined a tour, but Lecce and Monopoli were the highlights for us.

September is good. if you are going along the coast you should be able to lace a lot of the towns together with public transportation. Places like:

Lecce (architecture, a real gem)
Bari (for a bigger city)
Polignano a Mare (beach)
Matera (caves and old town)
Paestum (Greek ruins)
Sorrento (restaurants, gelato, limoncello, Bay of Naples views)

Can do with trains and buses. It’s not in order but these are some choices. You need to figure out where you’re going to fly in and out. Rome?

Hi John,
Our TR 'Bella Puglia' contains some useful info including contacts for actual drivers there. Hope that it helps.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/trip-report-bella-puglia-plus-basilicata-and-rome

I am done. The end.

We were in Puglia last fall with a car. It was a challenge to find parking in most cities, especially Bari and Lecce. We visited the area by train years ago and though we didn’t cover as much area, it was more relaxing. The Adriatic coast is beautiful. I especiallyliked Trani.

Thanks all for the advice. I'm going to be on the RS Sicily tour prior to this so I have the choice of flying from there to Rome or Naples and then going over to Puglia. Bari also has an airport but seems to have fewer flights.

Hi John, Sounds like we have similar plans! We are doing the RS Sicily tour starting May 7 and then flying to Naples from Catania. We will spend 3 nights in Sorrento, then go back to Naples to catch the Flix bus to Matera. From there we bus to Bari and train down the coast to Polignano a Mare. Then we will take the bus over to Alberobello and then take the train to Lecce. From Lecce we will do the train back to Naples for 2 nights and then fly home. We are spending a week in Matera and Puglia and looking forward to it! We will see how all of the public transportation comes together for us.

@lken56 yes it does sound like a similar plan. I hope you post about your experiences using public transit

From Naples to Matera one can also take the Trenitalia train + bus service: Frecce train Naples to Salerno, then Freccialink bus from Salerno to Matera.

https://www.trenitalia.com/it/le_frecce/servizio_freccialink.html

Then from Matera to Bari, there is the FAL (Ferrovia Appulo Lucane) train:

https://ferrovieappulolucane.it/en/lines/timetables-and-fares/