We don’t want to drive the 7 hrs that it says it will take. Looks like the train is also about that long. Was thinking of flying from Brindisi to Rome and then taking a train? Not sure where the nearest train station would be to Monticchiello. We would also need to rent a car. We didn’t really want to rent the car from in Rome and deal with the traffic. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Lynn
Rome2Rio lays out a lot of options, none of them attractive from a time standpoint. You really cannot trust Rome2Rio's travel times or frequencies (or fares), though, so it's worth digging down through any of the options you might remotely be interested in to check on the schedules displayed on the websites of the companies operating the transportation.
If you find a rail connection that takes only about 7 hours, I think that would be fabulous--but also unlikely; you've got a distance of about 440 miles, and you'd mostly be on regional trains, not expresses.
I find mixed-mode travel days somehow more stressful than just being on a train (or a bus) all day long. By the time you drive to the airport in Bari or Brindisi and then from your destination airport to Monticchiello, I think it's going to take a lot longer than 7 hours.
Montichiello doesn't seem to have a train station, so aren't you going to need a car while you're there? Perhaps there's an attractive route from Alberobello to Montichiello that also avoids the areas of densest traffic.
I'm afraid by the time you get to the Brindisi airport, fly to Rome, get to the train station in Rome, take the train to the nearest station to Monticchiello (I believe it would be Chiusi) and rent a car, you would have spent at least seven hours. Chiusi IS a good place to rent a car (we've done that) - 16 miles from Monticchiello.
If it were me, I'd take the local train from Alberobello to Bari, then train from Bari to some interesting spot I might like to visit briefly (Caserta?) and spend the night, then train on to Chiusi the next day. (For instance, the train from Bari to Caserta is about three hours and from there to Chiusi is three and a half.
It’s a long and tiring drive for sure. I’ve done it from Taranto to Florence and it takes all day when everything is said and done. The train from Bari to Chiusi (one train change in Rome) is the best option. Then rent a car in Chiusi. Monticchiello is very small and has practically no bus service except for a couple of runs at school opening and closing hours. Monticchiello is where the iconic Tuscan road below is.
Thanks very much for the advice. I wasn’t aware that we could rent a car in Chiusi. Does the train go through Brindisi also? We will be returning a rental vehicle there most likely. He just doesn’t want to spend 7 or 8 hours driving and I don’t blame him. Does anyone have an idea of the time it would take to take the train to Rome and then to Chiisi? I think all the trains I was looking at were 7-9 hours. My other thought was to fly to Rome FCO and rent a car there and drive to Monticchiello from there. It says it’s about 2 hours. I was reading a thread that said it’s not too hard to drive out of there. I realize we’ll probably pay more for the rental but if it saves us some time that would be fine. Any thoughts on this idea? We hope to be traveling in October.
Does the train go through Brindisi also?
Since you want to know if there is a train from Brindisi to Rome (or To Chiusi if that's your final destination), just enter Brindisi in the "From" field on www.trenitalia.com/en.htm
The third column on the search results page, headed Duration, will display the number of changes needed to get from Brindisi to Roma Termini or Chiusi-Chianciano Terme or to wherever you are going.
Does anyone have an idea of the time it would take to take the train to Rome and then to Chiusi
Same as above, digit Brindisi (or Bari) and Chiusi-Chianciano Terme in the "From" and "To" fields, click search and check the duration of that trip on the third column. Click the small arrow pointing down, to see the length of each leg and the transfer time in Rome (assuming the system will make you change in Rome, I have no idea).
You must enter a day of travel before June 13. Covid permitting they will upload more trains in the coming weeks.
You don’t have to return the car in Brindisi. You can return it in Bari at no extra charge, If you are in Alberobello it makes better sense to return it to Bari rather than backtrack to Brindisi.
There are also rental offices (Hertz, Avis-Budget) walking distance from the Bari Centrale station which would make it very convenient to return the car before taking the train to Rome (then Chiusi).
There is a train that departs from Bari at 8:53am which can get you to Rome in 3.5 hours. Then shortly after 1pm you can take a Regionale train from Rome to Chiusi and be in Chiusi before 3pm.
Taking a flight to Rome makes no sense because it will take much longer than the train once you account for boarding and deplaning procedure and transfer times from the Rome airport to the Rome Termini station. It will also be more expensive.
Having said that I would bite the bullet and drive the 7.5 hours (plus pit stops) from Alberobello to Monticchiello. I know it’s tiring for the driver, but less hassle. Just take your time. It’s almost all easy freeway driving. It’s not that Americans aren’t used to drive 7-8 hours on a freeway. I do that often from the Bay Area to LA. At least, unlike here in California, you are unlikely to deal with traffic on that route.
We flew Bari to Rome, short flight, inexpensive, Alitalia.
