Car Rental Ostuni

It's a small town. There are no rental companies in Ostuni. The closest locations are in Brindisi, or Bari if you come from Bari. What is your itinerary? Where are you flying to?

The whole itinerary is: Rome to Ponza Island via train to Formia-Gaeta and ferry (three nights Ponza); train to Benevento for one night (as midway between the coasts); four nights each in Ostuni and Monopoli; three nights Termoli; one night Tivoli (breaking up the longer train ride); four in Orvieto and back to Rome for return flight. We enjoy train travel, but thought a car would be good to have for exploring areas such as Lecce and Matera, using Ostuni as a base. I know that Ostuni and Monopoli are close, but in Ostuni we will stay in the Countryside and Monopoli we'll be in the middle of town, providing much different experiences. That's the other reason we wanted a car in Ostuni. Looks like the choices are to train all the way to Brindisi and get the car there, or train to Bari, get a car, and keep it longer. Thanks for your input.

Yes. You should try to rent a car to visit Puglia. It would be more efficient.

From Ponza to Ostuni, these are the itinerary steps:
PONZA - FORMIA (via Ferry/hydrofoil)
FORMIA/GAETA (station serves both) - CASERTA (via Regional commuter train)
CASERTA - BARI (via fast Freccia or InterCity train)
BARI - OSTUNI (via Regionale commuter train)

If you want to break your trip, you should stay in Caserta, not Benevento (unless you have some other valid reason to stay in Benevento). Caserta is where the fast train to Bari departs from (Benevento is a city between Caserta and Bari). Caserta also has the famous Reggia di Caserta, or Royal Palace to visit, which is the Italian answer to Versailles.

Along the above itinerary there are several opportunities to rent a car at the locations where you change trains. Rental offices are available in:
Formia or Gaeta, Caserta, and Bari (Benevento has car rental offices as well, however I would stay in Caserta).

To rent a car, check with the following consolidators (both based in Maine):
www.autoeurope.com
and their sister company
www.kemwel.com
They are part of the same group, but check prices with both since the sometimes prices differ a bit and therefore I pick the better deal in either site.
They work with the largest rental companies in Europe, such as Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, etc. Europcar is the largest in Italy and tends to be cheaper.

Thank you, Roberto! You are a gem for providing such useful information. I will change our lodging to Caserta and will consider getting the car in Bari and keeping it for the entire eight days in Puglia. We are not extremely timid about driving, but we are also not completely comfortable either, so we may just go ahead and get the car in Brindisi and keep it for the four days we are in Ostuni.

Ostuni is halfway between Bari and Brindisi, so it makes more sense to rent a car in Bari, since you have to pass through there regardless. Why would you go all the way to Brindisi and then drive back to Ostuni? It's the same distance from Bari.

Avis-Budget and Hertz are near the Bari Centrale station. Europcar is a bit further, so you might need a taxi from the station.

All rental companies in Brindisi are at the airport, a bit out of town.

Thank you!