We will be staying in Bari mid-September and have an early morning 6am departure out of Bari Airport. I originally had planned to arrive at Bari Airport for 4:30am via train from Bari Centrale, however I see there are no trains this early.
Any recommendations for booking a taxi or transfer to the airport? Phone? App?
I had intended to book a B&B, but perhaps a hotel has better relationships with
Hi, Giangilberto from Milan, Bari is not a small city but neither one of biggest town in Italy, we have problems in Italy to get a taxi at that hour, the only way is to book the taxi the night before by phone, you can ask to the hotel/B&B to do that for you, They usually have a trusted taxi driver they’ve likely been working with for years.
However, my real advice is to leave before 4:00; if the taxi falls through for any reason, you’ll have a major problem, as finding a plan B to get to the airport at that hour is very difficult. It is better to wait a bit longer at the airport and be safe than to risk arriving late or worse, not making it at all.
As for the rates, there is certainly a tariff schedule regulated by the Municipality of Bari; in any case, whenever you are about to get into the taxi, you should ask if they offer a fixed rate. If one applies to that route, the driver cannot refuse it under any circumstances, as it is established and mandated by municipal regulations. That said, if you like, I can check the official Bari municipal rate schedule myself or call the radio-taxi service directly.
We've never had trouble getting a taxi to any Italian airport for a 6:00am or 6:30am flight, but we have had trouble with the hotel-to-airport shuttles that early.
In Bari years ago, we stayed at the airport hotel Hotel Parco dei Principi intending to use their shuttle. But we actually ended up walking to the airport rather than wait for a taxi when the shuttle wasn't going to depart early enough for some reason. Not ideal, there weren't sidewalks, the sun wasn't up, but it was a short walk.
We'll probably be making the same decision this fall for a 6:30am flight out of Venice airport: choosing a hotel within walking distance of the airport just in case.
If I were you, I'd probably book the taxi for earlier than necessary and have the number of another taxi handy, just in case. And check in online. A good hotel, B&B, or apartment host should help you with the numbers to call or call for you.
Hi Nancy, did you book the taxi via app or thru the hotel front desk/B&B host? Bari doesn't appear to have a lot of hotels in Vecchia, and wanted a reliable way to book a taxi myself.
The most reliable is to stay in a hotel because they will know taxistas. As mentioned above, there is an issue with taxi scarcity in Bari. We've stayed in that city twice in the last year and both times, had to arrange the taxi the day before and even that was not so simple....hotel called and called and no one answered until many tries.
I liked staying in the Murat district...you can walk to Vecchia easily from there.
Thanks ekscrunchy. Any Murat hotel recommendations? I see Moderno as an option, the remainder appear to be B&B's.
My husband speaks Italian, so he always calls the day before and arranges for a taxi. We usually stay in apartments and the host usually provides a list of numbers for taxis.
He did use an app in Sicily, a couple times last year, but not to get to the airport.
