How can I get from Reggio Calabria to Puglia by train?

Train connections across the "sole of the boot" are slow, with no direct service. On the price map at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/italy-rail-passes, the southern towns shown are typical connection points by train and/or bus. The faster connections are usually through Salerno or Naples. There are few local train links on that page as well as Rome2Rio or a straight Google search can help to find buses.

It sounds like you just want to ride all around on trains looking out the window, but don't assume that flying is more expensive. Budget airlines can be booked ahead between many European destinations for $50; see also www.skyscanner.com.

I traveled from Sicily to Puglia during the summer of 2015--not one of my brighter ideas, but they are both very interesting places. The train journey was going to be so long that I opted for a bus. The bus probably originated in Palermo, but I picked it up in Messina and rode to Lecce, which wasn't its last stop. I don't remember the name of the bus company, but I may have found it through Rome2Rio.com.

The bus was modern and quite comfortable except for a couple of minor problems: the air conditioning was broken, and the bus departed very late because the company tried to fix the a/c and then tried to obtain a replacement bus. The new bus caught up with us very late in the afternoon, so it really wasn't of any use to the sweltering passengers. I figure it was a bad experience but one not likely to be repeated.

So...in my pre-advance planning for possible southern Italy train travel (spring 2019), I cannot let the vagaries of transport in this area dissuade me from the trip. In summer? Not on your life. Both my wife & I abhor the heat. I'd love to travel across the length of the boot--like acraven's ill-fated Messina to Lecce--but may end up starting in Naples and end up somewhere in Sicily.

Thinking the train ferry across the Straits of Messina might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially after I found out that my great-grandmother made the same trip in 1906, starting in Sant' Arsenio--a mountain village 50 km SE of Salerno, to Salerno, then probably by train (boat maybe?--no records of it) to Palermo, then to America at Ellis Island.

Just don't take the night train between Rome and Sicily. The bounciest train trip I've ever experienced--and I've trained in the Balkans and Ukraine. Not a minute's sleep for me because of the constant jerking.

Whether the long daytime trip would be worthwhile to experience the train-on-ferry bit I cannot say, because I'm not much interested in engineering and technology. Sicily, however, is fabulous, and worth at least 2 weeks by car and 3 weeks if you're getting around by public transportation.

That's all lovely, useful help. Thanks, all of you! This is a very good website.