Matera in front of Rome

I haven't been to Matera but I can answer a couple of your questions: you can bus or (private) train to Matera from Bari. The bus is generally considered easier. The bus is an hour and there are multiple bus company options on that route and you may even be able to go from the airport depending on timing if you're not interested in Bari.

https://www.amoitaly.com/matera/access.html

Train details: https://happytowander.com/bari-to-matera-by-train/
I know the train used to require a change part way through but I don't know if that's still the case.

Here is another overview: https://fearlessfemaletravels.com/bari-to-matera-by-train-and-bus/

Bari is definitely the largest nearby city and the largest city anywhere on the lower east coast.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

I can only address question #3. From my experience you do not need a car in Matera. The area of interest is quite small and, although hilly, very walkable. What I would suggest is that you hire a local guide for one day to learn more about the history of this very interesting place. We used: Amy Weiderman ([email protected]) and found her to be very knowledgeable. Hope you have a great trip.

If it is literally a couple days, then you do not need a car. (With more time, there are many places to visit with a car--Altamura, Craco, Laterza.)
If you can fly into Bari, that would be easier, car or not. If you take a train to Bari, there are car rental offices near the train station and it's an easy 45 minute drive to Matera.
From Rome, I would closely compare the train v flight logistics to see what works better for you. Because you have to have ample time between flight and second flight to account for delays, I would prefer to just hop on a train.

I've been a few times to Matera and it's one of my favorite cities in the South. Yes, fly into Bari and take train or bus to Matera, OR hire a driver to take you there. You do not want to have a car in Matera...you can walk everyplace or take a taxi fi you get tired. A car is a liability, especially if you stay in the sassi; you have to park it in a garage in the upper town and take either a taxi or a hotel shuttle to get to the sassi area. (Our hotel had a shuttle)

I don't know how much time you have. For me, three nights is the minimum for Matera. There are some great day trips but that's only if you have more than three nights in Matera.

Our most recent visit, 2023, we spent a night in Tursi before driving the hour or so (on excellent roads, through impressionable landscapes, to Matera. We were on a driving trip so did have a car (we flew into Naples where we rented our car). but upon arriving in Matera, we parked it in a garage arranged by our hotel, and their shuttle van took us from the garage to our hotel in the sassi. We never used the car during our three nights there, and from Matera, we headed to the Gargano with a stop of a few nights along the way.

I loved staying in Tursi where we had one of the best dinners of our trip. Craco is fascinating but nowadays I think you have to take a tour to go there.....easy to do from Matera if you have no car..

if you have the opportunity to visit Matera, I would urge you to take it!!
Besides all the rest, there are some terrific restaurants with very reasonable prices.
Then you can take a train to Rome; I've always had a car so do no know details but it can be done very easily.

And do not overlook spending a night or two in the city of Bari.

We hope to return this year, flying into Bari and spending three nights there before driving south...

There is some information on places we ate in Matera in this food-focused report the I wrote for hungry onion.org: Maybe some useful tips; it begins with our return to a farm producing the famous red peppers of Senise; we love this place and bought A LOT of dried red peppers in various forms to bring home, as Iuse them in cooking. You can skip that part, and move on to the section about Matera:

https://www.hungryonion.org/t/basilicata-three-nights-inland-between-maratea-and-canosa-di-puglia-including-2-nights-and-two-fantastic-dinners-in-matera-at-one-of-most-unusual-and-excellent-hotels-in-the-world/36261

I do not know if this is still the case, but if you choose the train to Matera, check the schedule. I took the train from Bari to Matera a few years back. The trip was simple. Took a train from the Bari airport to city center, then hopped on a train to Matera. Now, returning back to Bari... not as simple. I did not check the train schedule and was unaware trains did not run on a Sundays. I had to take a taxi all the way back to Bari. Again, not sure if its still the case, but better to check and be safe.
With regard to needing a car in Matera, I wouldn't want to have to deal with that. those streets are narrow and you probably have to park outside the town. Everything is walking distances anyway. Lastly, I flew from Rome to Bari. The flight was $30 and only an hour. But I only travel with a carry-on, so it may be too much to deal with the checking of the luggage. But something to think about that.

Recognizing Matera has only gotten more popular in the years since I was there, we visited twice and never had any issue with parking--just parked on the street and walked a couple blocks to our hotel, so it really depends on your tolerance for such things. Whatever you decide, your hotel can help you out with parking and such.
This was one of my most favorite hotel stays in Italy: https://www.torrettasassi.it/
They are tiny so check asap!

Thanks so much all as this is all VERY VERY helpful! Any thoughts on best way to get from Matera to Rome?

The same way you came--train or flight from Bari.

I have been to Matera twice as part of trips to Pulgia. I had a car both times. I did not stay in the night in Matera. One time I spent the night in Altamura, close by, and another I drove from Martina Franca. It is not necessary to stay in Matera, if you decide on a rental car, just pick a nearby town. I had a free parking space, and as a previous poster said it’s just a short walk away. For me a day was enough time for Matera. With a car you can go outside of the main part of Matera and look across the ravine and see the Sassi from a distance and the caves in the hillside, that was the origination of this fabulous place. On the second trip last year I started at the far end from the Belvedere and meandered for two hours from the far-end to the Belvedere. There was really no route, you just find your way like a mouse in a maze. I can say in 20 years of European travel it was one of the most interesting and intriguing sites to behold. One of the trips we drove about 5 hrs from Naples to Puglia. I believe from Rome to Matera would be about the same. I wouldn’t say the drive was anything noteworthy. If you get a car I would return it to Bari, cheaper to drop where you pick it up, and take a cheap inter-Europe flight to Rome.