Renting a car in puglia vs public transportation

Have you looked at rome2rio.com

It will give you a menu of options of what transportation is available from place to place.

It is not necessarily the site for booking transport, but it will give an overview of what is available

I've found Rome2Rio generally OK for telling you there is a train or there is a bus. The more detailed information on fares, frequencies and travel times has proven to be so inaccurate as to be worse than nothing. So just use it to figure what form of transportation (probably) exists and the name of the company providing it. Then go to that company's website for the specifics.

A car would be very helpful. I avoided the need to rent by staying in Lecce (lovely Baroque city) in 2015 and taking advantage of the van transportation arranged by the local tourist office, which got me to multiple towns on a single day. However, it was an on-demand thing, so I had to remain flexible and wait till late the day before to see what, if anything, would be offered the next day. Most travelers can't be that flexible.

The T.O. folks have redesigned their website; it's currently in Italian only: http://www.ilecce.it/alla-scoperta-del-salento/. I wouldn't count on the availability of those trips early next year, as uncertain as the travel situation is.

We did a trip to Puglia a few years ago, also in spring. I checked out the public transport options then, and I decided it would be much more convenient to have a car. Driving was quite easy at that time of year. I can imagine the roads being very crowded in summer in the coastal areas; but, in May, it was not so. As to where to pick up the car, I would check viamichelin.com for driving time (add about 25%). I’m guessing it’s a fairly lengthy drive. I’d do the train to Bari and get my car there.

Napoli, Salerno, Ostuni, Bari, Lecce, Monopoli and Polignano are all served by Trenitalia. You can get an idea of the spring services entering a day of travel before December 13 on www.trenitalia.com/en.html

Martina Franca and other villages are served by FSE trains and buses; it is a local company acquired by Trenitalia, so you can use the above site. On Sundays they used to run only a few buses, I don't know if the things have changed after the acquisition. Since the local demand drops to zero on Sundays, I doubt it: pugliesi love to drive around (usually over the limit) and see any form of public transit as a punishment for loosers.

From Bari to Matera there many trains each day run by https://ferrovieappulolucane.it that take less than 2 hours. Matera is in the Apennines, between Campania and Puglia. You'd better plan your journey to avoid backtracking.

Another local company runs trains and buses in the Gargano peninsula: www.ferroviedelgargano.com/en-gb/

There is a train between Bari airport and the city central station, but you'd find it just following the signs at the arrivals.

In short: seeing Puglia by train is rational and easy as long as you want to see only the places with a Trenitalia station; same for going to Matera from Bari, no problem. The moment you must take the local trains/buses, you start wasting a lot of time. As an example, by car it takes 1 hour and something to go from Bari to Locorotondo. It's a 2 hours (and one change) journey by train/bus.

If you decide to drive memorize the ZTL sign and do not leave anything in the car, visible or not it doesn't matter. Nobody (except locals and Sicilians) drives in Naples; some of the bravest drive out of Naples, so you could rent a car to drive up to Matera via Salerno or Avellino. After Matera the choice between car and pt depends on where you want to go.

If you are leaving from the Amalfi Coast pick the car in Salerno, not in Naples. Can you drive a manual? If not, be careful when booking online.

If you had over a week and really really hate driving, you could make it work. But for only 5-6 days, I would drive for sure. Puglia was our first driving trip in Italy, and we did it two Mays in a row. The driving is extremely easy--only going into and out of Lecce was remotely stressful. You have to pay attention to parking, but in April that is not a huge consideration.
If coming from Naples, I would drive from NAP airport (and stop at Matera for at least one night en route), but there are rental offices near the train station in Bari that are outside the ZTL.
It would be a shame to miss out on driving through the Itria Valley, so I'd consider hiring a driver for that day if you stick with train/bus overall. The towns in that area are small and don't take a lot of time to see, so you can group them together.

Thank you for much needed information.
My biggest fear is that I never rented a car in foreign land before. I hear horror stories of their CC getting charged incidentals 3-6 months after their trip is over, with things like tickets and damages.
I really don't want to be stressed with those kind of distractions while I am on a holiday.

I saw some sites like autoeurope.com and expedia. Why is their so much price discrepancy between Europecar and Hertz/Avis/Budget? Hertz is quoting $16 per day but the total cost is $223 for 7 days (is there lot of taxes I don't know about?)
Why is Europecar only quoting $138 for the same car but HErtz /Budget is quoting $238 for week?? Am I missing something here??

Thanks for all your input.

I have never rented a car in Europe, but it is commonly recommended that travelers work through one of the consolidators (AutoEurope, Kemwel or Gemut), because frequently they come up with better rates than you'll get by going directly to the rental-car company. Several folks here have had positive things to say about AutoEurope, which stepped in to help them when there was an issue with the local rental company.

with things like tickets

When you pick a car you agree to pay a fee associated with giving the cops your details.

At 45 € per fine It's outrageously expensive only for checking their records, but it's not their fault if customers abroad break the rules.

Cops have up to 90 days to send a fine to the registered car owners, rental companies have up to 60 days to reply to the police (saying who was the actual offender driving that specific car on that day) and to charge their customers the above mentioned fee.

Do not drive past the ZTL sign, remember that locals know where the sped traps are and your card won't be charged.

Yes driving is not completely without stress, but after doing it four times--only in areas without adequate public transport--I'd never do it otherwise knowing my and my husband's dislike of planning too much and getting up early. So, make the decision based on your personal preference for sure. Once you know the ZTL signage, and learn enough Italian to understand parking instructions (recommended for this region anyway), you are good to go. Husband drives, and I navigate using google maps on iphone (that really helps with the traffic circles). Enjoy lovely Puglia either way!
I am paying for the utter convenience of going where and when I want to, so I pay for the full insurance and forget about it. We did get one $50 charge for a parking snafu, but if I can go to Italy, I can stomach that. I had no trouble with Hertz two times in Puglia, four times total in Italy.
Have a good look at the schedules that Dario provided to help you decide if you can see what you want in the time you have.

We have rented through AutoEurope in Croatia, for our cancelled thrip this September we actually went through booking.com. We use them for refundable hotels and have never had a problem. When you drive i recommended using cruise control a few MPH lower then The speed limit. We went over by 4 miles on the way to Venice and got two tickets within 15 minutes. Luckily the rental agency sent the ticket with our notices. It was in Italian (my husband reads) but get someone to translate cause we paid right away and avoided too many penalties. They ended up only being 60€ each which is pretty low if you read other posts.

We always rent cars in Europe and rent through AutoEurope in Portland, ME. They stand behind you if there are any problems. We did take the train from Polignano to Monopoli one day, a five minute ride but otherwise drove.

Thank you so much for your wonderful information. Thank you Dario for very detailed train options.
I'm still 50/50 whether to rent a car, or just take the public transportation.
Renting a car seem cheaper and more convenient, but the added stress of watching for ZTL signs, speed traps, parking, insurance etc... makes me cringe..
I took the Northern italy trip few years ago (Milan, Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre), so I know the trenitalia system well and I still have the Trenitalia app on my iphone.
BTW, for those who rented the car in Italy, is the quoted price on the website all you pay? or is there a drop off fee and taxes you have to worry about when you return the car?

thank you for all those who contributed to this thread. It helps me out a lot..

is the quoted price on the website all you pay? or is there a drop off fee and taxes you have to worry about when you return the car?

"Most" rental car quotes will include a one way drop fee, if there is one, in the quote. You just need to be sure to "read the fine print" on whatever website you are using. The optional insurance coverages will be included in the quote only if you select them as you go through the process.