My friend and I will be starting our adventure in Maiori (Amalfi coast) this September and from there we'll have 6 nights in Puglia at a Masseria near Locorotondo with a car for exploring. Our next destination will be Rome. My question is about the best way to travel between the three. The current plan is to ferry to Salerno on the Saturday morning and take the train to Bari to pick up a rental car. I usually use Autoeurope/Kemwel and from reading other posts the airport seems to be the best place to pick up & drop the car (if we do both in Bari). We leave Puglia the following Sunday and I think we will drop the car in Bari and take the train to Rome. There seems to be a lot of other ways to do this though. 1) Rent a car in Salerno, drive to Puglia, drop the car in Bari. 2) Train to Bari from Salerno, pick up car, drop it somewhere on the way to Rome or outside Rome, say at an airport. 3) Train to some other town from Salerno to pick up car, drop it in Bari or near Rome. There are probably other ways. Please let me know how you would do it. The goal is to maximize our time & what we see in Puglia while reducing the stress around car pickup & drop off which for me means not dropping it at Termini. I'm willing to pay the one-way drop off fees.
Grazie!
Posted by
Portland
3648 posts
We have never been charged a drop off fee when returning a car in the same country. Easy to check by putting in particulars on the AutoEurope or Kemwel sites.
I agree with your instinct to take the train to Rome, assuming that it’s fairly straightforward. The drive would be long; and much of it, boring.
Posted by
11733 posts
We flew Rome to Bari, short flight, not expensive.
Posted by
Saint Paul, Minnesota
1631 posts
Do you want to visit Matera? It's an hour and a quarter's drive from Locorotondo. If you decide to drive to Matera from Salerno, it's two and a half hours. Could be a nice way to break up the drive.
Train from Salerno to Bari looks like kind of an ordeal and something like 5 hours. Looks to me like you're better off driving, even though it's a 3 or 4 hour drive.
We have picked up and dropped off Europcar (we always use Europcar) rental cars at both Bari and Brindisi airports --- both were easy, but Brindisi was the easiest. We've also taken the train from Rome to Foggia and then rented a Europcar car very near the train station --- also pretty easy although you are driving through a city.
I would recommend taking a train or plane from Puglia to Rome unless there is something you really, really want to see or do on the way.
Posted by
5370 posts
If you do end up taking train (check bus also) to Bari, there are rental agencies a block from the station, outside ZTL--no need to go to airport.
Posted by
OP
A tiny island in Puget Sound WA, USA
166 posts
Thank you for all the suggestions. We are going to see Matera but planned to do it as a day trip. I think we might feel rushed stopping there on the way to Puglia. But I will look at renting in Salerno, dropping the car in Bari & taking the train to Rome. You folks are the best!
Posted by
San Pedro, CA, USA
9 posts
Your most inexpensive option is going to be taking the train to Bari from Salerno, renting a car, returning at the same location and then taking the high speed train to Rome. I would also suggest renting the car from the train station. It will be easier and sometimes less expensive than the airport. Just be careful because they will close for siesta.
Also, take into account that a 1 hour cheap flight takes up about 3-4 hours of your time. A train is so much easier and you are dropped in Rome at the train station. So much closer than the airport.