Transportation Between Milan and Puglia

First, train Rome to Bari is feasible, but there are few connections from Naples. There are also direct trains, Milan to Bari or Brindisi or Lecce, but take 8 or 9 hours. Going by land connections makes you realize that Apulia is quite distant from the rest of Italy.

The easier way to do the trip in a single day looks to me flying through Rome; Rome has plenty of ITA flights to all cities in Italy. Flying through Milan has the problem that MXP-BRI flights are on low cost airlines and it is not advisable to mix international airline tickets with low cost tickets. But, if the fare to MXP is so good you could well arrive, spend a night in Milan and leave again the next day. - It looks to me that flying to MXP, then taking a bus to Linate and then again flying would be quite strenous.

Ryanair have one or two direct flights per day from MXP to Bari and the same to Brindisi, depending on the time of year. Sounds the easiest option to me

So.....you have lots of options. We usually find the cheapest fare over-the-pond, them plan our trip around it......if the logistics are not crazy.

We are doing this with our May/June trip; a wine tour of Italy, starting in Rome and ending in Bari. After the Italian wine tour we booked a separate cheap direct flight from Bari to....Barcelona! (Google Fights is awesome at finding flights!)
Then we fly home from Barcelona.

So we booked our US / EU flights "open-jaw" (open-jaw= into one city and out of another) into Rome, and out of Barcelona on one airline. And then we booked separate tickets on one of the cheap inter-EU airlines for our connections. (make sure you check your open jaw options!.....and don't worry excessively about connections that the airlines schedule for you...allow plenty of time!!~!~....and cover yourself with trip insurance! If we are booking our own connections we allow at least three hours for transfers...)

One of your options if you do R/T into and out of Milan is to do your Varenna visit on your arrival to Italy. You are going to be jet lagged, so transferring to Linate could be a real hassle...especially if your plane is late, or there is a transportation strike in Italy. (been there....done that..)

If you have to fly from Milan to Bari, on your first part of your journey, you may want to book a hotel....but your best option may be to schedule your Varenna sojourn first...IMHO

The direct train from Rome to Bari takes just 4 hours. They depart pretty much hourly, apart from a gap between the 10 am and 13:05 departures. If you can get an easy flight into Rome, that would be simple. Then train from Bari to Milan. We did that last March, using the route up the coast, with an overnight in Rimini, which we really enjoyed.

I am also considering a trip to Puglia this summer via train from Rome or Civitavecchia port after a cruise. From Puglia, I will likely fly back to the USA from Bari with 2 stops minimum. What tour do you recommend that picks you up rom Bari? Thanks.

Here’s an option for consideration. Last June my wife and I took an overnight train from Lecce to Milan. Departing Lecce at 6:30 pm and got into Milan around 7:00 am. I believe it stopped in Bari around 8:00. We booked a private compartment for just over €200, which we figured was a reasonable cost for both transportation and a night’s accommodation. We packed some sandwiches and a bottle of vino and had a very comfortable night. Sleepers on that route did not have private toilets at that time, just a sink and faucet.

Arlo, the tour company is Puglialy.

Thank you, Brenda. I will check them out and hope to use Bari and Lecce to pick up tours and use as a base for 8 nights. We will consider renting a car.