Bari is located in the southern Italian region of Puglia. Despite its relative remoteness, the city is very accessible thanks to a relatively large airport and a large number of long-distance trains, including high-speed trains.
By air
Bari is very accessible by plane, with an airport only about 5 km from the city centre Bari BRI, the main point of entry for the entire Apulia region.
Bari is a fairly busy airport, with many low-cost airlines from all over Europe heading to the airport.
Where to buy tickets to Bari?
Prices for one-way tickets to Bari from European destinations range from 35 eur to 100 eur.
The local airport is served by many airlines. You can compare flights by price, for example via Skyscanner. We recommend that you click through from Skyscanner directly to the airline's website.
The following airlines fly to the airport. Here are just a few examples of the most popular or frequented destinations.
- Ryanair - Athens, Bergamo, Berlin, Cagliari, Catania, Charleroi, Dublin, Genoa, Krakow, London, Madrid, Malaga, Malta, Milan, Palermo, Pisa, Prague, Rome, Sofia, Turin, Venice, Vienna, Warsaw and many more
- Wizz Air - Bucharest, Budapest, Sofia, Timisoara, Tirana
- Turkish Airlines - Istanbul
- easyJet - Milan, Paris and more
- volotea.com - Florence, Athens, Dubrovnik, Heraklion, Málaga, Santorini and more
- vueling.com - Barcelona, Paris
- airserbia.com - Belgrade
- lufthansa.com - Frankfurt
- transavia.com - Amsterdam, Brussels
- and others
Alternatively, Pisa can be 111 km away. Brindisi BDS.
By train
Bari has excellent rail connections to the rest of Italy. Often and comfortably you can reach all major Italian cities.
Although Bari is not on a main high-speed line, it is still served by high-speed trains that can use maximum speed for at least part of the way to their destination.
There are no direct international trains to Bari.
For long-distance tickets (i.e. all trains marked as InterCity IC, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca, Frecciarossa), buy your tickets for the lowest price, ideally online at least 3 weeks in advance, from the Italian state railways' website trenitalia.com or from italotreno.it, a private carrier that operates only high-speed trains.
You can also compare the prices of both carriers and buy directly at no extra charge on thetrainline.com.
Compare train prices on thetrainline.com
On the other hand, for regional services (R - Regionale or RV - Regionale Veloce) the ticket price is always the same until departure. You can also buy online, but you can also buy before departure at the ticket office or at a ticket machine.
See for example prices and journey times from Bari:
- Rome (Roma) - fast trains take 4 to 4.5 hours, InterCity 6 hours. The cheapest and slowest Trenitalia trains from 13,90 eur, the cheapest fast trains at Italo from 19,90 eur
- Naples (Napoli) - there is only a connection with a change in Caserta and takes from 3,5 hours upwards. There is only Trenitalia from 13,30 eur
- Pescara - the journey takes about 3 hours. There is only Trenitalia from Pescara 14,90 eur
In Bari you will find 4 stations:
- Bari Centrale - the main station, where all trains to/from Bari stop.
- Bari Marconi, Bari Parco Sud - only regional services stop here in the direction of Polignano a Mare, Monopoli, Brindisi and Lecce
- Bari Sud-Est - only regional services stop here in the direction of Putignano and Alberobello
By bus
Long-distance bus connections can be advantageous over trains, especially in terms of price, but also in terms of comfort to some destinations, especially Naples.
In fact, unlike rail, buses run directly from Bari to Naples without the need to change buses.
The journey to Naples, for example, takes about three and three-quarters hours, and to Rome about six hours.
The cheapest tickets are offered by Itabus, starting from about 5 eur for long-distance connections, if purchased online at least one month in advance at itabus.it. For this price you can buy tickets from Bari to Naples or Rome, for example.
Another major carrier is Flixbus, which offers connections to Naples, Pescara, Ancona, Rome and more. Prices usually start at around 8 eur and you can always buy tickets online at flixbus.com.
The last major carrier going to Bari is Marinonus, which offers connections throughout Italy, but prices are usually the most expensive (from about 20 eur upwards). Tickets can be purchased online at marinobus.it.
You'll find the long-distance bus station in Bari near the main train station, but on the other side from the centre in Via Giuseppe Capruzzi (see location on map).
Local connections around Puglia
If you're heading out of Bari for trips to the surrounding towns, you'll use both trains and bus connections. Trains are particularly useful on routes along the coast, where only Trenitale services run.
The network is supplemented by many bus routes, which are best searched on cotrap.it.
For detailed information on travelling around Bari, see our guide to Puglia.
By car
Bari is very well prepared for travellers arriving by car. There are 3 large P+R car parks on all access routes with a charge of 1 eur per car for 24 hours + 0,30 eur per passenger.
The car parks are then served by frequent bus routes that will take you to the city centre.
By ferry
Bari is an important international port with regular ferries across the Adriatic to Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Greece. Examples of boat routes and prices:
- Bari – Durrës: Boats sail 4-6 times a day, the journey takes 9 hours and a one-way ticket costs from 57 eur, with a car extra 140 eur
- Bari – Dubrovnik: Ships sail 3-5 times a week, the journey takes 11 hours and a one-way ticket costs from 414 hrk, with an extra car 530 hrk
- Bari – Corfu: ships sail 1-3 times a week, the journey takes 8 hours and a one-way ticket costs from 56 eur, with an extra car 154 eur
- Bari – Igoumenitsa: ships sail 1-2 times a day, the journey takes 9 hours and a one-way ticket costs from 60 eur, with an extra car 138 eur
- Bari – Patras: ships sail 5 times a week, the journey takes 16.5 hours and a one-way ticket costs from 68 eur, with an extra car 154 eur
- Bari – Kefalonia (Sami): Ships sail once a week, the journey takes 17.5 hours and a one-way ticket costs from 78 eur, with an extra car 170 eur
