Practical Information for visiting Campobasso

Campobasso is the least well connected regional capital in Italy, and that shapes everything about visiting it.

The railway is a slow branch line towards Termoli and towards Benevento, with no fast services and no direct trains to Rome.

By road, Rome is about two and a half hours, Naples about two, and Termoli and the Adriatic an hour northeast.

Coaches to Rome and Naples are frequent and are what almost everyone actually uses.

The nearest airports are Naples at about two hours and Rome Fiumicino at about three.

There is no motorway to the city; the A14 is reached at Termoli and the A1 near Caianello.

Coverage for mobile networks is good in the city and unreliable in the valleys and the Matese.

Campobasso is one of the safest cities in Italy and crime is not a consideration for visitors.

The real hazards are terrain and weather. The old town is steep, stepped and slippery in rain, and parts of it are derelict; do not enter closed buildings.

Winter is cold, windy and snowy at 700 metres, and the roads across the province ice early and clear late; winter tyres are a legal requirement.

The province is seismically active. The 2002 earthquake killed twenty-seven children in a school at San Giuliano di Puglia, in this province, and the region takes building standards seriously as a result.

Landslides on the clay slopes are a genuine regional hazard, particularly after prolonged rain, and roads close for them.

In the Matese, weather changes fast, and the mountain has wolves, which are of no danger to people but are a reason to keep dogs leashed.

Emergency services are reached on 112.

No vaccinations or special precautions are needed; standards are those of Italy generally.

The altitude at 700 metres is no issue in itself, but the climbs in the old town are steep and continuous.

Cold and wind are the seasonal problem here rather than heat; visitors routinely underdress for a southern Italian city that behaves like a mountain one.

Ticks are present in the grazing country across the province.

Campobasso has a hospital with an emergency department serving the region, and a second at Termoli; provision in Molise is thinner than the Italian average and has been reduced in recent years.

Pharmacies operate a published night and holiday rota.

In the villages, medical provision can be a visiting doctor once or twice a week.

EHIC and GHIC cards are accepted; travel insurance is worth having.

The single emergency number across Italy is 112, reaching police, ambulance and fire, generally with English-speaking operators.

Other numbers still in use: 113 police, 118 medical, 115 fire.

The Ospedale Cardarelli in Campobasso has an emergency department and is the main hospital for the region; the second is at Termoli, an hour away.

For mountain rescue in the Matese, call 112 and ask for the Soccorso Alpino; helicopter cover comes from outside the region.

Report thefts to the Carabinieri or the Polizia, both with stations in the city, for the report an insurer will require.

There is no foreign consular representation in Molise; the nearest are in Naples, and embassies are in Rome.

Ambulances reach the new city easily; in the stepped lanes of the Borgo Antico crews work on foot from the nearest vehicle point.