Practical Information for visiting Bari

Bari is flat, compact at the centre, and easy without a car.

Bari Vecchia and the Murattiano are both walkable and adjoin each other; between them they hold nearly everything a visitor wants. The grid makes the new town very easy to navigate, and the old town very much not.

The Stazione Centrale sits at the southern edge of the grid, about fifteen minutes on foot from the old town.

Buses cover the wider city; a single flat fare applies.

An airport train runs from Bari Centrale to Bari Karol Wojtyła airport in around fifteen minutes.

Driving and parking in the centre are not worth the trouble — the old town is closed to traffic and the grid is heavily restricted.

A car is only useful for leaving: the Valle d'Itria, the Romanesque cathedral towns up the coast, and Matera an hour inland.

Bari is the transport hub of the whole Italian south-east, and far better connected than the rest of Puglia.

Trains reach Rome in about four hours by direct high-speed service, Naples in three to four, Lecce in around ninety minutes, and Foggia and Brindisi frequently. Regional operators run inland to Matera and the Valle d'Itria from adjoining terminals.

Bari Karol Wojtyła airport is fifteen minutes from the centre by train, with domestic flights and a wide European network, much of it low-cost. It is the practical way into Puglia.

The port is the busiest passenger terminal on the Adriatic, with overnight ferries to Greece, Albania, Croatia and Montenegro, plus cruise traffic.

Coaches run long-distance across Italy, often overnight and cheaply.

Coverage for mobile networks is good throughout, and fixed broadband in the city is normal for an Italian regional capital.

Bari is broadly safe, and its old reputation is well out of date — but it is a large port city and deserves normal urban care.

Pickpocketing and bag-snatching are the realistic risks, in the station area, on crowded buses and around the ferry terminal. Scooter-borne bag snatching has historically been a local problem; carry bags on the inside of the pavement.

Do not leave anything visible in a parked car anywhere in the city.

Bari Vecchia is busy and safe in the evening. Some of its lanes are unlit and empty late at night, and are better avoided then simply because they are deserted.

The areas around the station and the port are scruffier after dark, as in most port cities.

Traffic is assertive and crossings are treated as advisory. Watch scooters.

Emergency services are reachable on 112.

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

Summer humidity is the main discomfort — Bari is more humid than inland Puglia and August afternoons are heavy going.

Raw seafood is a genuine local tradition, eaten on the quay and in bars. It also carries real risk if you are not used to it, are pregnant, or are immunocompromised. Cooked alternatives are everywhere.

The old town has uneven stone paving and some steep outside stairs.

Pharmacies are numerous and post the out-of-hours rota.

The Policlinico di Bari is a large teaching hospital with a full emergency department, and the city has the best medical facilities in the region by a wide margin.

EHIC and GHIC cards are accepted; travel insurance is still 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 Policlinico di Bari is the main hospital and emergency department, with the Ospedale Di Venere also serving the city.

Bari has consular representation for a number of countries, which the rest of Puglia does not; check your own country's listing before travelling further south. Embassies are in Rome.

Report thefts to the Carabinieri or Polizia di Stato for the report an insurer will require; there is a police presence in the station and at the port.

For ferry departures, the port has its own information and security offices, and the Capitaneria di Porto handles anything maritime.