Matera to Bari

November 10, 2024

traveling by bus

It is a bit surprising that the city of Matera is not severed by a major state railway. Instead, a private railway company operates a narrow gauge train service east to Bari and points in between. It would have been interesting to travel on the old ¨diesel car¨ as the locals call it but it doesn't run on Sundays. So instead, we'll be taking a bus. We could cycle 30-40 KM to a nearby town for other train options but we decided to simplify the journey and travel directly by transit from Matera. And it was simple.

After breakfast at the BnB, we were out the door by 9:30 and riding toward the central train station. Reaching the designated bus stop we folded our bikes and placed them in the large cargo bays below the bus. Only a few other people joined us in Matera but with a few stops on route, the bus did begin to fill up.

In Bari, we organized to stayed at another BnB in the Murat district. Leaving the bus on the far side of the train station we cut through the station and found our street - Via Sparano directly on the other side. We were amazed at the sea of people on this pedestrian only street so we needed to walk our bikes. As it turned we were right in the middle of the Bari chocolate festival! We pushed our bikes slowly through the sweet tooth crowd, savouring all the sights and smells!

Our BnB in Matera was on the second floor in this building. Again it was an entire floor organized into several separate rooms and a common breakfast area. We enjoyed our stay here.

A couple of last pictures of Matera. It is a pretty town.

Our bus / train line. We could not determine if Appolo Lucane had any trains operating but we saw lots of buses.

Fully stocked chocolate kiosks on both sides of the street for a full three blocks!

and lots of people passing by. Definitely needed to walk the bikes!

In the Murat district in Bari there are some very nice old buildings.

Murat, near the train station was a perfect place to stay this time in Bari. It was very busy this Sunday afternoon. We shared a large antipasto taster platter for lunch and we both had a seafood risotto for dinner. It was an early night as we will be getting an early train to Rome in the morning.

Today's ride: 5 km (3 miles)
Total: 623 km (387 miles)

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