i have a question from a friend who will be arriving by sea ferry to the port of bari at midnight.
she then needs to get a train to rome to get her flight back home.the next train is 5am.

the port is 2km away from the station,a short taxi ride.

her question is it more pleasent to wait those odd 4 hrs at the train station or at the ferry port?which is busiest? are there any 24hr facilities/cafeterias? thanks

I really don't know where the train station is, but there are places to check your bags at the port in one of the terminals. Then the friend can spend an hour or two wandering Bari a bit. Be sure to see "Santa Claus's bones" at the Basilica of St. Nickolas, which is just a short distance from the port as is the compact rabbit warren of streets of the old city.

thanks for the suggestion but she will be arriving in the port alone at midnight.she will be catching the next 5am train to rome.
i trying to find out how the train station compares to the sea terminal in terms of which is less desolate at that hour.

which would you pick to wait at ?

OOOPS, Patrick, I don't think you meant to wander Bari at Midnight

Ohhh. That's another story all together! Sorry, I missed that "midnight" word.

I think I'd prefer to take a taxi to the train station at midnight, though, instead of at 4 AM. Then again her ferry might be quite late. Ours was late both coming and going to/from Dubrovnik.

Personally I would not want to be at the Bari Train Station or the Port during the night. I like Bari but it is not the safest place at night. I would spend the money and get a hotel room for those hours. I would not consider it a waste of money. That is just my opinion for what it is worth.
I hope everything goes well for your friend.

A difficult decision.

The ferry terminal is more remote. The train station, as I recall, has quite a bit of bus/taxi/transit activity. But after midnight? Hmmm...

I think I'd go with the train station.

Basically I think I agree with you LoveItaly, but if this person arrives at midnight and is taking a taxi somewhere between 12 and 1 AM, then takes another taxi between 3:30 and 4:30 AM to arrive at the bus station in time, I'm not sure of the point. I don't think the port or the bus station is really going to be any worse at 2 or 3 AM than they will be at 1 or 4 AM.

Upon further review...

...I think she should head to the train station and catch the next available train to Foggia. Then, to Benevento (or Caserta). And so on.

Checking the db website (Trenitalia might be better for this), I see a departure from Bari at 00:13 to Foggia, which connects to Benevento arriving around 4:00 A.M.

Next best is a 03:57 departure for Foggia that goes on through to Naples/Rome. It's better than 5:00 AM, so...

I agree that Bari can be very frightening at night, especially the port area. Why doesn't your friend go to a hotel for the 5 hours? I certainly wouldn't want to be wandering around Bari at night.

Even if she didn't get a room she could just tell the desk staff the problem and I'm sure they would let her sit there for a while and use the facilities. Recently while traveling we had someone that had to use the facilities (an immediate problem)in a hotel we were passing and they let us stay in the lobby until that person felt better. They were very gracious.

As a solo traveler, I wouldn't even think about hanging around a port or a train station or even a hotel lobby at that hour. She really should give this some more thought and perhaps fly to Rome from wherever. Unless, of course, there's an earlier ferry to Bari (probably not). This is one of those safety issues that I certainly wouldn't take lightly.

Actually I think Ann1 has a good suggestion, as hotel clerks in the good hotels in Bari are very nice. However, how would she know which hotel had a kind and thoughtful desk clerk? Personally I cringe at this problem, as much as I hate to say this. Reread metric's post...maybe there is a good suggestion there. I sure hope that your friend gets this worked out in a safe manner ChevyChasen.