Matera
 

We are spending 7 nights in Sorrento at the beginning of June and I thought we might try and do a trip to Matera. I notice the train goes from Salerno to Metaponto. Any advice on getting from there to Matera. It seems to be a lot shorter trip than going to Bari. How many days would we need to have a look around. We then need to go from there to Rome. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We are travelling from Australia and would like to try and get organized before we go.

Also if anyone can tell me if it is cheaper to buy train tickets as we need them in Italy or better to buy an Italy rail pass before we leave Australia.

I'm planning to go from Salerno to Matera by train - at least I am if I'm reading the trenitalia web-site correctly! It indicates that the trip will take 6.5 or more hours and will require changing trains a few times. Go to: www.trenitalia.it/en
type in the departure and arrival cities, date, and approximate time of departure to see the options. Hope that helps!

Hi Annie - Depending on your timing, the quickest option looks to be via Ferrandina - from where there is an occasional bus service to Matera.

Trenitalia lists an 11.25 BUS departure from Salerno, arr. Ferrandina FS 14.09.

A connecting bus leaves Ferrandina FS at 14.25, arr. Matera 14.55.

http://www.sitabus.it/sito-basilicat...atera/S671.pdf

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Wow, Steve - I think you just saved me a lot of time and hassle! Let me see if I've got this right: Take a trenitalia bus from Salerno (from the central train station?) to Ferrandina - Pomarico - Miglionico (not Ferrandina A.L.) and then take a Sita bus from Ferrandina Scalo FS to Matera. Is the Sita bus stop in Ferrandina near enough to the trenitalia bus stop to be able to get off one bus, buy a ticket for the other, and get on it in 16 minutes? Does the Sita bus run daily, or at least every weekday? Thanks so much! (And annie45 - I hope you don't mind that I'm jumping in here.)

Hi KJA - That's how I've read it. The bus stop at Ferrandina Scalo station should be one and the same - or nearby.

The Matera service appears to be timetabled as a connecting service. It runs Mon-Sat.

The Sita timetable says the Matera service (Potenza-Ferrandina-Matera) is run in conjunction with 2 other bus companies - Grassani and Liscio - so it could be any one of those 3 operators.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

That helps tremendously, Steve - thanks so much!

Thanks Steve for the info on trains and buses. Just have to make sure I can get back to Rome in one day.

Annie

Hi Annie - I can't see a big problem. Trenitalia shows several options from Ferrandina - with 2 direct services:

07.16 ES (- arr. Rome 12.16)
16.21 IC (- arr. Rome 21.39)

Others are bus to Battipaglia or Salerno, then train.

www.trenitalia.com

This link lists bus services from Matera to Ferrandina station (- the 06.16 bus connects with the 07.16 ES).

http://www.fal-srl.it/quadriorari2003/matera.htm

There's also a direct bus service from Matera to Rome (- dep 04.00 :( ) if you want to arrive earlier:

http://www.autolineeliscio.it/html_8...p;Submit=Cerca

Hope this helps ...

Steve

I spent two days in Matera this past January, it was just barely enough to visit major sites. It is quite a fascinating city.

It is cheaper to buy train tickets in Italy, pass not necessary.

Perhaps you know that you have to buy bus tickets from Tobachi(sp?) at or near the station before boarding, usually (with rare exception)the bus driver doesn't sell ticket.

Judy C.
Thanks for the info on tickets. We were undecided about buying a rail pass or just getting tickets when we wanted them.
Where did you stay in Matera? Haven't booked any accomodation as yet. Do you have any recommendations - city v sassi

In Metera, I stayed at Albergo Italia, www.albergoitalia.com, a lovely, nice and clean 3 star hotel in the town centre, within walking distance to all sites and access to sassi, and several good restaurants nearby, including one next to the hotel.

I chose to stay in the city, as it was more convenient to travel to and from train station, and more comfortable to walk around in the evening, as the daylight was very short in January, the sassi area was a bit deserted in the dark.

I took 32 trainrides in this trip, bought the tickets for long distance in Rome Termini station, all the short ones whenever necessary without any problem.

Thanks JudyC for the hotel info. I am really looking forward to seeing this part of Italy.
Annie

We loved our small hotel -- Hotel Sassi.
http://www.hotelsassi.it/

....we loved the Sassi Hotel too .....
and we were enchanted by the uniqueness
of Matera.

We visited Matera last year and we were fascinated by the city. I posted several panoramic pictures and a podcast interview with the tour guide we used on our site http://www.italyfromtheinside.com.

The local guide's web site is http://www.materaturisport.it (Mr Enzo Montemurro) and I recall he was also setting up a special B&B in the Sassi, but I'm not sure if that's ready yet.