Fodorites,
My husband and I are planning a trip that will start in Bari and end in Lecce in Sept 2006. We have not yet arranged airfare to and from Italy. Should we necessarily fly into and out of Rome? Rome seems the logical starting point in southern Italy, but may not be the most convenient. The train seems to be a 4 hr ride and there are not a lot of trains between the cities. Thanks for your help.

Toto - Where are you flying from?

Rome or Naples would seem the obvious choices - though if you're flying via London there are direct flights to Bari from Stansted.

There are also flights to Bari from Rome if you prefer not to go by train.

Steve

I forgot to mention our departure point is Kansas City in the US. We are trying to use some Delta FF miles. We usually have to fly thru Atlanta or Cincinnati to get anywhere on Delta. Flights usually arrive in Rome in the AM, but one schedule I looked at had only 2 trains/day going to Bari. The evening train took a ridiculous amount of time to get into Bari from Rome.

Toto - The place to find train timetables is:

www.trenitalia.com

There are several trains per day between Rome and Bari. What time do you arrive?

The 13.38 ES takes only 4hrs 37' - as does the 15.38.

There are also direct a.m trains at 07.38 and 08.52.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Can you fly into Milan? There are convenient air connections in the morning between Milan and Bari. After flying from Kansas City, I would make getting to Bari as quick and easy as possible and avoid the train. You would have to take a train or cab from Rome's airport to Termini and then get a train to Bari.

Both of those suggestions really help. Any ideas on leaving Lecce at the end of our trip? Do we necessarily re-trace our steps to Bari? More than likely we can get a train from Lecce back to Rome or fly like Grinisa suggests.........?

Toto - The nearest airport to Lecce is Brindisi so flying from there might be more convenient.

For destinations from Brindisi try:

http://www.skyscanner.net/gbp/day/it/cheap-flights.html

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Have you called Delta to check on flights? Are you aware that you may be able to use Alitalia since they are part of the Skyteam Alliance with Delta. There are flights into Bari from Rome and Milan, and out of Brindisi. Why take the train when you may be able to fly into Bari and out of Brindisi for the same number of miles. This would not be available on-line, you need to call Delta's international partner awards. Good luck, award tickets to Italy are hard to get.

You all have been so helpful in planning my flights to and from Bari. Looks like we'll take flight into Rome and fly out of Brindisi. My next question is about the train from Rome to Bari. Does anyone know exactly what cities one passes thru on that train? I was thinking of breaking up the 6 hr trip over 2 days and stopping somewhere, but have been unable figure out other stops. The rail map doesn't really what else is on the route. Thanks again.

If you bring up the schedules at trenitalia.com (use Roma if using the Italian version - English seems to be down, at least when I try to go there) it'll bring up a list of schedules. On the far left column, click on the light blue number (1, 2, 3, etc.) for the route you're interested in, then click on the train number (usually a 4 digit light blue number). That will show you the stops for that train.

We were in Puglia last March (wonderful!) and we flew from Charlston, SC to Rome on Delta and then from Rome to Bari on Alitalia. The fare was very reasonable and it was quick (an hour at most) and easy. We ended our trip south of Lecce in Diso and we drove back to Bari to fly out. The drive was surprisingly fast (about two hours). I would do the same again as it worked well for us.