One month in Puglia and Matera
Jul 28th, 2014, 11:29 AM
#41
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hi dai... nadia was our guide as well and i loved her stories. the films were gripping and added a lot of gorgeous images that were missing for me. we just loved the area and hope to go back one day. thanks again.
Jul 30th, 2014, 10:51 AM
#42
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kawh, you are so welcome, and thank you for letting me know. We felt the same way. We felt like the film filled in our guided tour, kind of making it "complete" in a way.
<b>Rome and Ostia Antica</b>
I did some research and somehow found our hotel in Rome which looked really great on both Booking and Trip Advisor. We decided to abandon our idea of booking only one night, and went for it. The prices were much better on the hotel’s website so I tried to book it but had trouble doing that online. I called the hotel and she gave me an even better rate for four nights. We got a <i>great</i> room in a great location overlooking Via Corso with a really cool jacuzzi tub. They’ve been open a year and I anticipate that the next time I want to book it that I will be priced out and they will be full---it’s that good. It’s <b>Hotel Caravita</b>
<b>http://www.luxuryboutiquehotels.it/4/</b>
Now I want to speak about getting to <b>Ostia Antica</b>. I always wanted to go there ever since I heard about it here on Fodors many moons ago. Our gal at the Hotel told us how to get to OA by looking it up on the internet for us. She wrote down everything we needed to know, all the stops to look for. I bought our bus tickets for Termini from the newspaper stand next to the bus stop (across the street from our hotel). The bus took forever. So many other buses arrived before ours. As a matter of fact, upon our return from our trip to OA, we waited and waited at Termini for our bus but got so tired of waiting (at least a half an hour) we gave up and grabbed a cab.
Anyway, we got to Termini and I asked where I could buy our tickets to the metro and train station for OA. We went downstairs and purchased them, and I learned that our tickets would get us both on the metro and also on the train to Ostia Antica.
As we made our way down to the metro, I stopped and asked a cop a question and that is when I learned from him that <b>the <i>bus ticket</i> which took us from our hotel to Termini was good for our <i>whole journey</i> all the way to Ostia Antica! </b> At Termini, I had purchased our round trip tickets from Termini to Ostia Antica <i>unnecessarily</i>...although since the ticket is good for 100 minutes, we <i>did</i> need two tickets to get us back to Rome. In other words, I had mistakenly thought that bus tickets, metro tickets, and train tickets to Ostia Antica would all be different, but they weren't. One ticket fits all, in this case. (I just gave the other two tickets away)
A very cool thing happened when we got to OA. We were speaking to each other and an older woman looked over at us, approached us and said that she was a history major and a tour guide. She said that she had just finished giving a tour and if we were interested, she’d take us around for an hour and a half for a rate less than her normal rate if we were interested. She spoke of her qualifications and spoke of places she could show us that we probably would not find otherwise. R decided to give it a try. Boy were we lucky to have met her! Her name was Alexandra. She showed us an old palazzo owned by a wealthy owner, she showed us homes with the mosaics still in tact and not roped off (they should be). She showed us the baths and spas and group potties and explained how they worked with men and women and their time slots.
Time flew by and we agreed to pay her more so that we could have her show us one more area. R tried to get her number or a card but she wouldn’t agree. She and her husband live in Rome, they are retired, and she has promised her husband not to book or commit to providing tours so that they can have the freedom to travel themselves. She speaks five languages and they love to go all over the world to visit their favorite places and see new sites. It was fascinating and we both agreed that it was <b>so</b> much more enriching to have gone around with her.
So that is what I wanted to say here. You can go and tour on your own, but a knowledgeable tour guide will make your visit 10 times better!
She said that many tour guides for Ostia Antica take a course on giving a tour, but when it comes to ancient history, many of them can’t answer questions. Nor can many guides answer questions for the more recent history when Mussolini hastened renovations. They're trained to repeat the same information and don't have the history background to fill in other questions that may arise. So what I suggest is <i>find a referral</i> for a guide to Ostia Antica and book it!
Thank you to those of you who made it this far! Happy travels!!
<b>Rome and Ostia Antica</b>
I did some research and somehow found our hotel in Rome which looked really great on both Booking and Trip Advisor. We decided to abandon our idea of booking only one night, and went for it. The prices were much better on the hotel’s website so I tried to book it but had trouble doing that online. I called the hotel and she gave me an even better rate for four nights. We got a <i>great</i> room in a great location overlooking Via Corso with a really cool jacuzzi tub. They’ve been open a year and I anticipate that the next time I want to book it that I will be priced out and they will be full---it’s that good. It’s <b>Hotel Caravita</b>
<b>http://www.luxuryboutiquehotels.it/4/</b>
Now I want to speak about getting to <b>Ostia Antica</b>. I always wanted to go there ever since I heard about it here on Fodors many moons ago. Our gal at the Hotel told us how to get to OA by looking it up on the internet for us. She wrote down everything we needed to know, all the stops to look for. I bought our bus tickets for Termini from the newspaper stand next to the bus stop (across the street from our hotel). The bus took forever. So many other buses arrived before ours. As a matter of fact, upon our return from our trip to OA, we waited and waited at Termini for our bus but got so tired of waiting (at least a half an hour) we gave up and grabbed a cab.
Anyway, we got to Termini and I asked where I could buy our tickets to the metro and train station for OA. We went downstairs and purchased them, and I learned that our tickets would get us both on the metro and also on the train to Ostia Antica.
As we made our way down to the metro, I stopped and asked a cop a question and that is when I learned from him that <b>the <i>bus ticket</i> which took us from our hotel to Termini was good for our <i>whole journey</i> all the way to Ostia Antica! </b> At Termini, I had purchased our round trip tickets from Termini to Ostia Antica <i>unnecessarily</i>...although since the ticket is good for 100 minutes, we <i>did</i> need two tickets to get us back to Rome. In other words, I had mistakenly thought that bus tickets, metro tickets, and train tickets to Ostia Antica would all be different, but they weren't. One ticket fits all, in this case. (I just gave the other two tickets away)
A very cool thing happened when we got to OA. We were speaking to each other and an older woman looked over at us, approached us and said that she was a history major and a tour guide. She said that she had just finished giving a tour and if we were interested, she’d take us around for an hour and a half for a rate less than her normal rate if we were interested. She spoke of her qualifications and spoke of places she could show us that we probably would not find otherwise. R decided to give it a try. Boy were we lucky to have met her! Her name was Alexandra. She showed us an old palazzo owned by a wealthy owner, she showed us homes with the mosaics still in tact and not roped off (they should be). She showed us the baths and spas and group potties and explained how they worked with men and women and their time slots.
Time flew by and we agreed to pay her more so that we could have her show us one more area. R tried to get her number or a card but she wouldn’t agree. She and her husband live in Rome, they are retired, and she has promised her husband not to book or commit to providing tours so that they can have the freedom to travel themselves. She speaks five languages and they love to go all over the world to visit their favorite places and see new sites. It was fascinating and we both agreed that it was <b>so</b> much more enriching to have gone around with her.
So that is what I wanted to say here. You can go and tour on your own, but a knowledgeable tour guide will make your visit 10 times better!
She said that many tour guides for Ostia Antica take a course on giving a tour, but when it comes to ancient history, many of them can’t answer questions. Nor can many guides answer questions for the more recent history when Mussolini hastened renovations. They're trained to repeat the same information and don't have the history background to fill in other questions that may arise. So what I suggest is <i>find a referral</i> for a guide to Ostia Antica and book it!
Thank you to those of you who made it this far! Happy travels!!
Jul 30th, 2014, 11:11 AM
#43
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I just wanted chime in and add another appreciation for this entertaining and informative thread. My husband and I also use public transportation, and I also speak enough Italian to conduct transactions (not conversational like you unfortunately)--so we often have similar (mis)adventures. Oh, to have a month! That is where any overlap ends, so we have to book accommodations in advance. Can't wait to make it to Puglia!
Aug 1st, 2014, 08:05 AM
#46
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Hi Holly, Thank you for your input. I hope that it does help you, and if you go for it, I really hope you'll write about your adventure because I would love to re-live our journey through this area again vicariously with you. We've been back one month and I still look at my photos almost every day!
Aug 1st, 2014, 12:55 PM
#47
Great report--question on the trip to OA. It sounds like if you plan to be gone for more than 2 hours you still have to by another ticket. Is that correct? Does it make sense to buy the one way to OA? Can you buy a return ticket at OA? Thanks.
BTW-your hotel looks lovely. Good find!
BTW-your hotel looks lovely. Good find!
Aug 1st, 2014, 07:10 PM
#48
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Thank you yestravel. Yes, what I would do now that I understand how the tickets work is instead of buying "two bus tickets to Termini", I would have purchased four tickets at the tabacchi. The two bus tickets will get you to Termini and then once you arrive to Termini, you can make your way immediately to the Metro to find your subway car followed by your train to OA...all with the same ticket.
What I did though was buy two bus tickets to Termini then when we arrived in Termini, I bought four tickets to OA, leaving me with six tickets that all looked alike!
At the station in OA, it's dinky, I didn't see anyone in any ticket booth so if I hadn't already bought the return tickets, I would have had to use the automated ticket machine.
We totally lucked out on that hotel. I was stoked when she gave me a better rate than the one I was trying to book on their website. I will definitely look to them first the next time we head to Rome.
What I did though was buy two bus tickets to Termini then when we arrived in Termini, I bought four tickets to OA, leaving me with six tickets that all looked alike!
At the station in OA, it's dinky, I didn't see anyone in any ticket booth so if I hadn't already bought the return tickets, I would have had to use the automated ticket machine.
We totally lucked out on that hotel. I was stoked when she gave me a better rate than the one I was trying to book on their website. I will definitely look to them first the next time we head to Rome.
Aug 2nd, 2014, 04:35 AM
#49
You can purchase a day ticket which is good for the buses, trams, metros and some trains (includes the one to Ostia Antica) and then you won't have to worry about return tickets. An individual ticket is 1.50€ (it's good for 100 minutes). A day ticket is 6€. There's also a 3 day ticket (16.50€) or week (24€). These tickets are good until the stops in red on this metro/train map (basically city of Rome coverage). The gray train lines (Roma/Lido and Roma/Garbinetti) are good to the end.
http://atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=4
There are other day/week/month tickets that include the entire province of Lazio, but you probably wouldn't need that and the cost is quite a bit more (1 day is 24€).
If you are going to be using public transport much and visiting a few sites in Rome, the 3 day Roma Pass (36€) might be more beneficial as it includes transport, first two site admissions free (Colossem/Forum/Palantine count as one entrance and you bypass the lines), discounts at the other sites after that.
http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=2
http://atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=4
There are other day/week/month tickets that include the entire province of Lazio, but you probably wouldn't need that and the cost is quite a bit more (1 day is 24€).
If you are going to be using public transport much and visiting a few sites in Rome, the 3 day Roma Pass (36€) might be more beneficial as it includes transport, first two site admissions free (Colossem/Forum/Palantine count as one entrance and you bypass the lines), discounts at the other sites after that.
http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=2
Aug 2nd, 2014, 08:45 AM
#51
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Yes, kybourbon, very useful indeed. Great map, and thank you for explaining the significance of the red stops. BTW, It's pretty neat to be able to go all the way to the beach on one ticket. Coming back from Ostia the train was already filled with teenagers who were coming back from spending the day at the beach.
Nov 4th, 2015, 01:22 PM
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Hi Deborah,
Thank you for your note. That is very sweet of you.
It makes me happy to know that you're not put off by the length of the detailed trip report, and that you (hopefully) may find a helpful hint here or there to aid in your Puglia planning. You're gonna love Puglia!!! Lucky you!!!
Thank you for your note. That is very sweet of you.
It makes me happy to know that you're not put off by the length of the detailed trip report, and that you (hopefully) may find a helpful hint here or there to aid in your Puglia planning. You're gonna love Puglia!!! Lucky you!!!
Nov 5th, 2015, 08:59 PM
#57
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puglia was one of our favorite italy trips. if interested, we have a trip report from several years ago here. beautiful, varied, and different from any other part of italy. be sure to post after you go so we can all breathe it in again!
Nov 5th, 2015, 09:51 PM
#58
kawh, thanks for directing me to your TR.
I'm guilty of creating itineraries that will take me some years to wade through
We are off to north Italy in July (our first trip to Italy) as I really need to be in the mountains but eventually I will tackle the south.
I'm guilty of creating itineraries that will take me some years to wade through
We are off to north Italy in July (our first trip to Italy) as I really need to be in the mountains but eventually I will tackle the south.
Nov 5th, 2015, 11:25 PM
#59
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adelaidean... we did a lot of n.e. italy 2 summers ago and loved it. if you like thermal water. bagni vecchi in bormio is beyond for views, food and fair price. we also really loved the area around udine...
so much to see! so much to love!
so much to see! so much to love!
