Matera is the one Italian town where the transport advice genuinely matters, because the obvious assumption is wrong.
There is no Trenitalia service to Matera. The national rail network does not reach it. People book a through ticket, arrive at Bari Centrale, walk onto the main platforms and discover that no train to Matera departs from any of them. It is the single most common way a trip here starts badly, and it is entirely avoidable.
Here is how you actually get there. The wider planning is in my complete guide to Matera.
The train, and the station nobody tells you about
The line to Matera is run by Ferrovie Appulo Lucane, a private narrow-gauge operator, and it has its own station.
In Bari it departs from a separate building on the western side of Piazza Aldo Moro, the square in front of Bari Centrale. It is a two minute walk from the main station concourse and it is not signed as clearly as it should be. Look for the FAL name rather than for anything saying Trenitalia.
The journey covers about seventy-four kilometres and takes roughly an hour and three quarters. Services run about hourly, with the first around five in the morning and the last leaving Bari around nine at night. The rolling stock was renewed recently, so it is more comfortable than the phrase narrow-gauge branch line suggests.
Buy tickets from the FAL office or online. Fares are low.
Get off at Matera Centrale, which is underground and a couple of hundred metres from the edge of the old town. Do not get off earlier at one of the outlying Matera stops.
Check the operator’s own timetable rather than a third-party app, and check it close to your travel date. This is the part that catches people who did their planning months ahead. FAL publishes service notices constantly: school and non-school timetables that swap over in June, route changes in Bari, individual bus services suspended for stretches of August, replacement coaches on engineering days. A screenshot of a timetable taken in March is not evidence of anything in September.
The operator’s site carries a journey search and the current notices. Two minutes there is worth more than any summary, including this one.
Sundays, when there are no trains at all
This is the fact worth carrying in your head.
FAL does not run trains on Sundays. It runs a bus instead, on the same tickets, and the bus takes about an hour, which is faster than the train.
If your itinerary has you arriving in Matera on a Sunday afternoon by rail, it does not exist. Check the day of the week against the timetable before you book anything else, and if you are travelling on a Sunday simply plan for the coach from the start.
Arriving with luggage, which is its own problem
Worth thinking about before you arrive rather than on the platform.
Matera Centrale puts you at the top of the town, and almost every hotel in the Sassi is below you, down worn stone steps, with no road to the door. A hard four-wheeled suitcase is close to useless on that surface and will announce your arrival to the entire lane.
Two things make it easy. Tell your hotel your arrival time and ask whether they collect guests, because many do and it is the most valuable thing they offer. And travel with a bag you can carry rather than one you can only wheel.
Which airport
Bari Karol Wojtyła is the practical answer. It is the closest, the best connected, and it links to the city centre by a shuttle train, from where you cross the square to the FAL station.
Brindisi is the alternative and works well if the flights suit you better, particularly if you are combining Matera with the Salento. It is further out.
Naples is possible but involves a long overland leg, and is only sensible if you are approaching from the west.
Driving in
A car is the best way to see Basilicata and the worst way to arrive in Matera, and both are true at once.
The drive from Bari takes about an hour across the Murgia plateau, and it is a good introduction: low stone walls, burnt grass, big sky, and then the town appearing suddenly because it is below the horizon rather than on it.
The problem starts on arrival. You cannot drive into the Sassi. Most of the old town has no vehicle access at all, the streets that exist are restricted, and the sensible approach is to park on the plateau above and walk down. Ask your hotel before you arrive where to leave the car and how far you will carry a bag, because the answer varies enormously and some places will meet you.
If you are only doing Matera, do not hire a car. If you are doing Matera plus Craco, Gravina or the wider region, hire one and accept a small parking nuisance for two days.
Getting around once you are here
On foot, entirely, inside the Sassi.
The town is small and the distances are short, but it is built in tiers, so the map misleads you: two points thirty metres apart vertically can be a ten minute walk while you find the stairs connecting them. Give everything twice the time you expect.
There is a small electric shuttle looping the upper streets, which is worth knowing about at the end of a long day or in August. Taxis exist and will take you round to the belvedere on the far side of the ravine, which is the one trip inside the area you might not want to walk.
Onward, and day trips
Altamura is twenty minutes away on the same FAL line, over the border in Puglia, and is the other great bread town. The easiest half day without a car.
Gravina in Puglia is also on the line, with its own gorge, cave quarter and aqueduct bridge.
Craco, the abandoned village evacuated after landslides in the 1960s, is about an hour south and needs a car.
For Puglia proper, Matera pairs naturally with Bari, and from there the Salento is straightforward by train. My guide to Lecce covers the far end of that route.
Read also: a Matera itinerary, where to stay in Matera, and my complete guide to Matera.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a train from Bari to Matera?
Yes, but not a Trenitalia one. The line is run by Ferrovie Appulo Lucane and leaves from its own station on the western side of Piazza Aldo Moro, not from the Bari Centrale platforms. The journey takes about an hour and three quarters and runs roughly hourly.
Are there trains to Matera on Sundays?
No. Ferrovie Appulo Lucane runs no trains on Sundays and operates a replacement bus instead, which takes about an hour and uses the same tickets. Any Sunday itinerary built around the train will not work.
Which airport is closest to Matera?
Bari Karol Wojtyła, which connects to Bari city centre by shuttle train, leaving a short walk across the square to the narrow-gauge station. Brindisi is a workable alternative, particularly if you are also visiting the Salento.
Do you need a car in Matera?
Not for the town itself, which is walked entirely on foot and where you cannot drive into the Sassi at all. A car is worth having if you plan to visit Craco, the painted crypt outside town, or the wider region.
How far is Matera from Bari?
About seventy-four kilometres. Roughly an hour and three quarters by narrow-gauge train, about an hour by the Sunday replacement bus, and about an hour by car across the Murgia plateau.
