flsun Posted July 12 #1 Share Posted July 12 With ships sailing out of Bari, and after searching 100s of posts, we have questions the CC community can answer. 1). Train from FCO to Bari? Any better ways? 2). Hotels in Bari near the port? Lots of options, but where in the City Center should we look? 3). Coming in early, what are the must-do things in and around Bari? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euro cruiser Posted July 12 #2 Share Posted July 12 (edited) Bari has a lovely historic center (Bari Vecchia) with some amazing churches. One of my favorite things to do is walk around near lunchtime and see families making and eating the midday meal (old houses don't have AC, so in the heat windows and doorways are open to catch any available breeze). As for how to get there, I would check to see if you can add another flight segment to your existing ticket rather than purchase a separate ticket. Flying would be the easiest option. If that's not possible, the best case by train has only one change, at Rome Termini, and the total trip takes a little over five hours. Edited July 12 by euro cruiser 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euro cruiser Posted July 12 #3 Share Posted July 12 Other things to see right in Bari are the two big churches in the historic center, Basilica di San Nicola and Cattedrale di San Sabino, and the castle (Castello Normanno-Svevo). Bari: Things to do & Places to visit - Italia.it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted July 13 #4 Share Posted July 13 17 hours ago, flsun said: Coming in early, what are the must-do things in and around Bari? Should you decide that Bari itself doesn't offer enough for you, it is actually a "gateway" port to several interesting towns in Puglia, including Alberobello , Matera , Lecce, Ostuni and Trani, but that depends on how much time you will have and you didn't say. You could read online info about all of these, and others to help you decide. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairgarth Posted July 13 #5 Share Posted July 13 I believe that the Basilica di San Nicola has the bones of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus). He was not Italian but somebody pinched the bones from Turkey. Have not been there but heard a lecture on Xmas traditions. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flsun Posted July 13 Author #6 Share Posted July 13 Thanks, All! This is helpful. We’re arriving to FCO early on the 5th, heading down to Bari, then cruising on the 7th. Will probably take the train and relax. Any hotel recs? I’ve flagged a few but haven’t booked yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted July 13 #7 Share Posted July 13 (edited) 4 hours ago, flsun said: Any hotel recs? I’ve flagged a few but haven’t booked yet. You didn't say, but I think Bari is used by MSC cruises so if sailing with them, for best results you could consider crossposting your hotel question on the MSC Frum as passengers who overnighted at the start or finish of an itinerary would be more likely to have used a hotel than other members who only ported for a day. This one https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/49-msc-cruises/ . Edited July 13 by edinburgher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flsun Posted July 22 Author #8 Share Posted July 22 On 7/13/2024 at 5:08 PM, edinburgher said: You didn't say, but I think Bari is used by MSC cruises so if sailing with them, for best results you could consider crossposting your hotel question on the MSC Frum as passengers who overnighted at the start or finish of an itinerary would be more likely to have used a hotel than other members who only ported for a day. This one https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/49-msc-cruises/ . I’ve found, over the years, that MSC cruisers outside the Caribbean, are not active on CC. We’ve done 3 Europe cruisers with them, and none had a CC thread. I checked the thread you suggested, and there is nothing there either. I’ve also searched CC for Bari threads and found little info, which is so surprising to me. Ah, well… @Fairgarth - Thank you! The festival is actually on our full day there, and we’re excited to see all the festivities for the St. Nicolas Day! I had no idea, until you mentioned it, and have read all about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted July 23 #9 Share Posted July 23 (edited) 12 hours ago, flsun said: I checked the thread you suggested, and there is nothing there either. I just now checked too and found a number of threads mentioning BARI. This thread containing a review on one of the posts would be worth reading as it describes the difficulty the member had when trying to board in Bari and you should find it helpful. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2975955-msc-splendida-review-italy-greece-and-turkey-1017/#comment-67438827 On that same MSC link I gave in my post #7, I also found these which mention Bari but whether any would be useful or not, I do not know. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=bari&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=49 I still suggest that you ask on that MSC forum about Bari hotels as some MSC passengers must have have overnighted before embarcation, but that failing, use the usual hotel booking review sites and eg tripadvisor to help you decide which might meet your requirements.. .https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/49-msc-cruises/ Edited July 23 by edinburgher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flsun Posted July 27 Author #10 Share Posted July 27 Thanks, All. I’ve booked our hotel and will report back here, and on the MSC threads, once we have more experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Host Bonjour Posted August 6 #11 Share Posted August 6 On 7/13/2024 at 10:17 AM, Fairgarth said: San Nicola has the bones of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus). He was not Italian but somebody pinched the bones from Turkey. A few days ago I was fixing for something Italian to watch and stumbled across these Hidden Italy 1/2 hour-ish episodes. One of the installments included info set in this same region, with beautiful visuals and historical backgrounds. I think the episode with the aforementioned references to San Nicola (and his bones) is this one. Looks like it might be available on FreeVee via Amazon (or AppleTV?) and there are about sixteen episodes, I saw about six which was all that were available (for me). It wasn't what I was looking for (I was looking for scripted stuff) but turned out to be truly cool, and took me to specific places that were fascinating; some were a bit familiar to me, others less so, and lots more to know about. There's almost always more to know about most places, especially in a place like Italy! This is for the people who like to do deep dives before they travel, especially if it's their first visit somewhere, or also if they're returning after an initial more "tourist" visit (who wasn't at first?) and now want to do get more deeply immersed into wherever it is they're visiting. (Hence our Food Topic!!) Everyone stay safe and cool (or warm, such as it might be) 🙂 ☀️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairgarth Posted August 7 #12 Share Posted August 7 17 hours ago, Host Bonjour said: A few days ago I was fixing for something Italian to watch and stumbled across these Hidden Italy 1/2 hour-ish episodes. One of the installments included info set in this same region, with beautiful visuals and historical backgrounds. There's almost always more to know about most places, especially in a place like Italy! This is for the people who like to do deep dives before they travel, especially if it's their first visit somewhere, or also if they're returning after an initial more "tourist" visit (who wasn't at first?) and now want to do get more deeply immersed into wherever it is they're visiting. (Hence our Food Topic!!) 🙂 Completely off topic, but anyway...you do remember the famous singer, Joe Bari? No? Well, he started out as Antonio Benedetto then changed his name to Joe Bari. But that did not last very long and then he became....yup, you got it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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