How to get to Matera: Bari trains, buses, parking and the Sassi ZTL

Matera has no Trenitalia or Italo station, and that one fact shapes every route. The city's only railway is the regional line run by Ferrovie Appulo Lucane (FAL), which links it with Bari, and from everywhere else you arrive by coach, car or a change in Bari. The Matera travel guide covers what to see. It sits inside the wider Italy guide, where Matera usually pairs with Puglia.

The simplest plan for most visitors is to reach Bari by high-speed or regional train or by plane, then take the FAL train or a bus for the last hour and a half. If you are driving through Puglia, Matera is a short hop from Alberobello or Ostuni, but you will park outside the old town and walk in. Whether to go for a day or stay a night is a separate question, and Matera in 2 days answers it.

The FAL train leaves from the FAL station at Bari Centrale and runs to Matera Centrale in about 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on the service. Some trains are direct and some change at Altamura, so read the timetable for your date instead of assuming. Timetables differ between weekdays, Sundays and holidays, and the operator publishes seasonal changes on its site, so check it before you plan a return. FAL sells tickets through its own online ticketing portal.

Buses also run between Bari and Matera, and the stops in Matera are in the upper town near Piazza Matteotti, a short walk from the FAL station. Coaches take a similar time to the train, and which is better depends on your departure time and where you start in Bari. Compare both on the day you need to travel, and note the last departure back before you commit to a late dinner in the Sassi.

For a short regional line like this, a point-to-point ticket is usually the better value than a pass, and our guide to whether a Eurail pass is worth it explains when a pass pays. Read Italy by train off-peak if you are stringing several regional lines together.

Bari airport is the nearest. A Pugliairbus shuttle has linked it with Piazza Matteotti in Matera, with only a few departures a day, so check Aeroporti di Puglia for the current timetable and whether the line runs on your date. If it does not suit your flight, take a bus or train into Bari and then the FAL train, or book a taxi or a private transfer if you land late or travel with several bags.

From Naples, Salerno or Rome, high-speed trains take you only as far as Naples or Salerno, and from there coaches serve Matera, usually by way of Potenza. Direct coaches from Rome and Naples also run, and several operators serve Matera, so compare departures on the day. Expect a long journey and treat Matera as a night, not a day trip, if you come this way. From Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto, the usual route is through Bari, or by car.

If you are building a Puglia and Basilicata route, read Alberobello vs Matera vs Ostuni for how the three fit together, and the Bari travel guide for bases and rail.

From Alberobello or Ostuni, Matera is a drive of roughly an hour to an hour and a half. The roads are straightforward. The difficulty starts when you arrive, because the Sassi are a limited traffic zone with camera gates, and the city centre has several other restricted zones.

Matera Welcome lists the Sassi gates as Via Buozzi, Via Madonna delle Virtù and Via D'Addozio, and the city sets the active hours, which have been changed by ordinance more than once. Read the current hours on Matera Welcome or the city's site on the day you drive, and do not rely on an older guidebook. Guests of hotels inside the zone can get a temporary permit that lets them enter and park only as long as check-in and unloading take, so tell your hotel your plate number and ask for its exact instructions before you set off. Unauthorized vehicles park outside the zone, in the spaces and lots the signs show.

The official tourism pages list several public lots close to the old town, among them Via Lanera, Piazza Cesare Firrao, Via Cappelluti, Via Lucana and a multi-storey lot on Via Vena. Rates are set by the city and change, and the figures printed on the tourism page are dated, so check the rate at the machine and keep coins or a card ready. A shuttle line for the Sassi has run during the ZTL hours, so ask your hotel whether it operates on your dates. If you want the car only for the countryside, pick it up on the day you leave Matera and skip paying to park it for two nights.

The two main pedestrian entries to the Sassi are Via D'Addozio for Sasso Barisano and Via Bruno Buozzi for Sasso Caveoso, according to Matera Welcome. From the FAL station and the bus stops in the upper town, it is about a 10 minute walk to Piazza Vittorio Veneto, where the old town starts. After that, expect stairs, uneven stone and ramps, and expect a taxi to stop at the edge of the lane, not at your door.

Pack for that: a small wheeled case is awkward on stone, and a soft bag or a backpack is easier. Where to stay in Matera compares four areas by stairs and arrival, and it helps to decide before you book whether you want a cave room or a flatter room in the upper town. City buses have ramps for wheelchairs, but the Sassi themselves are not suitable for step-free travel. Matera Welcome's accessibility page says vehicles carrying a disabled person must notify the city of their entry within 48 hours of transit, by the free number 800-091980 or by email to [email protected], and disabled permit holders can park free in marked bays. Ask your hotel about step-free access before you pay a deposit.

Most of what you do in the Sassi needs no advance ticket, but the park across the gorge has rules worth knowing. The Parco della Murgia Materana runs guided rock-church tours from its Jazzo Gattini visitor center, and the park's tours page says they must be booked at least 24 hours ahead. It lists them at €20 in Italian and €25 in English for about 2 hours, on the flat Murgia Timone path to two rock churches.

You can also walk the park on your own. The park describes the Murgia Timone trail as a self-guided visit of about 2 hours from the visitor center, and Trail 406 as a walk of about 2 hours with a suspended walkway over the Gravina stream and roughly 200 meters of elevation change, for which you need proper footwear. The visitor center says no public transport reaches it at present, so you need a car, a taxi or a tour. See the park's rock-church tour page for current prices before you book.

Inside the Sassi, the rock churches and the underground cistern have their own ticket desks and hours, which are set by the operators and change by season. Check each one on the day, and do not plan more than two in an afternoon.

Arrive in the afternoon if you can. Check-in, a taxi or a short walk with luggage, and the first dusk in the Sassi fit together, and you avoid dragging a bag through the lanes at midday in summer. If you come from Bari on a morning train and your room is not ready, leave the bag with the hotel and walk, which is easier than carrying it.

Early departures are harder than arrivals. A first FAL train or coach leaves early, taxis in a small city are fewer at dawn, and the lanes are dark and steep, so book a taxi for the evening before and ask the hotel where it will wait. At Easter, in May and in the autumn, expect more traffic on the access roads and fuller lots, so arrive earlier in the day and leave margin for parking.

Planning the return last. A late dinner in the Sassi is a good reason to stay overnight, and a worse reason to miss the last train. Check the last FAL departure and the last coach before you reserve a table, and read Matera in 2 days if you are still deciding between a day and a night.

Driving to the hotel door. Following a satnav into the Sassi is the standard way to collect a fine. Park outside and walk, or ask the hotel how to enter legally.

Booking a Rome or Naples day trip. The journey is long, and Matera is better as a night. Booking a rock-church tour for the same morning. The park tours need 24 hours' notice.

Bringing a large suitcase. Stone lanes and stairs punish wheels. Pack small, and leave the rest with a hotel in Bari if you are coming back.

Before you travel, set up an eSIM and compare travel insurance, which matters on stairs and wet stone. For the wider rail picture across the country, see getting around Europe.