Bari

Introduction

Building in Bari

© NantesFC

Bari is considered the second most important city in southern Italy. Situated in the ‘heel’ of the boot-shaped country that is Italy, Bari is famous for its beaches, old town and fabulous food.

An increasingly popular holiday destination, Bari is the commercial and administrative capital of Puglia as well as being a bustling university town. Bari offers much for the visitor to do with something for everyone, from families to couples looking for a magical romantic setting.

Sights and Activities

Of particular note is the remarkable 12th-century Basilica dedicated to the city's patron, Saint Nicholas. You could even venture out of town to the city of Sassi which boasts Neolithic caves that, incredibly, were inhabited until 1952 (Movie buffs will be interested to learn that Sassi’s surreal surroundings provided the location for many films, too).

Weather

Bari has a typical Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and mild wetter winters. Temperatures in summer are mostly around 30 °C during the day and nights rarely drop below 18 °C. Highs of around 45 °C have been recorded though. Winters usually are around 14 °C during the colder months from mid December to early February. Most rain falls from November till April.

Getting There

By Plane

Bari Karol Wojtyła Airport (BRI) offers flights to/from Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Riga, Milan, Rome, Turin, Tirana, Catania, Palermo, London, Timisoara, Paris, Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart, Zürich, Düsseldorf, Olbia, Luxembourg, Bergamo, Brussels, Bologna, Cagliari, Genua, Frankfurt, Karlsruhe, Kos, Maastricht, Malta, Pisa, Seville, Treviso, Trieste, Valencia, Warsaw, Ibiza, Mallorca, Mykonos, Santorini, Barcelona, Bucharest, Budapest, Cluj-Napoca and Prague.

By Boat

Albania

• Ventouris between Bari and Durres.

Croatia

• From Bari, Azzurraline (summer) and Jadrolinija (all year) have crossings to Dubrovnik.

Greece

• Superfast Ferries between Patras and Bari.
• Superfast Ferries Igoumenitsa and Bari.
• Ventouris Ferries between Patras and Bari.
• Ventouris Ferries between Corfu and Bari.
• Ventouris Ferries Igoumenitsa and Bari.

Sleep

Upscale

Keep Connected

Internet

Almost all towns and cities in Italy have internet cafes. A growing number of budget hostels and nicer hotels have free Wifi. By law all public-access internet points must keep records of web sites viewed by customers, and even the customer's ID: expect to be refused access if you don't provide identification. Hotels providing Internet access are not required to record IDs if the connection is provided in the guest's room, although if the connection is offered in the main public hall then IDs are required. Publicly available wireless access without user identification is illegal, so open Wi-Fi hotspots (like the ones you might expect to find in a mall or cafée) all have some form of (generally one-time) registration.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The main networks are TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile, part of Telecom Italia, formerly state controlled), Vodafone, Wind, and 3 (only UMTS cellphones). Best advice is to buy a prepaid SIM card (from € 10 upwards) and a cheap mobile phone (€ 19 upwards) to put it in (if you don't have a cellphone already that you can use). It will be much more practical. All land line numbers start with 0. Mobile numbers start with 3. Numbers starting with 89 are high-fee services. In case of emergency call the appropriate number from the list below. Such calls are usually free and calls to 112, 113 (police), 115 (fire), 118 (health) can be made from payphones for free without the need of inserting coins. 112 (standard emergency number in GSM specification) can be dialed in any case for free from any mobile phone.

Post

Post Italiane is the national postal services of Italy and has quite an efficient network of postal offices and reliable postal services. Standard letters and postcards (up to 20 grams) cost €0.39 to send within Europe and the Mediterranean countries outside Europe and €0.41 to all other destinations throughout the country. Up to 50 grams, prices start at €0.52 for Europe, €0.62 for other areas. Packages start at €1.55 within Europe, and around €2.50 for other countries. Post office business hours in Italy are from 8:30am to 2:00pm from Monday to Friday, with closing times at Saturday and the last day of the month at 12 noon. In general, larger post offices in bigger cities and in tourist areas keep longer hours than those in local towns. Also note that business hours in the south might be different than the north, with longer hours at night, especially in summer! If you want to send packages you might try faster and more reliable/efficient private courier companies like TNT, UPS or DHL.

External Links

• Official Website