1197 Ostuni Transportation

We hire our car from the airport. The bus services in this area is apparantly quite good, there is a lady here who doesn't drive and she has been using public transport, I'll be seeing her tonight, so will ask her how she is getting on. Most of the train stations in the area ( Ostuni, San Vito dei Normanni) are not actually in the towns at all....both Ostuni and San Vito stations are quite a way from the Town Centres so I suspect a taxi from station to where you are staying ...there may be good bus links tho'...I'll ask. Having said that all the Public transport is really cheap here , I think Julia said from Bari- Ostuni by train was only 4 Euros...I'll confirm later for you. :)

When we were there in June we hired a car because we were told the public transport system particularly buses is not that reliable, also we were staying in a very rural location near Cisternino so a car was essential. I did not notice too many buses on our travels to be honest so it might be a good idea to check out a few local websites. You can get a train to Lecce from Cisternino, it takes about an hour and a half but is well worth it as Lecce is a lovely city and it is good value for money. We had a couple of trips to Ostuni and we loved it there, it's a delightful little town and the area around the Duomo has plenty of good quality shops and restaurants. Hope you enjoy your time in Puglia as much as we did.

Mike & Karen

Had a word with my friend last night and she is certainly getting about locally by bus, but it is a bit limiting as some buses to nearby places only have perhaps one ot two buses a day. For example : Ostuni to Ceglie buses at 5am and 12 noon ...think they are geared more for workers than tourists !!!

I certainly would agree that you will have so much more freedom and see much more if you hire a car but if like my friend this is not possible ( she doesn't drive !!! ) - Where there's a will there's a way ! Hope this helps :)

Oh just remebered something else- she has had problems getting taxis at night , even in a big town like Brindisi/ If you are not within walking distance of your accommodation , ( she isn't !...but she walks a lot during the day !) you may find it limiting in the evenings. She has the number of a local taxi firm, but she has found they do not always answer at night !!!! :rolleyes:

Thank you very much to everyone for responding. Your information was very helpful in my planning. I am leaning towards car rental now. I just have to find out where in Ostuni we can rent a car.

Alex & Lyn, thank you very much for the bus information. From what I could find out in books and on the internet, it seemed like the buses did not run very often, but I was not sure. I appreciate you confirming that for me. I didn't want to get there and find out the bus schedule would not work for us.

Thanks again to everyone!

If you need a place to stay as well the Masseria Mangiamuso is delightful - 70 euros per night and car hire for 30 euros. This includes collection from the airport and return to airport. We stayed there while househunting and the owner is very helpful. (His wine is good too!!) ;) The masseria is about 4kms outside Ostuni on the Villanova road.
Kathy

[QUOTE=Scullysioux]Hi!

I'm planning a trip to Puglia for 2006. I have been to Italy, but have never been to Puglia. I have been trying to find answers to a few questions and am not having much luck.

I originally wanted to rely on public transportation (trains & buses) to get around to see Alberobello and Lecce, but from the information I am getting it looks like it would be much easier to rent a car. Does anyone know where a car rental is in Ostuni? Has anyone taken local trains or buses from Ostuni to other places in Puglia? How frequently do they run? Where do you catch them from?

Also, we will be arriving in Ostuni by train and I am wondering how close the train station is to the center of Ostuni. From the maps I've seen it looks like it is not really near the city. Does anyone know where the train station is? Also, is it a regular station or just a stop? Will we be able to get a taxi from there to a car rental place?

I am really looking forward to seeing Puglia. Thank you in advance for any possible help with my questions.[/QUOTE]

You can certainly get to and from Alberobello by train, the station as at the top of the town with easy access to the center and to the old part which is amazing. If you visit say Ciao to Mika who runs a cafe in the old center in Trulli, he is very helpful and the coffee is great!

[QUOTE=Scullysioux]Thank you very much to everyone for responding. Your information was very helpful in my planning. I am leaning towards car rental now. I just have to find out where in Ostuni we can rent a car.

Alex & Lyn, thank you very much for the bus information. From what I could find out in books and on the internet, it seemed like the buses did not run very often, but I was not sure. I appreciate you confirming that for me. I didn't want to get there and find out the bus schedule would not work for us.

Thanks again to everyone![/QUOTE]

You could try this - do a google search "car hire ostuni" Top of the list is
[url="http://www.e-sixt.co.uk/dw/car-hire/car-hire-international/OR/car-hire-at-OSTUNI/car-hire-at-OSTUNI.html"]http://www.e-sixt.co.uk/dw/car-hire/car-hire-international/OR/car-hire-at-OSTUNI/car-hire-at-OSTUNI.html[/url]
Depends on if you have to hire from Ostuni - there are lots of car hire firms around including around Brindisi etc.

Hi,

There is a guy in Lecce that organises trips by bus and cycling and walks all over Puglia.

I can give you his details as soon as I find them if you want.

Davide

Thanks to everyone for all the info. We have decided to rent a car from Sixt. This is the address I found. Does anyone know how far from the train station this is? We will have to take a taxi from the train station to the Sixt office I imagine.

Indirizzo:
VIA DELL'INDUSTRIA (Z.I) N 8
72017 - OSTUNI (BR)

Come arrivare
Autostrada A14, Uscita Bari Sud, Imboccare La Ss Per Brindisi Ed Uscire Ad Ostuni-villanova E Proseguire Per Ostuni.dopo Circa 4 Km È Presente Il Centronoleggio

Kathy, the Masseria Mangiamuso looks very reasonable from what I can find on it. Do they have their own web site?

We are thinking of staying at the Masseria Refrigerio? Is anyone familiar with this place?

Davide, does the gentleman in Lecce have a web site for his bus tours? We may want to look into that.

Thanks again! :)

I think it is about 2.5 miles - follow SP20 into Ostuni and exit via SP17 e-sixt is somewhere on your right -according to Autoroute/Multimap

Thank you, DaveJ. I have been looking and could not find this info anywhere.

I don't have a website as such but if you go to [url]www.casealsol.com[/url] and click on the hospitality link there is a lotf of information and photographs of the masseria. The owner's name is Bonaventura Cucci - a very charming man and his e-mail address is [email]bonaventura.cucci@virgilio.it[/email]. I can really recomment it - Currently, there's a swimming pool in the process of being built complete with Grecian columns. Good Luck
Kathy

Masseria Refrigerio.

We have stayed at the Masseria a few times when visiting to but our property. It is excellent. Both the owners Domenico and Gaetano speak English and were extremelt helpful to us. I would recommend it strongly. Of course you will need a car as it is a few km from Ostuni, very near the main route from Brindisi to Bari.

Send me a private message if you want further info.

Brian.