Matera
How to Get Around Matera
Getting Around
Matera is walkable, vertical and hard on the legs.
The Sassi are a network of lanes, stairs and terraces on a steep slope. Nothing is far, but almost everything involves climbing, and the surfaces are worn stone. Sensible shoes are not optional.
The Piano, the upper town, is flat and ordinary, and holds the shops, the bus stops and most of the parking.
Cars cannot enter the Sassi. Park in the Piano and walk down — remembering that you will walk back up.
Local buses connect the Piano with the newer districts, including the ones built for the 1950s clearance.
The Murgia park across the ravine is reached on foot by a path down and across — steep and unshaded — or by road, which is a long way round. A car or a guide helps.
Accessibility in the Sassi is genuinely poor; the Piano is fine.
Connections from Matera
How easily, and at what cost, can you combine the region’s main destinations?
| Route | Best option | One-way time | Travel Smart take |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matera and Bari | Train | ~1 hr 30 min typical, not a timetable | An easy leg of a longer itinerary. |
| Matera and Maratea | Bus or car | ~3 hr typical, not a timetable | Better as a separate stay than a day trip. |
| Matera and Melfi | Bus or car | ~2 hr typical, not a timetable | Better as a separate stay than a day trip. |
Cost compares the options for each route rather than quoting a fare: inexpensive means the price is not a factor in planning, moderate cost means a real line in the budget, and the expensive option is one worth weighing against the alternative. Fares change from year to year; the ranking between them does not.