By Emna
When I was trying to pick a place to sit the Imat, my first choice wasn’t Bari (even though it was my first choice university). I wanted to sit the exam in another place to discover a little more of the country, but in the end thought that maybe I should sit it in the city I’m going to live in (hopefully) for the next 6 years.
Now that I picked where I was going to sit the IMAT Exam, I needed a place to stay. I decided to go through Airbnb because I wanted to see what ‘a typical’ apartment is (also not be in a hotel the whole time). This way I could try to do groceries, cook, visit the neighbourhood, in other words, experience what my life in Bari would be even if it’s just for a couple of days.
From the Airport
The airport is kind of small, and easy to find yourself in. The first problem I faced when I arrived was, how I was going to get to the city centre.
I found out (after of course) that there were three options:
- Take a cab: Which will cost 23 euros. It’s the fixed price for every cab when you tell them you’re going to the centre.
- Take the train: Which will cost 5 euros (but it’s so long to walk to; averaging 5-10 minutes through many automatic stairs to reach the train). The travel time was around 15 minutes
- Take the bus: Which will cost 4 euros and the travel is 30 minutes
Bari Centrale
This is the centre of the city where you will arrive with the train. However you need to know that if you try to use the train in Bari it’s only to leave the city (as in going to/coming from the airport/Rome/Milan etc.)
The main way of transport in the city is by bus or by foot; trust me with one hour of walking you can go from the bottom to the top of this city unlike Rome.
Bari City Centre
Bari is not a big city, it’s a small town with a lot of charm, and narrow streets that captivate you.
I’ve tried to explain the layout of the city using this map, with all of the areas of interest if you are considering studying medicine in University of Bari.
Marked you can find the old city full of history, the shopping district, the central station, and the Medical university as well as the hospital.
The Old City
Before you go ‘inside’ the old port you’ll find the elegant Piazza del Ferrarese at the entrance. It is a charming square and an excellent spot for lunch, or in the evening to go and have a drink with some friends and enjoy the view.
I personally just loved it. Walking throughout the old city during daylight hours is a nice experience. It’s made up of multitudes of little tiny streets with typical Italian balconies and grandmas (aka Nonnas) sitting outside. They even stopped me multiple times to tell me how pretty I was. They were just so nice and welcoming; it felt great. I really enjoyed this part of the city.
These are some of the pictures of the streets.
The different areas of Bari City.
The city is roughly divided into two by Bari Centrale. I stayed next to the Policlinico (Bari Universities Hospital) during my stay and I noticed that it’s quite different from the other side of the city (let’s call it the North of the Bari).
The North side is full of shops where you can do shopping (you can find H&M, Zara, Sephora, Nespresso, etc.) and the old city is about 5-10 minutes from the shopping area by foot.
I remember the first night I went to the supermarket to do some groceries, the seemingly small outside was quite deceiving. As I went inside the huge interior shocked me having everything I needed. A funny experience during my grocery visit was when I was looking for some orange juice. I asked one of the employees, but they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. They didn’t understand a word of english so you better learn how to say some basic things in Italian in case you will be lost in a supermarket like me. My visit was pretty late (around 9pm) and the streets were empty.
At first I was kind of scared hearing rumours about certain cities not being safe with high crime rates etc. Of course since it was my first night in Bari I didn’t know what to expect, but although the streets were empty I didn’t have any trouble. However it’s always a good idea to avoid going out at night by yourself in empty streets.
A fun fact I discovered while walking in one of the neighbourhoods is their culture of lunch. At first I wasn’t paying attention, then I noticed that most of the shops were closed after 1pm till like 3/4pm. I used to live in Paris most shops are open 24/7 so imagine my surprise when I found out most of the shops close almost 3 hours for “Pauso Pranzo”.
Cost of Living
I didn’t really eat at restaurants so I can’t compare prices or tell you about the traditional food. I really wanted to experience personal/local ‘life’. I did groceries, cooked my own pasta with parmigiano on it, etc. However on my first night I was so tired that I stopped at a bakery that sold 1/4th of a pizza; it cost around €1.50 and it was so good and cheap for how much it filled me.
Regarding navigation, Bari is not a very big city. If you have a GPS you will more than okay. I didn’t end up asking Italian people for directions as I didn’t get lost, but in the shopping area there’s always a person who speaks English/French to help out.