Europe > Italy > Taranto (TAR)
The Car or no Car advice for Taranto can be broken down into three similar questions - do you need a car in Taranto ; is it worth it (based on costs), and ultimately - should you rent one? (a balance of the two).🚆 🚌⛴️ Do we need to rent a car in Taranto ?
These scores are based on the quality of public transport and other travel options. If these are good enough to see the main points of interest, then you don’t need to rent a car.
💰💶💳 Is it worth hiring a car in Taranto?
These scores reflect the practical factors that affect whether renting a car is convenient, good value, and stress-free.
The short answer is that Taranto itself works well without a car, but hiring one becomes far more useful if you want to explore the surrounding region. The city’s main sights are compact, but Apulia’s best beaches, rural landscapes, and smaller towns quickly push beyond the reach of convenient public transport 🌊.
Getting around Taranto without a car
Taranto’s historic centre (Città Vecchia), new town, and seafront areas are all easy to explore on foot. Local buses connect the main residential districts, railway station, and waterfront areas, and taxis are affordable for short hops. If your plans are focused on city life, food, museums, and coastal walks, you can comfortably walk or use taxis and buses without feeling restricted 🚶♂️🚌.
Rail connections also help. Regional trains link Taranto with Bari, Brindisi, and Lecce, making day trips possible without driving. However, services can be infrequent, and timetables don’t always align well for spontaneous travel. This makes public transport workable, but not especially flexible.
Getting to Taranto
Although scheduled commercial routes have been proposed at various points, Taranto Airport currently has no regular passenger flights. In practice, this means you’ll need to arrive via one of Apulia’s larger airports, most commonly Bari or Brindisi, and continue onwards by train, bus, or car.
At first glance, Bari Airport looks extremely well connected thanks to its dedicated rail station. However, services from the airport can be surprisingly irregular, and journey planners may sometimes route you via Bari–Palese Macchie, which sits on the opposite side of the runway and is less convenient in practice. For many travellers, bus transfers into Bari city centre are actually more reliable, with onward trains to Taranto available from Bari Centrale 🚆.
Brindisi Airport, by contrast, has a smaller range of flights than Bari, but benefits from being very close to the city centre, making transfers straightforward and quick. From either Bari or Brindisi, allow around one hour to reach Taranto by train or road. While neither option is quite as seamless as flying directly into the city, both work well enough — and once you arrive, Taranto’s compact layout makes onward travel refreshingly simple.
When renting a car makes sense
Renting a car becomes a strong advantage if you want to explore Apulia beyond Taranto. Many of the region’s highlights — quieter Ionian beaches, inland villages, olive groves, and archaeological sites — are difficult or time-consuming to reach by bus or train. A car allows you to travel on your own schedule and discover places that rarely feature on standard routes 🚗🌿.
A car is also useful if you’re combining Taranto with other southern destinations such as Matera, coastal Calabria, or rural parts of Basilicata. Roads are generally straightforward once you’re out of the city, and parking outside the historic centre is manageable.
Conclusion – should you rent a car in Taranto?
Conclusion – should you rent a car in Taranto?
If you’re staying mainly within the city, you don’t need a car. Taranto is walkable, taxis are affordable, and public transport is adequate for urban travel. However, if you want to explore Apulia’s coastline, countryside, or nearby towns in any depth, renting a car is strongly recommended. Taranto works well as a base — but the freedom of a car unlocks far more of southern Italy 🚗✨.
🚗 ✅ ❌ Summary Table
This summary score brings how much you really need a car, whether it’s worth it, driver options, local driving rules, and an overall recommendation.Italy