Matera Open-Top Bus Tour

Two open-top bus tours run through the Sassi on GetYourGuide, and both cost $22 per person, take about 1.5 hours and include a cave-house ticket. The Sassi of Matera: Eco-Bus Open Top Tour has a tour leader on board speaking Italian and English and is rated 4.6 from 1,267 GetYourGuide reviews. The Matera: Open Top Bus Tour with Entrance to Casa Grotta relies on a driver and an audio guide on your own phone, and is rated 4.3 from 386 reviews. Neither is a hop-on hop-off service: you ride a fixed loop with one main stop and come back to where you started.

The eco-bus is the one to book for most people, for the live commentary and the stronger rating. Take the Casa Grotta bus if its departure times suit you better, or if you want more photo stops on the way.

Quick picks

• A seated loop with a live tour leader: the eco-bus, $22, with a 40-minute stop in Piazza San Pietro Caveoso.
• A loop with more photo stops and an audio guide: the Casa Grotta bus, $22, about 105 minutes, with Casa Grotta Narrante.
• A private ride with a cave house, no strangers: the $39 panoramic tuk-tuk, 45 minutes for your group only.
• You can manage stairs and want the full story: the $33 two-hour walking tour with a cave house and the rock church of Sant’Antonio Abate. With 7,953 reviews it is the most-reviewed Matera tour on this site.

The eco-bus route and its one stop

The eco-bus leaves from the Matera City Tour office and drives down Via Madonna delle Virtù, the panoramic street along the edge of the Sassi. As you go deeper into the old districts, the Murgia Materana and its canyon open up on the far side. A tour leader points out the sights and talks about the city’s history in Italian and English.

The bus then stops in Piazza San Pietro Caveoso, the main square of Sasso Caveoso, for 40 minutes. You walk the alleys and visit a furnished cave house, listed as Casa Grotta Sassi di Matera, with the ticket included, then have about 25 minutes of free time. The guide does not come with you during that free time. The listing states plainly that this is not a hop-on hop-off tour and that San Pietro Caveoso is the only stop.

The rules are strict. The crew waits five minutes after the departure time, then leaves without latecomers and without a refund. Your ticket is fixed to the date and time you booked. Tours run in sun or rain, and the operator may postpone or cancel if it judges the weather unsafe. Non-folding wheelchairs are not allowed on board.

The Casa Grotta bus route

The Casa Grotta bus starts at Via Alessandro Volta 5, at the Martulli Viaggi office, and its itinerary lists more stops: past Tramontano Castle, a photo stop at the Convent of Sant’Agostino, a visit to Casa Grotta Narrante, the drive along Via Madonna delle Virtù, a photo stop with a short walk in San Pietro Caveoso square, then back past the castle. The ride ends at one of two drop-off points, Via Alessandro Volta 5 or the Martulli Viaggi office.

The commentary works differently. An Italian-speaking tour leader gives some help in English, and the multilingual audio guide runs through the POPGuide app, which you scan at the office. Headphones and a phone are not supplied, so bring a charged smartphone and earphones. Arrive 15 minutes early. Children who travel free sit on a parent’s lap, and baby strollers are not allowed. The listing says the stops involve short walks on mostly flat ground with a few small steps.

Who a bus tour suits

A bus tour suits you if you have little time, want an overview on your first evening, or cannot manage a two-hour walk on stone stairs. Even then you walk at the stop, and the Sassi lanes are stepped throughout. The Casa Grotta bus lists itself as unsuitable for wheelchair users, so ask the operator about your needs before you book.

It suits you less if you want to see a lot. One reviewer with a bad knee found that the bus follows the single road through the Sassi, and everything else is reached on foot. Others found the free time too long, especially in the summer heat (July and August average highs reach about 31 °C), or said the ride ended earlier than advertised. Several said they would have seen more by walking.

What the low-star reviews say

On the eco-bus, the recurring complaints are noise and visibility: a squeaky bus made the guide hard to hear, the bilingual commentary left long gaps between English sections, and on one rainy day plastic sheets covered the open sides. On the Casa Grotta bus, low-star reviewers mention an app that did not work, no live English guide, rescheduled departures and rides cut to about an hour. Both still rate 4.3 or higher overall, but expect basic commentary and a short ride.

Arriving by car and timing your slot

If you drove to Matera, you cannot take your own car into the Sassi while the limited-traffic gates are active: 10:00 to 20:30 from 16 September to 30 June, and 10:00 to midnight from 1 July to 15 September. Park outside the zone and walk to the bus office. Our Bari to Matera guide covers parking and the ZTL.

In July and August, book a morning or early-evening departure and carry water, as operators in Matera advise: the free time in Sasso Caveoso is spent outdoors on stone squares. From November to January the sun sets before 17:00 (16:33 on 21 November), so an early-afternoon slot gives you the views in daylight.

Bus, tuk-tuk or walking tour

At $22 with a cave house included, the two buses are the lowest-priced tours on this site. A private tuk-tuk or Ape Calessino ride costs $39 to $112 per person and takes your group alone. A private walking guide sets the pace around a slower walker. If you are planning a single day, our Matera in one day guide shows where a bus loop fits, and the which Matera tour guide compares every format.

Choose your slot and check availability for the eco-bus, because tickets cannot be moved once booked.