The ultimate guide to Travel Around Italy

How to easily travel around Italy?

Italians always complain about the transports in our country: busses are full, trains always late and the traffic is just too crazy to travel by car. I know it is almost impossible to reach work on time every day. But as it often happens, travelling taught me to appreciate things more.

Unlike many other bigger countries, Italy features a good amount of cities and inhabited areas on relatively short distances. Consider we have more the twice the Australian population on the 4% of territory! It drives us to two consequences:

Lots of people means lot of traffic. And moving around Italy with public transports can obviously be very time consuming (nothing compared with most of the Asian ones though!) and stressing. Sometimes you will wait more than expected for a train or bus already too full to be taken. And also

On the other hand, this high density makes also some more remote places fairly reachable with public transports. All you need is a bit of planning ahead.

Getting to Italy:

by land: Italy is well connected with pretty much any european country. You can esily reach it by train, bus or car.
by air: almost every bigger city nowdays has an international airport, with also budget companies flying from and to many european and italian cities. However, if you are coming from very far, it is better to check for the two main airports: Rome Fiumicino (FCO) and Milan Malpensa (MXP). They both take their names from the nearby big city, but are actually located about one hour far.
by sea: italy is basically a peninsula surrouded by islands, and most of the territory is coastal. The mediterranean sea is widely known as a cruises destination, especially around Italy, Greece, Spain and some North-african countries. But is it also possible to directly sail from some of them.

So what is the best way to travel around the country?

First of all, it depends on your plans. I would never ever suggest to anyone to visit Italian cities by car. Especially considering how well located are the Train stations in most of them. But it will be pretty nice to have your own transportation on a National Parks tour, for example. Let’s dive into the pros and cons of every possible way.

Travel around Italy by TRAIN

Train is probably one of my favourite transportation methods, and in Italy the railways system is pretty good. Most of the places are well connected by train, and train stations are usually conveniently located. And Italian trains are in general always pretty cheap, if compared to other European and western countries.

The national railway company is Trenitalia, running pretty much everywhere, but there are also a couple of private and slightly more expensive ones.

You can book your journey from the internet website or from the red ticket machine located in any station. Some bigger ones also have an office, if you have questions or special necessities.

There are basically three kinds of trains to choose from, depending on your itinerary and way of travelling

Likely you will sometimes have to switch between them, taking the local train to your destination after reaching the nearest big station with a faster one. Just put origin and destination on the website and it will show you all the options!

Local and Regional Trains: the only and best choice to travel around one or more nearby cities. Local trains stops on every station on their way, or at least most of them (check yours is on the list!). They are consequentially slower, but also the best choice to reach less-travelled places, and also the cheapest. Also, there are no assigned sits, so you will always be able to book a ticket. But also have to hope to find a good spot once on it.
Inter City trains: they are usually faster and run between most cities skipping the smaller towns. Tickets are slightly more expensive, but booking them ahead can make you save a good amount of money. You can usually choose between first and second class, and also reserve a bunk bed (or entire cabin) on a night train for longer journeys. I used to do it going to Sicily with my family, and I find it the best way to face a 12 hours journey.
Freccia Rossa and Freccia Bianca Trains: literally translated as red (or white) arrows, they connect biggest cities in about half of the time. They are the newest and fastest trains, but you will obviously have to pay more for the saved hours.

Budgeting tip:

Looking for comfort on a budget? Both IC and Freccia trains usually come out with a certain amount of tickets for a very cheap price, sometimes even less than the regional ones. So, if you know ahead your itinerary, you can easily find a good bargain on the best trains. But remember it will only work if booking on internet, and not for local trains.

Travel around Italy by HIGHWAY BUS

a bus journey can be a good alternative to trains on the long distances. Most of the time is a bit more time consuming, especially if you look for the cheapest fares, but it will likely make you save some money. I use it especially for unplanned trips between big cities, and always for travels to other European countries, were trains are expensive. The most common is surely Flixbus, especially in the north, but we have many good alternatives. Take a look on a website like this to find a good solution.

Bus stalls are usually located just outside the main train stations, or anyways well connected with the city centre. Busses are also probably the best option to reach the airports, especially the two bigger ones.

Budgeting tip:

while train tickets get only more expensive closer to the departure day, I found out many bus tickets works differently: after slowly increasing the price for the first period, they usually tend to drop it close to the journey to try to fill the empty spots. Of course, you need to hope there will be some. So don’t rely too much on that if you have a tight schedule.

Use Italian CITY TRANSPORTS

First of all city busses, but also trams and metros in some cities. Metros are surely the fastest, but do not expect the crazy underground layers of American cities!

The biggest metro in Italy is in Milan, with its four lines. The capital Rome actually relies on three lines, and many cities only have one. Nearly impossible to get lost at least!

Busses, on the other hand, can be a bit more overwhelming, and sometimes really time consuming. But they will surely let you see more of the city.

A linked company usually runs the less common routes to small towns and places around the province. You need to be a bit careful checking ways and time schedules, but you will find a bus going to pretty much every remote town. Newsagents will likely help you also on that, if you can’t find a tourist or information office. Tickets usually starts from the same city’s fares, but they gradually increase in line with the covered distance

Pretty much everywhere you will be able to use a single ticket to travel on every vehicle, with very few notified exceptions. You can also jump on a local train with the same or a slightly pricier ticket, as long as you do not exit the city area.

The fares are usually around 1,50 €. It can vary of about 20-30 cents or minutes of validity in some cities, but that is the average. In some places you can also look for the daily or weekly ticket. Purchase you ticket from any tobacconist or newsagents, and ask them for all the available options. In some cases you can also buy your ticket from a machines (especially in metro stations), or directly from the bus driver. The last one will cost you a bit more, but sometimes is the only choice.

Travel around Italy by AIR

probably because of the relatively short distances, I would not suggest flying around as the best way to travel around Italy. You will never have to cross hundreds of kilometers of desert, and there is plenty of eco and.. exploration friendlier options.

However, I recently discovered it can sometimes be convenient, also in terms of money. The national airway is as good as expensive, especially for short flights. But there are many budget companies flying between smaller airports, usually also conveniently located not far from the city.

Last summer I flew from Genova to Palermo (Sicily) with 20 € in less than two hours. The same train journey would have been about 18 hours for at least 6 times more the price.

But for other and more reachable destinations I would carefully evaluate every element, including the time and money to get to and from the airport.

Budgeting Tip:

Before planning every journey, I usually take a look at skyscanner, just to have an overview. A good tip is to include “nearby locations” or put the whole nation instead of the exact city. Airports are usually not that far from each other, and sometimes a short and priceless train journey will make you save a good amount of money! Especially on flights to far or less-travelled destinations.

Travel around Italy by SEA

Italian territory is made of a peninsula and two biggest islands (Sicily and Sardinia), other than many other smaller ones. Consequently, ships and ferries must get their place among the ways to travel around the country. Some of the main passengers ports are in Genova, Savona and Venice in the north. Livorno, Naples, Civitavecchia and Salerno in the centre. Bari, Palermo, Messina and Olbia in the south and the islands, just to name a few. You can sail between some of them and from them to islands and other mediterranean countries.

Some of the main national national ferry companies are Moby, GNV and Tirrenia. They are surely the best choice if you need to bring your vehicle to an island or simply are not willing to drive along the whole country. And sometimes you can reserve a car spot for 1 €, if booking a cabin.

If you are more into luxury travel, consider the Cruise option, or also a sailingboat trip.

Driving a CAR around Italy

Travelling by car is in many places the easiest and most comfortable way: you can go everywhere and whenever you want, and roadtrips can be pretty fun.

But if you are planning to visit Italian cities, I would not suggest you to do it by car, at least in most of them. The city traffic is usually pretty crazy, especially during peak hours, and forget about the possibility to spot a free parking during the day. Easier to do it if arriving around night time, as the paid ones are usually free of charge between 8 (or 10) pm and 8 am.

But in cities like Naples, leaving the car outside for the night is so unadvisable that many rental insurances have particular covering exemptions. You can still park in one of the many garages, but it will not be cheap.

Cities are always well connected with outside towns and areas, and a good solution is to leave the car in a suburb and then take the public transports to the centre.

It will also avoid the risk of getting expensive tickets: in many city centres transit is permitted only to residents. Some others, during some weekdays are accessible only by the greenest vehicles.
However, if you are more and outdoor adventures seekers, having you own vehicle can be the best (and only) way to reach them.

A good alternative for shorter journeys are scooters, easy to find especially in coastal areas and towns. In some cities you will also find sharing electric-ones, as well as the better known bike or car sharing.

Some Driving tips..

It could be better, but Italians driving style is not really THAT bad, and I think everyone can survive it. Just remember to stay on the right side, follow the signs and pay attention to not so uncommon crazy or distracted drivers.

Parking spots have three different line colors: white for the free, blue for the paid, and yellow for the private or specially reserved ones.

If you need to cover longer distances, or just skip the city traffic, you can take the highway. In most of them the speed limit is 130km/hrs (while in cities is 50), but you will have to pay a road toll. The amount is always different, and it basically depends on distance travelled and road maintenance costs. For example, expect to pay more for the same distance on a route full of bridges and tunnels.
Scooters can access them only if bigger than 150cc.

Travel around Italy by BIKE

Last but not least, electric or totally muscles-powered, the bicycle will always be the sporty travellers evergreen. And also one of the best ways to slowly and deeply discover every travelled corner. Distances in Italy are never too big, and travel around Italy with a bike can allow you to explore more and also save good money. Just be ready to face many up and downhills, especially in some regions.

You can also carry your bike on many trains for the longer or toughest journeys. Just check before if the train you are willing to catch has the special wagon, and if you need to pay a fee for that.

If you are willing to ride only for some trips, many cities have bike sharing stalls, and rental places are pretty common everywhere. In the last few years, the number of bikers has been exponentially growing, and many metropolitan areas now feature a good bikepaths network.

I almost forgot the very last but actually my favourite one: WALKING! It is basically all I do in every city, and the very best way to explore every corner. It requires time, but there is a surprisingly good amounts of beautiful walking routes across the whole country.

One last note:

Italy is one of that countries where almost all the information is.. in Italian! So if you are thinking about visiting the country at some point and need help with the planning. Or are just looking for any travel advice, I will be happy to give you my support. So don’t exitate to contact me!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post!

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