Transportation in Italy

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Transportation in Italy
By Suzanne Pidduck

You're going to Italy! Hooray!

Okay, now wait a minute. How exactly are you getting there, and when you arrive, how will you get around? If you think traveling in Italy is as easy as hopping in a rental car... well, it's time to read this guide! Come with me as I walk you through Italy's transportation system; it might be a little different from the way we do things in the US, but it's not that hard!

Planes

Naturally, the first thing you'll need to do is book your flight into Italy. You'll discover almost immediately that there are very few direct flights into Italy. Most go through London, Paris, or another major European city. It's annoying, but the split flight presents you with another option.

Instead of booking the entire flight at once, consider booking just the flight to London on a major airline. You can spend a night or two in the city (hooray!) or leave immediately, but you'd book the second leg of your flight on a European airline like Ryanair or Easyjet. These airlines have fantastic travel discounts for Italy and fly frequently into smaller airports, closer to your destination. You can also fly "open jaw:" into one airport and out of another. On a recent trip I flew from London into Parma, spent a week in Tuscany, and then made my way down the coast to fly out of Naples. Not all roads lead to Rome!

Be cautious of money traps, however. You may get cheap flights to Italy, but you could pay the difference in incidental costs like shuttling from one London airport to another - there are three! Many discount airlines also keep prices low by charging for checked baggage, so take a good look at their website before booking.

If, however, your time is more valuable than money, go with the simple one-booking flight.

Trains