ITALY - TRAVELLING TO ITALY AND ITALIAN TRANSPORT
- TRAINS, ROADS,
BUSES ETC.
Flying to Italy is, of course, cheaper than it’s ever
been, with discount airlines flying in from the UK and USA,
and putting you within easy reach of the major cities. But
we’re getting ahead of ourselves here … there are
other ways to get to Italy. If you’re coming from northern
Europe you may well be driving. Now that the Mont Blanc tunnel
has reopened again, you may decide that four wheels
is a convenient way to provide transport within the country.
You may enter Italy by train, or you might arrive by ferry.
A swift look at the map will confirm that Italy has a lot of
coastline, a lot of ports, and a lot of historical sea routes
throughout the Mediterranean and beyond.
This can be a pleasant
way to arrive and depart – perhaps hopping on to Sicily,
Sardinia, Greece or beyond – or simply an enjoyable day
trip. Depending on how much travelling you’re planning
within Italy, you may decide to take public buses or trains.
You’ll find guides to both below, as well as information
on car hire and how to cope with the idiosyncratic Italian
approach to driving.
Planes
Italy is well served for airports, with Rome, Milan, Pisa,
Naples, Turin, Bologna and Venice serving as the main hubs.
From these, internal flights connect to the smaller regional
airports, and to the islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Elba.
Check out this
site for a comprehensive
list of Italian airports, with links to their home pages. A
bit of homework will pay off here. Though the likes of Ryanair
manage to offer such cheap prices by flying to smaller or ‘alternative’ airports,
it may be that you’re better off arriving at Ciampino
than at Rome’s major airport, Leonardo da Vinci. Take
a look at the map first – the money you save may more
than offset the extra minutes in a bus or cab; perhaps it even
puts you nearer your final destination.
Be flexible about your arrival time. Shifting your flight forward
or back a day, or to an inhospitable time in the morning, can save
you a small fortune. Obviously you’re going to pay a premium
during the summer months, and prices can drop like a stone from
the last week in August to the first in September. If you’re
not travelling as a family do you really need to travel during
the school holiday period? Shifting your vacation a week or two
can save money and the queue for the Uffizi or the Vatican will
be a whole lot shorter.
Trains
The fall in the cost of flying has made arriving by train a relatively
expensive option, but an attractive one nonetheless – an
exciting and scenic alternative to the inside of airports and cabins.
For visitors from the US it’s a good way to make European
stops on the way to their destination in Italy. A typical journey
from Waterloo in London to Milan would start with Eurostar to Paris,
and then the French high-speed TGV to the northern Italian capital;
all-told it will take around 12 hours. London-Florence is a journey
of 17 hours and London-Rome 19 hours. Visitors from the UK can’t
help but find Italian railways a pleasant, clean and efficient
contrast; go to the Trenitalia site for details
of timetables and onward connections. If you’re really keen
to see a lot of scenery you could even take the bus from London,
with direct services to all the major cities including Naples,
Florence, Rome, Bologna and Milan.
Automobiles
Driving into Italy means negotiating the narrow neck of the country.
After being closed for three years, the Mont Blanc tunnel is now
open again. You can head straight across the Alps from Germany
and Switzerland, but most drivers choose the less taxing option
of driving to the south of France and then cutting east to northern
Italy.
Ferries
If you are driving from the UK you’ll be either taking the
ferry across the Channel using the likes of Brittany Ferries or
P&O Stena Line or you’ll be putting your car (and yourself)
on the Eurotunnel train. But there are other ways to
arrive in Italy by ship. An ancient maritime nation, Italy has
many ports, and many of them offer passenger ferry services. From
Trieste in the north to Sicily in the south, this can be your arrival
or hopping off point to Greece, Croatia, North Africa … almost
anywhere. Check out this
site for
a detailed guide to every ferry port in the country, and timetables
for ferries,
hydrofoils and cruise ships.
Getting around within Italy
By car
You’ll find car rental desks at all the big airports, though
it’s always safer to book your vehicle before you leave home … unless
you want to run the risk of squeezing the family plus luggage into
a Fiat Panda that is. Before you set off, check what you are paying
for: what your insurance covers and what it doesn’t; what
the rules on returning the vehicle are and in what condition, and
so forth. Remember the rules will vary from country to country.
Does the price quoted include VAT for instance? Americans will
find fuel expensive, though it won’t be a shock to British
visitors. Look at Auto
Europe for details on renting a car in Italy.
Before you set off, familiarise yourself with the rules of the
road. Speed limits in built-up-areas are 31mph (50kmh); outside
built-up areas on secondary roads they are 55mph (90kmh). On main
roads they are 68mph (110kmh), and on motorways 80mph (130kmh);
the blood alcohol limit is 80mg. It is now compulsory to have dipped
headlights on at all times, unless driving in
a built-up area.
Insurance is compulsory for all vehicles in Italy. A green card
(carta verde)
should be
issued
to cover
your car before you set out. If you are in Italy for more than
45 days you must have a regular Italian insurance policy. Drivers
can only use cell phones or mobiles if the phone is equipped with
speaker devices; pedestrians have the right of way at zebra crossings;
and seat belts are compulsory. And remember … they drive
on the right.
Of course the thing everyone knows about Italian drivers is that
they are terrifying – driving at great speed three inches
behind your rear bumper and never indicating. Well … not
entirely. Italians have their own driving style, and it’s
very different to that of Americans and British drivers. Caution
isn’t their thing, though they will argue that it is their
great skill that allows them to drive in this way and cause so
few accidents. But they aren’t going to change to suit you
so you’d better learn a few tips. When in Rome…
Italians drivers are much more comfortable driving up close; try
not to be panicked by this. On Italian roads, your responsibility
is to those in front of you and to the side, and a rear-view mirror’s
for fixing your makeup. If there is a gap in front of you – fill
it, or someone else will nip in first. Drivers behind you will
get very close before overtaking; if you are uncomfortable, just
move over if you can safely do so. Pedestrians and joggers on roads
without footpaths will also find that cars pass uncomfortably close.
Driving can be a superb way to see Italy. A car ride along the
Amalfi coast is hard to beat, and should you want to get to Pompeii,
you’re going to have to do it by car or bus. But bear in
mind that things can get much more stressful in the cities. Driving
around Florence and Rome can be baffling for visitors who are used
to obeying the rules of the road religiously. In Italy, there is
far more give and take, and bending the rules can be the only way
to keep the traffic flowing. In those two cities you won’t
be able to take your car into the historic centres anyway; increasingly,
Italian towns are banning cars from their centres or slapping resident-only
permits on the busy areas. The last rule? Don’t drive in
Naples. Life is too short, and driving here will only make it shorter.
Almost all the autostrade (highways and motorways) are toll roads.
Go to this
site for a guide to motorway
toll network. Take a ticket as you come on and pay on exit, with
the easiest way to use a major credit card. When you get to the
exit ramp, look for the lanes with a large sign showing the pictures
of the various credit cards. The ACI (Italian Auto Club) has nationwide
roadside assistance with English-speaking operators. Dial 116 on
any phone, 24 hours a day. For medical emergencies call 113. Don’t
allow yourself to run low on petrol. It sounds obvious but it will
become painfully so if you hit your reserve tank and find that
all the filling stations are closed for lunch (which can stretch
from 12.30 until 3pm). And don’t assume that every filling
station will take plastic; always carry some emergency cash.
By train
The railway is a terrific way to explore Italy. They don’t
go everywhere, but coverage is better than in the US and UK, they
are cheap, quick, clean and pretty efficient. This is a good way
of city-hopping, with no gaps in the geographical spread of the
network, from Aosta in the north to Sicily in the south. Consider
investing in one of the Rail cards if you’re going to be
travelling a lot by rail. There are eight classes of train, from
the Eurocity
services to the Regionale trains, but all this will be made much
simpler with a visit to the very handy www.trenitalia.com. Here
you can plan routes and find out fares and details on travel cards.
Complementing your rail travel, you’ll need to use buses
to get to smaller towns and out of the way spots. Bus travel is
cheap, both on city routes and on the regional buses or autobus.
If in doubt head for the main square in the town – in the
absence of a bus station, the coach will normally pull up here.
Time to fly
Internal flights are not a cheap option, and prices will be a shock
to US visitors, being more akin to those in the UK. However, if
you need to get from Naples to Venice in a hurry, this is definitely
an option.
*Disclaimer: All our information is correct at time of writing,
however knowital.com and/or Ginestra Internet cannot be held responsible
for any changes, omissions or errors of fact. We strongly advise
you to check anything you're unsure of before you begin your holiday.
