How to Travel Within Italy

Posted by Nick on June 7, 2010

If you are planning a trip to Italy, and you want to see all of it (or at least a lot), you will need to plan for your transportation. Italy is a long country and getting from Northern Italy all the way down to the toe of the boot can take a long time. You may even find that your method of transportation doesn’t take you to all the places you want to go in Italy.

Fortunately, you do have a few options on how to travel within Italy while you are there.

If you are only hitting the major cities and tourist destinations, you can stick with trains or planes. There are flights available within Italy on some of the European budget airlines, like easyJet. Trains will definitely hit more cities than the planes, but it will be a slower form of travel. When traveling by train, you can enjoy the picturesque Italian scenery as it flies by your window.

For places in Italy that are off-the-beaten path, you can rent a car and drive yourself. Highways and roads are well-developed in Northern Italy. You will find the same to be true to a lesser extent in Southern Italy. Speed at your own risk, at it can be costly. The law allows for a 5% overage, which means you can safely go 5% over the speed limit without getting a ticket.

If you don’t want to drive yourself, but you want to go to places that are not serviced by the trains, opt for taking a bus. Bus service is available in most all cities and towns in Italy, but it may involve several transfers.