Let’s imagine the first staging post of your travel Italy is accomplished and you have arrived to the country. The question that immediately rises is how to get around during your moving around Italy.
The answer to it is easy: choose to your liking. The only advice is that you prepare a little homework: booking a vehicle in advance is safer and more cost-effective, as well as finding maps of Italy.
Make sure you know the road rules and have the necessary documents prepared (you will need an insurance and a green card, etc.). In Italy, it’s becoming a widespread practice to close city centers from traffic or restrict it to resident’s use. Petrol prices are also quite high.
Among other rules please take into account that speed limits in residential-areas range from 31mph/50kmh to 80mph/130kmh on motorways. Remember to have the dipped headlights on all the time, unless you are in a built-up area, and don’t use your cell without a speaker device. And – drive on the right.
Almost all the autostrade is to be paid for, and here you can use your credit card. The Italian Auto Club offers round-the clock roadside assistance. Dial 116 on any phone to connect with an English-speaking operator. In case of a medical emergency call 113.
On the other hand, travelling around Italy by train is not the best way to get to know the country. Though the coverage is better than, say, in the US and UK you still will have difficulties getting to smaller localities. However, they are rather cheap, quick, clean and you won’t have problems with traffic jams. Moreover, you can also take a city or regional-rout bus to move to your destination point, which is pretty cheap.
In case you need to get to a place really fast, take an internal flight, though be ready that the rates are not for those with week nerves.
Getting To Italy
A developed western European country as it is, Italy has an extensive transport network. As the progress came, flying carpets and trusty steeds gave way to far more convenient and faster planes and land transport. Depending on your starting and destination point and other criteria you may choose from the variety of options concerning getting to Italy routes.
Numerous Internet sites offer services for online ticket reservation and having checked with the map you’ll most probably not only save your money, but also find a quicker and more comfortable way to get wherever you like.
We’d also recommend you to be more flexible about the arrival time. If shifting you trip several days or weeks back or forward is not critiacal, you could save a good lot of money and time and releive yourself of the necessity to queue for hours before getting a chance to enter a place of interest.
Just as with the hotels, prices drop by end of tourist season which in addition means that school kids will be back to studies not crowding museums and entertainment centers.
So here are the four most common ways to travel to Italy:
- Traveling by planes, which has become much cheaper nowadays. The main hubs in Rome (like Leonardo da Vinci airport), Milan, Pisa, Naples, Turin, Bologna and Venice can be substituted by smaller or ‘alternative’ airports. Internal flights connect to regional airports.
- As Italy has a lot of coastline, using water transport while traveling is also effective: ports and historical routs in Mediterranean and beyond are large in number. It can be either a passenger ferry (especially when driving in your own car), a hydrofoil or a cruise ship, decide for yourself.
- Traveling to Italy by train is another suggestion. Visitors from the United States can make European stops on their way, adding to the impressions of the journey. It is commonly acknowledged that Italian railways are pleasant, clean and efficient. You can also put your car on the Eurotunnel train.
- Of course traveling by car is always a better way to create your own rout and enjoy a lot of scenery not being restricted by any schedules. Drive through the reopened Mont Blanc tunnel or cut east to northern Italy form the South of France, which is less expensive.
Buses with direct services to all the major cities will also help make your travel Italy more comfortable.
