Italy
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Italy is a country in the Mediterranean Europe. Its capital is Rome. If you need some help feel free to contact one of the Italian Ambassadors

Contents

Regions and Cities

Map of Italy

Italy is made of 20 regions. Each region has his own culture, history and tradition. Below is a list of Italian regions from North to South, and their main cities and touristy spots; click on a region or location to see the local wiki page with useful information and CS activities.

Useful facts about Italy

Italian Adriatic surfing network is born to help couchsufers coming to visit Adriatic coast from Cesena to Bari. The I.A.S.N., is a network composed by cs members who live on the Adriatic cost who are ready to offer hospitality and any help to those travelers who are interested to discover the eastern part of Italy.

Moving around

By train

If you are asking yourself which is the best way to travel in Italy, then travelling by train through Italy is the easiest and most convenient way to reach your destinations, thanks to the widespread ~16.000 km network. Here you can find some information about using the railways.

Good to know

Before using the train, read these tips about the tickets:

  • Ticket purchase (and fines if you don't buy it): Usually in Italy you are always expected to buy your tickets before you get on board. There are no automatic machines on trains like in Germany. If you forget it and you tell the inspector as soon as you see him he would usually sell you the tickets on board but he will charge some extra 8 Euro - if you don't tell him/her immediately you might as well get fined, being treated as found without proper tickets or Travel/Discount Cards, and fine is set at the minimum of 50 euros, or more, depending on specific Laws or Regional rules, if you pay immediately, 100 euros if you pay up to 15 days after the fine, 200 euros if you pay after the 15th day until the 60th. Be also careful to take the right train with the right ticket: if you travel on a different category of train or class you must pay 8 euros + price difference for the route. Of course, you can avoid this going to the station ticket desks before getting on the train.
  • The ticket can be bought or booked in advance:
  • Simply asking for "a train to XYZ" without specifying which train you intend to take, usually means that the ticket office wo/man will give you the ticket with the cheapest solution, especially if it's a short distance trip (then, usually a ticket for regional trains). For medium and long distance trips s/he will ask which solution you prefer. So, before getting on a train, always check that the ticket you have allows you to get that train!
  • Ticket validation: You MUST not forget either to make sure you punch/validate your tickets before getting on board - there are dedicated machines (orange colored for the elder ones otherwise bright yellow) that are usually located at the beginning of every platform - otherwise you might once again get fined fo irregular ticket. Controls are held practically always on the most expensive categories of trains. If the validating machines are not working, as soon as you get on the train, tell it to the controller and s/he will validate it for you with no charge. You need to validate tickets for categories of train (see below) without compulsory reservation, while compulsory reservation train tickets have already the booking stamped on it.

Categories of trains

There are different types of trains (category is shown on the timetables) and currently they are divided into (decreasing in price, abbreviation in parenthesis):

Night trains are divided into:

The cheaper a train is, slower it will be, usually, especially on long distance trips. On short distance trips it is usually worth taking regional trains as the difference in price will be high but the time taken mostly similar.

  • An example (Standard fare): Padova-Venezia Santa Lucia, by regional train 30 or 40 minutes and 2,90€, by Intercity 20, 30 or 40 minutes and 8€, by Eurostar Italia, 20 or 30 minutes and 11€.

Seat reservation

You do not need a reservation only on Regional trains. On all the other categories mentioned above the reservation is compulsory. Anyway, asking for a ticket for those categories of trains will have the booking included. For cheap Regionale (R) or Interregionale (IR), the reservation is not needed and not allowed.

Outdated infos from June 14th, 2009: For Intercity (IC), there is no need of reservation, even if sometimes it's better to do it (additional fee: 3€) because trains are packed with people especially during Summer and on holidays and on main routes (like Milano-Firenze-Roma-Napoli). In fact you might have to stay the entire trip standing, and very close to other people, with a high temperature. It is not the rule but it can happen. Be prepared, bring a lot of water and try to speak with people on the train, maybe to learn some Italian, probably some bad sentence about the train company... ;)

Timetables & online ticketing

The Italian railways (aka Trenitalia) website where to find timetables, fares and buy tickets online is Ferrovie dello Stato.it or Trenitalia.com. There is a useful purchase guide to help you using the website for a simple timetable search, for a purchase of national, international tickets or travel passes. If you want to check the price of a specific train, the Standard/Base fare for 1st and 2nd class will appear next to the train results already in the first screen. You can then select a suitable fare (including reduced/special fares, see below for an explanation of the fares) after having chosen a suitable train. In the same screen you will be able to see the availability of seats for the selected fare shown by a green/red button.

If you are looking for international connections from/to Italy to/from many cities in Europe and for special promotions, the ticket can be bought on Trenitalia website or at train stations, but for the most complete timetables for all Europe, look at Bahn.de or the Trenitalia mirror site like Bahn.de.

A new utility is Viaggiatreno where you can see the actual situation of railway circulation on the Italian network, see live departures and arrivals in a specific station, see live situation of a specific train, and much more.

From May 2007 it's possible to buy&print the tickets online for all kind of trains (regional included) and directly hop on the train, without having to pass through the ticket office or the automatic machines to print the ticket (available only for a single train not including connections). The electronic ticket for regional trains is valid only on the selected train and up to 4 hours later (or on the next possible train). For more information look at [1]. The electronic ticket for trains with compulsory reservation it's valid only for that train (Ticketless feature), but contrary to the regional electronic ticket can be changed (if the fare allows it). Regarding Intercity and Espresso trains (without compulsory reservation), at the moment it's not possible to buy the ticketless without making a reservation (3€ additional fee). For more information about Ticketless look here

There is also the possibility of pre-buying tickets online (or on TIM mobile phones) through PostoClick, then paying them at the station ticket desks and in-station self service tellert or also at other enabled points (UNICREDIT ATMs, Sisal offices, travel agencies) with a surcharge of 1,50€. The payments needs to be done in 24 hours from the booking and until 24 hours before the train departure.

June 2008: For technical reasons, payments with American Express for online purchases are temporarily limited to Italian cards only.

Fares

There are several kind of fares in each category of train, while every category has its price range, as described above. A full list of the fares and the possible reductions can be found here. Summing up, a list of the most important ones:

  • Base, available on all categories of trains, without restrictions, you can make two booking changes for free until the train departs, and once within three hours afterwards, 50% off if the passenger is a child under 12 years old.
  • Tariffa Amica, ES*city, IC Plus, IC, ICN, Exp, CC, WL trains where you can get 20% discount, with limited seats availability and purchasing in advance (at least one day before), minimum fare 10€. The offer is not valid on: AV, AV Fast, ES*, ES* Fast, Excelsior and Excelsior E4 and regional trains. If you are going to do only some travels by train through Italy consider this option opposed to buying a rail pass.
  • Familia, on AV, AV Fast, ES*, ES*city, IC Plus, IC, ICN, Exp, CC, WL trains (thus excluding regional), allowed for family groups made up of 3-5 persons of which there is at least 1 adult and 1 child of under 12 years old, the adults get 20% discount while for children 50%, limited seast availability, minimum fare 10€.
  • Flexi, available on the "top" categories, it costs 20% more than the Standard, but you can change train when you want, even at the last minute, and getting on any other train is free.

Three new offers are available for Alta Velocità (High Speed) trains until September 30th, 2009.

  • Super -60 and Special -30 offer respectively 60% and 30% off discounts in 2nd class if you book at least 30 / 15 days before the departure. Valid on AV, AV Fast from Milan to Rome and to Naples and return, on ES* Fast from Rome to Venice Mestre/S.Lucia, Padova, Verona, Genoa , Rimini, Bari, Brindisi, Lecce, Lamezia T., Reggio C., Villa S. Giovanni and return. Special fare has somewhat "lighter" conditions concerning changes and refunds.
  • Premium -15 offers 15% off discount in 1st and 2nd class if you book at least 7 days before the departure. Valid on all AV, AV Fast, ES* and ES* Fast trains.
  • Buying tickets online allows an automatic 5% discount on the "top" categories of trains (AV, AV Fast, ES*, ES* Fast, ES*city), though not available for Alta Velocità special offers.
  • International trains to/from Italy follow a separate fare scheme, with very convenient offers which are available here (check especially the Smart Price or the separate pages for the connected countries).
  • There are some discount cards for youngsters and seniors, but they have a fee (40€ and 30€) and the discount is limited to 10% and 15%, check here.
  • There is a fidelity card (Cartaviaggio) to collect points and obtain tickets. Check here
  • Carrying your bike is allowed on Suburban and Regional trains marked with the bike sign buying a standard fare ticket for the route or a supplement of 3.50 € with validity of 24 hours (that can be used for other trips during the 24hrs). On Intercity , Eurocity and EuroNight Trains (marked with the bike sign), the supplement is 5€. On international routes, the supplement is 10€ for the "bicycle on board". Carrying the bike in a bag made for that purpose is indeed free of charge.

Rail Passes

In some cases, buying a rail pass is much more convenient than buying separate single tickets for each trip. You should make a comparison between the total price of all the single tickets (using Trenitalia website as explained above) and the price of the pass of your interest. There are several kind of passes:

  • for non-InterRail area residents (see the definition below):
  • for InteRail area residents (see the definition below):
  • for non-Italian citizens Trenitalia offers Trenitalia Pass from 3 to 10 consecutive days of travel or for non-consecutive days over two months. This pass can be bought abroad in authorized agencies or at Trenitalia ticket offices.

Both EuRail and InterRail passes can be bought online on the respective websites and for InterRail also in railway ticket offices of your country of residence.

ATTENTION: Beware of websites offering super-cheap Interrail or Eurail passes as they might turn out to be scam/phishing sites!!! Buy your passes through the two official websites or through your railways' tickets offices/travel agencies/authorized and well known sellers!!!

Note: InterRail area residents means that you can buy an InterRail pass if your country of residence for at least 6 months has been:

  • one of the Inter Rail community members: Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom;
  • one of the other European countries: Aland Islands, Albania, Andorra, Belarus, Cyprus, Estonia, Faeroer Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Iceland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Russia, San Marino, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Ukraine, Vatican.

By bus

Some long distance buses reach towns but be careful, except for big towns (Bologna, Milano...), they often stop at the exit of the motorway and go back onto the motorway, so it can be hard to reach the city center. Among the companies:

It was my experience when going to Ancona to take a boat. The bus stop was at 18 km from the port. Italians said me that buses where not so good in Italia because of that. Trains are better. --Iubito

Instead short distance buses are often useful to reach small towns from bigger cities. See SITA for Veneto and Trentino Trasporti for Trentino Alto Adige.

Mobile Phones

To keep in touch with your hosts, a good idea is to have a GSM phone and, better than using expensive roaming services, an Italian SIM card. This way you can receive phone calls for free, call Italian phones at cheap rates and send text messages for € 0,15 or less. A new prepaid SIM card with a new phone number costs usually 5 or 10 Euro and includes the same amount of money (sometimes half) as credit to make calls. To purchase a SIM card you need to give your data, passport/ID and an Italian address. It can be bought in phone shops of the mobile operators, in the big electronic/computer malls like Mediaworld, Trony, Comet and others, in big supermarkets or shopping malls.

More credit can be added buying a "ricarica" (=recharge), available also in small amounts usually starting from 5€. You can buy a ricarica in phone shops, supermarkets, tobacconist's, newspaper's, ATMs and of course on the Internet.

Rates vary with the operators, but they are very similar if you buy TIM or VODAFONE. WIND has a worse signal coverage out of big cities but better tariffs, while 3 is only for UMTS phones. From 2008 there are also many MVNO (virtual mobile operators) that added some interesting tariffs and services. Here we won't suggest you any particular operator because offers&plans are changing fastly and from one month to the other you can have a totally different range of offers!

Before you buy a new SIM card, be sure your phone is not SIM-locked otherwise you can't use it! Or you can consider to buy a cheap phone here in Italy, there are some for even 10/20 Euro!

Mobile operators:

Virtual mobile operators:


Work

Culture

Music

Theatre


External Links

[2] An online free guide to Italy which you can add and edit in It is also available as a pdf file to registered users. www.writingtravellers.com

About.com - The top 10 italian cities to visit

Geobeats - Video guides about Italy's top destinations

article history edit