Getting Here and Around
Most visitors to Italy arrive by airplane, and once in Italy travel by train, bus, or rental car. If you're taking part in a guided tour, you may travel by private tour bus, but for the most part Italy's public transportation system is well designed to help you get from pretty much anywhere you are to virtually anywhere else you want to be.
By Plane
There are more than 100 airports in Italy, with the biggest (and most likely to welcome international travelers) in Rome and Milan. You can find daily flights into Italy from dozens of connecting European hubs, as well as direct flights from major cities within the United States.
Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport
This is the airport closest to Rome, located about twenty miles from the city's historic center and connected to the city's main transportation hub by a shuttle train, the Leonardo Express, that runs every hour during peak travel times. Nearly 33 million people went through this aiport's terminals in 2007, many of them flying on Alitalia airlines, which has its sole hub here.
Fiumicino, as it's often called, has been operating since 1961. Thanks to upgrades over the years, it now has five terminals serving dozens of airlines. The newest, Terminal 5, which opened in 2008, welcomes international flights from the United States on American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and US Airways.
Terminal 5, which is where most U.S. visitors will fly into Rome's airport, is quite a distance from the older buildings within the complex. There is a free shuttle service, but expect to encounter significant transfer time if, say, you plan to connect to a regional flight after landing in Rome.
The airport's official website is
Milan-Malpensa Airport
Italy's second-busiest international airport is Milan-Malpensa in the north. Nearly 24 million passengers embarked and disembarked here in 2007, with two terminals (divided into three sections) servicing dozens of airlines. Most visitors from the United States will enter via Terminal 1B, which is the end point of routes operated by American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and US Airways.
Alert
As of 2007, Alitalia had ceased its major hub operations at the Milan-Malpensa Airport. Only one long-haul route to the United States is expected to continue in the near future, from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (international code JFK).
The airport's official website is
By Train and Bus
Italy's public transportation network is quite good, although trains are not always designed to accommodate the larger suitcases that international travelers tend to have. Within the airports in Rome and Italy, you will see signs (usually in English) directing you to train stations and bus stops that are within walking or free shuttle distance of the terminal. Maps are usually easily available, so you can plan your routes accordingly.
Alert
In most cases, you cannot book an online train ticket through the Trenitalia website less than a week before your travel date. If you get to Italy and decide to buy a train ticket at the last minute, you will have to go to a local train station, where the ticket sales agents may not speak English.
Within the cities, you will find local trains and buses. Between Italy's cities, you can often take high-speed trains that travel at close to 200 miles per hour. The high-speed trains are typically called TAV, which stands for Treno Alta Velocit à, a special-purpose entity created specifically to build and operate the nation's high-speed train network.
The company Trenitalia lets you book both local and high-speed train tickets in advance of your trip at the website
By Rental Car
Booking a rental car in Italy is just like booking a rental car in the United States. You make your reservation (often through a website like
Also as in the United States, your rental car rate and agreement will typically cover use of the car only. Insurance, gas, and any other charges will be billed as extras — and credit cards that have built-in insurance policies for U.S. car rentals may not apply in Italy. Be sure to check with your provider before you sign on the dotted line. In addition, be sure to specify that you need a car with an automatic transmission if you are not comfortable operating a vehicle with a manual transmission. Most rental cars in Europe have manual transmissions, and you may have to pay extra to get an automatic.
Essential
The cost of unleaded fuel in Italy (and the rest of Europe) has been substantially higher than the U.S. rate for many years. If a rental car seems inexpensive compared with a bus or train ticket, be sure to check the current price of gasoline and factor it into your total estimated travel expenses.
Most rental car agencies will provide you with free maps that list major highways. They are easy to follow, with routes marked as A-12, A-4, and the like. Road signs are of course in Italian, but with the letter-number system, the odds are you won't get lost pulling onto or off of a major highway. If you plan to do a lot of exploring on back roads, invest in a Michelin map for the region. You can purchase these before you leave at places such as
If you get onto a road that is part of Italy's Autostrade — paid highway system — then you will also have to factor toll charges into your driving expenses. This is similar to U.S. turnpike systems in which you take a ticket when you enter the roadway and pay when you pull off at an exit. Cash and major credit cards are accepted, but stay out of the Telepass lanes unless you have one of the automatic payment devices (which are like the U.S. equivalent of EZ-Pass cartridges).
Also be aware that some Autostrade fees can be quite high compared with U.S. tolls, especially if the euro is stronger than the dollar at the time of your journey. In some cases, you might have to pay as much as $20 U.S. for the privilege of using the roads. Be sure you have more than a few euro in your wallet when you drive up the Autostrade entrance ramp.
