When most people travel, transportation is a primary concern. How do you get from the airport to your hotel? How do you see all the sights that the destination has to offer? What if you are traveling in a large group? What about public transportation? If you are traveling to or through Italy, there are several options for transportation.
Many international flights arrive in Rome, so in planning your transportation needs you need to start from there. When you arrive at the airport, you can rent a car from one of the several car rental companies. In addition to local companies, there are the international names such as Hertz and Enterprise, so you should be able to reserve your vehicle online in advance and have it waiting for you at the airport.
There are 2 airports in Rome - Fiumicino and Ciampino airport. Buses and shuttles depart from the airport arrival area about every hour and can take you to the Termini Station which is the central train station. From there you should be able to connect to all other parts of Italy. Public transportation, although it requires some advance planning, is always the cheapest option for your Italy vacation. You may also want to learn some Italian words in case you get lost and need directions or need some help.
If your hotel is near the airport or is in Rome, you may also consider taking a cab. They are known as “taxis,” and most drivers speak English and can even serve as your tour guide if you choose. You may take a taxi out of Rome if your Italian vacation is starting outside the city. If your budget allows, there are limo services at the airports that can serve your transportation needs when you arrive. If you are traveling in a large group, you probably want to rent a van (at least to get to your hotel from the airport). After that, you can plan to join a guided tour as a group, but its best to reserve tickets or space in advance if you want your group to stay together.
To see all the sights that Italy has to offer, you will do best by signing up for a guided tour. With very knowledgeable and friendly tour guides, your Italian vacation can be greatly enhanced by choosing this option. There are walking tours, full day tours, night tours, budget tours and luxury tours. If you are in Italy for a very specific sight, you would probably want to do a walking tour. The tour guides on those tours give a more detailed presentation as you walk through the sight and some of them know little-known facts that are hard to find or read anywhere else. Most tour guides speak english, but you want to be sure before signing up.
No matter where you go in Italy, transportation is key to getting you to and from your destination. Choosing the right one for your Italian vacation should a top priority when planning your trip.
To read more articles on Italy, select the “Italy” category on the right hand margin of myroadtotravelblog.com and remember, for all your travel needs visit myroadtotravel.com.
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www.squidoo.com Travel to Italy Is your mind on pasta, ice cream, cheese, wine and ham, architecture, adventure, and Leonardo da Vinci? If so, you need our travel guide for Italy, to help you plan your next vacation. The names of the Italian cities that you will want to visit are Rome, Venice, Milan, Florence, and Siena. Include Sardinia, Portofino, and the Amalfi Coast. The Tigullio Gulf should not be excluded. With a history of over 2000 years, Rome could keep you that busy that you wont …
Help answer the question about italy vacation destinations
What are the must-see destinations in Italy?Aside from the obvious (Rome/Florence/Venice), I'd like some recommendations for "hidden gem" places to visit. I am taking a 3-4 week vacation to Italy, and am eager to explore the country, from North to South. I'm a historical/cultural enthusiast, but enjoy leisure as well. If this were my last trip to Italy, what would you recommend I see there.
To add, I have been before, and have seen Rome, Florence, Venice, Verona, Pisa, Siena & Tivoli.
Please indicate whether you have been to the spot you recommend.
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myroadtotravel was created in late 2007 as way for my wife and I to do what we love most…Travel. We love to share our experiences with others and have recently created our first blog myroadtotravelblog.com to help us do just that. Through this blog, we offer travel tips, our own personal experiences/adventures and photos from our vacations. Please stop by and give us your feedback and remember, for all your travel booking needs please visit us at myroadtotravel.com
Try Grand Circle Tours. We went on a 18 day tour for 2300.00 including airfare. Sorrento, Rome, Pompeii, and Monticiana. Tour guides were absolutely the greatest.
Try Untours (www.untours.com)! They're perfect for independent travelers who just want the basics. They set you up with airfare, then give you a rail pass or car rental, and apartment. You really get to know an area and live like an "untourist."
I'm looking at the brochure now and they have the following regions in Italy listed:Sicily, Tuscany South, Tuscany North, Umbria, Rome and Venice. You can use them to see the area you're in, and as a base to go touring "off the beaten path."
Also says here that there's something called La Notte Bianca in Rome in September when museums, shops and restaurants stay open all night! And something called Regata Storica in Venice with sensational processions along the waterways.
I'm getting jealous- think I'll go too! Happy travels!
And whatever you do, don't miss the gelato- to die for!!!!!!!!!!
If you have never sailed out of Rome, first let me say that taking any kind of transportation to and from the port through the cruise line is a waste of money. My husband and I have sailed out of Rome many times, and we found that taking the train, from Roma Termini (the main train station in Rome) will cost you about 10 Euros each way. Sure beats the $100 bucks each, the cruise line is charging. It will take you about an hour by train.
Livorno- this is a very industrious port, therefore unless your adventureous, I would book something through the cruise line. But if you are up for it, instead of paying the outrageous excursion fees, you can simply take a bus into town to the train station and take the train to either Florence or Pisa. Its super easy, and a lot of people speak english to guide you. My husband and I got on the train in the morning to Pisa, then returned in the afternoon and took one of the cruise lines excursions into Tuscany for wine tasting.
Venice- Hopefully you have two days to spend, cause there is lots to see and do. Right off the ship, you can catch the water taxi for a couple euros right into Piazza San Marco (St. Marks square). Make sure you see the basillica at St. Marks, the Rialto bridge, and a glass blowing demonstration. The best way to see the glass blowing demonstration is unfortunately through the cruise line. Oh, yea, and the gellato, the best in the world.
Naples- Definitely take the excursion to Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii. The hike up the mountain is definitely an experience in its own, but the view from the top and into the crater is one that cannot be explained with words.
Croatia- Because the ship will dock so far from Dubrovnik, there is not much choice for transportation. I would definitely do some sort of Dubrovnik sightseeing tour. The city and history are very interesting, and you will probably learn many things you wouldn't have if you hadn't done a tour.
Have a great trip, this will definitely be one to remember.
Hi im from spain. I've been to italy and my parents went to athens 4 years ago. Greece is one of the cheapest countries in europe so you dont need so much money. Italy is more expensive but im sure u'll be able to afford it. I wanna give u a piece of advice, if u r going to a bar do not stay sitting outside the bar beacuse it means a more expensive service. The most important places in Italy (at least where i was) were free. I mean i could enter to milan cathedral, venice and florence cathedrales and churches without paying.
It depends on what u r gonna do. I spent 5 euros a day in food. 15 x 5 = 75 euros in food. 50 euros in presents (i mean when i went to italy), and 20 euros in florence museum. Now it depends on u, u can buy cheaper presents or eat in the hotel. My parents almost ruined us because they were looking forward to visiting athens and watching all its monuments and going on boats through greek islands. It's a very beautiful experience.
Gondols in Venice are expensive u pay the alone. I went with 4 friends and we payed 15 euros par person. If i were u i'd bring 400 euros but if u really want to enjoy these countries, bring even more. Good luck and bon voyage!!
If you go Rome-Florence-Venice-Austria-Germany and skipped Switzerland the best option would be by a combination of train, bus and plane. Mostly train, but not using the eurail pass.
Italy, Austria and Germany have very good offers for travelling cheap by train.
Train prices in Italy are so cheap it is a bad idea to buy a Eurail pass. The pass is more expensive than the tickets the Italian people buy.
In Germany you have got the Happy-Weekend ticket, the Laender-Ticket (one of them is the Bayern-Ticket) and the buy-it-in-advance-online special.
Austria also has an buy-it-in-advance-online special and a ticket called "Einfach-mal-raus" that is similar to Germany's Laender- and Happy-Weekend-Tickets.
http://www.bahn.de/p/view/international/englisch/travelservice/price_tourist.shtml
http://www.bahn.co.uk/db_uk/view/products/weekend.shtml
http://www.bahn.co.uk/db_uk/view/products/sparprice.shtml
http://www.bahn.co.uk/db_uk/view/products/dauer-spezial.shtml
pdf-file for Bayern-Ticket: http://www.bahn.de/regional/view/mdb/pv/dbregio/ausfluege/bayern/bayern_ticket/bayern_ticket_2007/MDB40467-tarifflyer_4_sprachig_okt_07.pdf
For Einfach-Raus-Ticket:
http://fahrplan.oebb.at/bin/query.exe/dn?REQ0JourneyProduct_list=1:1&
Travel with Einfach-Raus, Happy-Weekend and Bayern-Ticket can be very slow, but the price is very good!
For long-distance travel it is usually best to use budget flights. For example, it is possible to book a flight from Venice to Prague for 9 EUR with SkyEurope Airlines – I saw that price for a flight on March 27th. Last year in May I paid 25 EUR to fly from Venice to Leipzig. See http://www.skyscanner.net
Note that if you got only 2 weeks it is best to focus on just one country. Italy would be good. You would need around 1400 EUR for 2 weeks of travelling in Europe for the 2 of you, staying at hostels and eating food from the supermarkets.
Feel free to email me if you got more questions.
Rome in September is spectacular. The weather is still warm and is not so crowded. Transportation is rather efficient, there are buses and trains that connect the town to the airports and stations. Have a nice holiday!
There are several airline websites you can use for cheaper airfare such as http://www.smartertravel.com, just remember not to wait too long to get tickets as the price does go up the later you wait..
For accomodations, try using hostels instead of hotels… they can be more run down than a regular hotel but it is alot cheaper than staying at a name hotel…
As to train tickets try http://www.RailEurope.com... they have packages ranging from a ceartin number of countries within 15 days to one country for a week… just depends on what u need Have fun
Then don't go to Swizerland. It is the most expensive by far. Belgium, Germany, Italy and Netherlands are all on the Euro so only difference would be localized price differences.
If I were you and on a budget I'd go to Eastern Europe. Prices are generally lower there. I would definately check out Budapest, Hungary and maybe Prauge then head to Greece. Budepest is great with beautiful women, lots of history and cheaper than the other countries in the EU.
I agree with Redhead, the only way to travel around Europe is on your own. Reason for this is that Europe is expensive, and all that service that you ask for is going to add a hefty premium to the tour price. (Think 40 % and more.) A tour for 2 people going for 7 days that might cost you 3500 USD if you do it on your own will cost you at least 5000 USD if you do it with a tour company.
I'm a frequent traveller and I have been to plenty of exotic places and doing a 1-week-trip from the US to Europe on your own is a piece of cake.
There is plenty of information available online, even very small hotels have English-language websites and online-booking options.
Plus you are not going to see much in a week. A week is just enough time to see Paris or London. So you a book a flight to say, Paris, reserve a hotel online (10 % down payment via credit card) and then get a public transport pass to the Paris Metro system that is valid for a week. How hard is that? Not difficult at all, I can assure you.
Going for a week to Paris or London is no more of a problem than organising a trip to LA, SF or New York for the average US-American.
All you need is a decent guidebook to help you plan it all and to make head or tail out of the sights.
Guidebook series that I know to be good are Rick Steves', Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, Let's Go. Go to your local book store and check them out.
Aside from being a guidebook writer, Rick Steves' also has his own travel agency organising tours in Europe. These tours are known as being a bit on the budget side, following the company's philosophy that people who just want to see Paris do not necessarily want to shell out for 4-star luxury hotel accomodation, but are just as happy in small 2-star hotels and pensions.
The website is http://www.ricksteves.com . The site is also a goldmine of information for people who want to travel independently, so take a very good look at every page.
As for cost of travelling independently, the minimum budget should be 50 EUR per day and person plus flight tickets to Europe. This is a very frugal budget, if you are used to your small comforts you should bring about 100 EUR per day and person. The key to travelling cheap are two things: Sleeping cheap, maybe on a camping site, in a hostel, a holiday appartment or in a small family pension and preparing your own food. Instead of eating out you buy supplies in the supermarket and cook or make sandwiches. Eating out for dinner or lunch will set you back around 20 EUR per person, if you cook or make sandwiches you easily can get by on 5 EUR for a meal – and that serves two people.
Another company that I know of are Viking River Cruises. They organise River Cruises in Europe and Asia. IMO they are a bit pricey for what they offer, but from your description they might suit you best.
http://www.vikingrivers.com/
There are also a couple of companies aiming for the young crowd (college student age), Busabout, EF and Contiki are among them. Can't hurt you to look at them too, I guess.