Italy Planning a Trip

Italy Weather Tool - New on Italy Logue

I’m pleased to announce that the Italy Logue is now making it easier for you to find out what the weather’s going to be like in Italy during your upcoming trip - we’ve installed a new weather feature on the Italy weather page!

Now, in addition to reading my notes about what Italy is like in general at different times of year, you can check out what the weather in Italy is going to be like when you’re actually going to be there. One of the boxes will give you a seven-day forecast for …

Date: May 30th, 2008 | No Comments

Italy in August

The sad statistic about how little vacation time Americans get is regularly trotted out, so next time you hear it you can add to the misery by realizing that Italy in August is one big vacation for Italians. In most of the country, the weather in Italy is such that getting the heck out of the cities isn’t just a “wanna” experience, it’s a “gotta” - and the beaches and mountains are, for one solid month of each year, wall-to-wall people. It might be that it’s primarily Italians on that beach, but you may not care - it’s still going to be crowded. The cities, on the other hand, may be close to deserted during August.

Now, don’t worry if you’ve got a big trip planned to Rome or Venice in August - the touristy cities aren’t deserted. Shops and restaurants are open, and hotels are doing a brisk business. But if you look closely in any non-touristy area you’ll find that there are also plenty of stores and markets that are shuttered up tight for the entire month of August. In some parts of the country, although you might think August in Italy is still the high season, you may see a slight drop in things like hotel rates in August. I think the airlines will still charge you an arm and a leg for air tickets, however, so don’t expect the same kind of drop there. Sorry.

Date: May 22nd, 2008 | No Comments

Italy Q&A: Getting from Fiumicino to Florence

Here’s question I got via email, so here’s another post in my Italy Q&A series. Allan wrote:

I arrive into Rome at about 7pm on a Friday night and need to connect to Florence to meet up with my family.

I note trains are about $65 and leave every hour or so, which would be fine, but I was wondering what alternatives I have.

eg Is there a bus service that runs to Florence, perhaps departing from the airport? I arrive into Fiumicino.

If not, do I have long way to travel to a train or bus station that would take me to Florence?

Thanks for the question, Allan. The good news is that Rome’s Fiumicino Airport is so busy that it is pretty well-served by multiple transportation options. Here are the options I’ve found that would get you from your arrival at Fiumicino to Florence.

Train to Termini, Train to Florence - There’s an express train that connects Fiumicino Airport with Termini Station and the ride takes roughly 35 minutes. It’s called the “Leonardo Express,” and it runs every half-hour between roughly 06:00 and 23:30. As I write this, the ticket costs €9.50. You can find out more about the Leonardo Express (including specific timetables) from the Trenitalia website here. From Termini, you’d then take a train directly to Florence S.M.N. - and you can choose either the high-speed Eurostar or a slower train, depending on your schedule and budget. (And by the way, second class is the way to go to save money, especially on the Eurostar - the second class cars get there just as quickly as the first class cars!) Find out about train ticket prices and schedules here.

Date: May 8th, 2008 | 1 comment

Rome Transportation 101

Unlike some of the great cities in the world, where the tourist attractions are all concentrated in one or two specific and compact areas so that - if you feel like it - you can hoof it from one sight to the next without ever having to figure out the public transportation system, Rome is spread out. It’s so spread out, in fact, that if you don’t get used to using the bus and metro you’ll miss out on half the things there are to do and see in Rome.

Okay, yes - you could walk everywhere in Rome, too, resolutely avoiding learning which bus to take where, but you’d wear yourself out in no time and just might end up not having a very good time in The Eternal City. So, here’s a quick guide to Rome’s public transportation system.

Your Transportation Options in Rome
There are several ways to get your body around Rome to see the sights, not to mention getting to and from your hotel or hostel in Rome. They vary in terms of cost and speed, so you’ll have to figure out which one balances the two to your satisfaction.

Taxi - There are almost as many taxis in Rome as there are tourists, so you’ll have no trouble finding one if that’s your style (at the right, that’s not a parking lot for white cars - it’s a small army of taxis waiting outside St. Peter’s Square - and they moved through the lines pretty darn quickly). Rome’s traffic can be horrible, however, so taking a taxi isn’t necessarily the fastest option from Point A to Point B. It’s often the most hassle-free option when you just arrive in the city, either by train or plane, because you’re tired and disoriented and not interested in mastering the bus system just yet - and there are taxi queues at both Fiumicino Airport and Termini Station just waiting for you. But unless your hotel or hostel is way off the public transport beaten track or you’ve got an allergy to buses, taking taxis on a daily basis probably isn’t the smartest choice.

Shelley of At Home in Rome once published an excellent guide to help you not get ripped off by taxis in Rome, which, if you’re planning to take a cab (especially from an airport or the train station) I highly recommend you read.

Date: May 6th, 2008 | 1 comment

Tips for Flying to Italy: Open-Jaw Tickets & Flying into the Venice Airport

When most people plan trips to Italy, they only search for “airfare to Rome” or “airfare to Milan” and pick the cheapest options from those - sometimes without regard to what their actual itinerary might be. How many people fly in and out of Milan every year, but spend absolutely no time in the city? I mean, why bother flying into a city you’re not interested in visiting?

At any rate, my own personal preferences for flying to Italy include two things many travelers may not consider - flying into one city and out of another, and flying into Venice’s airport if at all possible. Let’s go over these one by one.

Date: April 29th, 2008 | No Comments