Getting Around Italy
Italy's high-speed rail (Frecciarossa and Italo) is the best way to move between cities — Rome to Florence or Venice both run under 3 hours, from roughly $30-70 if booked ahead. Skip a rental car for Rome, Florence, or Venice entirely: historic centers restrict cars via ZTL zones, and trains are faster anyway. A car earns its keep only in Tuscany, Puglia, or the Amalfi Coast.
Getting to Italy
Rome's Fiumicino (FCO) is the main long-haul gateway, with Milan Malpensa a strong secondary option for northern Italy. From the US East Coast, flights run 9-12 hours; from the UK or Europe, just 2-3 hours on frequent low-cost routes; from Australia, 20+ hours with at least one stop. Round-trip fares from a major hub start around $450. The Leonardo Express train runs direct from Fiumicino to Rome's Termini station in about 32 minutes for roughly $15; a taxi into central Rome costs a flat rate of about $55.
Getting around: the real options
Italy's rail network is genuinely one of Europe's best reasons to skip renting a car altogether, especially for a classic Rome-Florence-Venice trip.
- Trains — Trenitalia's Frecciarossa and the private operator Italo both run frequent high-speed service between major cities at up to 300 km/h; Rome-Florence takes about 1.5 hours, Rome-Venice about 3.5 hours. Book online a few weeks ahead for the cheapest fares (from $30), since prices climb closer to departure like airline tickets.
- Buses — FlixBus covers routes trains don't reach well and connects smaller towns cheaply, though slower; regional buses fill gaps in Tuscany and Puglia where train stations are sparse.
- Domestic flights — rarely worth it given the train speeds, except for genuinely long hops like Rome to Sicily or Sardinia, where a flight (from $40-80) beats an 8+ hour train-and-ferry combination.
- Car rental / driving — driving is on the right; skip it entirely for Rome, Florence, or Venice, where historic centers are ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato) zones that fine unauthorized cars automatically via camera, often weeks after the fact. A car earns its keep in Tuscany's countryside, the Amalfi Coast's cliffside roads, or Puglia, where public transport thins out.
Getting around inside cities
Rome's historic center has almost no metro coverage (the two lines were built around what archaeologists might dig up), so walking covers most sightseeing; the metro and buses handle longer hops. Florence is compact enough to walk end to end in 30 minutes. Venice has zero cars or scooters anywhere in the historic center — you walk or take the vaporetto (water bus), with a traghetto (a no-frills gondola crossing) as a cheap Grand Canal shortcut. Uber operates only in a limited, higher-end capacity in Rome and Milan (effectively Uber Black, pricier than a regular taxi); it does not offer standard UberX service anywhere in Italy. Free Now (formerly MyTaxi) is a more useful app in most cities, hailing licensed local taxis with upfront pricing.
| Route/option | Typical cost | Typical time |
|---|---|---|
| Rome Fiumicino to central Rome (train) | $15 (Leonardo Express) | 32 min |
| Rome to Florence (Frecciarossa/Italo) | $30-70 booked ahead | 1.5 hrs |
| Venice vaporetto, 24-hour pass | $22 | — |
Book Frecciarossa or Italo tickets online at least 2-3 weeks ahead for the cheapest fares — prices rise the closer you get to departure, exactly like airline pricing. Same-day tickets can cost double or more what an advance booking would have.
Common transport mistakes
The single most expensive mistake is driving a rental car into a Roman, Florentine, or Venetian ZTL zone without realizing it — the fine arrives by mail weeks later, often well over $100, and ignorance of the local rule isn't a valid excuse. The second common mistake is buying same-day high-speed train tickets and being surprised by the price; book ahead. And in Venice specifically, don't try to use Google Maps' driving directions — there are no roads in the historic center, and it will confidently route you into the canal.