Driving in Italy
Unlike in India, Italians drive on the right side of the road (as opposed to the left.) Driving in Italy (especially in southern cities) is not for the faint-hearted, however, should you wish to drive, cars can be easily rented at the airports. An international drivers license is accepted in the country. It is often a good idea to drive as bus services can be few and far between in lesser known towns, and neither buses nor trains will take you to the the remote attractions. If you drive, you are free to explore countryside areas, to make a detour to an interesting garden or castle, to pause for a picnic on a scenic hillside or make a pit stop at a local village restaurant. If you are renting a villa or hoping to see more of an area like Tuscany, a car is pretty well essential.
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Trains in Italy
Trains are an efficient and cheap way to get about Italy. The Italian rail system has different train types: TBiz, EurostarItalia, Eurostar Italia AV (for Alta velocita or high speed with the ESAV logo), Eurostar City Italia, IntercityPlus, Intercity, Espresso, Interregionale and Regionale, Eurostar Italia and TBiz being the classiest. Generally speaking, for a given distance each tier costs from 40% to 100% more than the one below it.
The rail service, Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), operates several different types of train. You pay per mile, and each type of train has a different price. Return tickets are the same price as two singles. It's worth comparing a few options as slower trains can be much cheaper. Sometimes for a journey that is 20 minutes longer you can halve your fare - but do be sure to have the right ticket for the train you get on. The fastest, most comfortable service is the costly Eurostar. The most convenient way to buy tickets is from the multi-lingual machines you'll find in stations.
On the train schedules displayed at each station, every train is listed in different colours (i.e. blue, red, green). The arrival times are listed in parentheses next to the names of each destination. One thing to watch out for is that certain trains only operate seasonally, or for certain time periods (for example, during holidays).
The cheapest way to travel in a region is to buy a zone ticket card. A chart displayed near the validating machine tells you how many zones you must pay between stations. To buy a zone card for the next region you would have to get off the train at the last station and because the stops are so short you would have to board the next train (usually in about 1 hour).
Remember that you must validate the ticket before boarding, by stamping it in one of the yellow boxes (marked Convalida). Travelling with an unstamped ticket is technically the same as travelling without ticket. It is quite important not to forget to validate your ticket as the conductors are generally not tolerant in this particular matter.
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Urban transport
Most Italian towns have a good network of local transport services, which can include buses, metros, trains, trams, funiculars and lifts. Normally you buy a ticket in advance, at a ticket machine or at local news kiosks and tabacchi, which you validate when boarding a vehicle. Systems vary from town to town, but generally you can buy tickets valid across the whole range of local transport types. A single ticket is usually valid for a certain period of time, while day tickets can be good options for tourists.
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