Traveling in Italy: Trains vs. Planes

By Tina Ferrari
March 18th, 2010

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by Tina Ferrari

While planning my recent visit to Lecce, I hemmed and hawed over how I would get there. There was, of course, the train, which would get me from Perugia to Rome to Lecce for at good 70-ish Euros one way. An all-day affair. There was also the bus, which would leave Perugia in the evening and arrive in Lecce in the morning. A little less than the cost of the train and I wouldn’t have to switch.

Then someone on Facebook suggested flying. I looked online and sure enough, there was a flight from Rome to Brindisi that cost half the price of a train ticket. The airline is Blu-Express and I believe you have to live in Italy to use them. I decided to try them out, even though I love trains.

I spent the night in Rome, where I danced tango with friends I haven’t seen since I lived in Buenos Aires, and in the morning I hopped the Leonardo Express from the Termini station to Fiumicino Airport. They only allow you to check in 15 kilos worth of luggage, and I alas had 17. I had to pay 7 Euros per extra kilo.

After one hour in the air, I was in Brindisi. I asked around and found my way to a city bus which brought me to the train station. For about 3 Euros I took a train to Lecce in about 40 minutes. It was an interesting experience and while I had to do a lot of suitcase lugging on and off planes, trains and buses, things were pretty well laid-out. Still, when I calculated things, it took just as long as the train in the end.

When it was time to leave Lecce, I decided to pay the extra money and take the train instead. Since I have a USB internet modem with a mobile phone company, I was able to surf the net for part of the 5-hour ride to Rome, chatting with friends while looking out the window at trulli along the Adriatic sea. The ride was so relaxing and peaceful (and so full of beautiful landscapes) that I decided it is still much better to take the train.

The nice thing about the small European airlines is that I can arrive in more distant cities such as Madrid with enough ease and for a small price. But for travel within Italy, I think the train is where it’s at.

How do you get around?

Tina Ferrari is a translator, writer and tango dancer based in Umbria, Italy. She writes at AffordableCallingCards.net as well as on her own blog, Tina Tangos. Comments are always welcome!

**Image courtesy of FreeFoto.com

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