cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/2652265

Me and some friends are leaving in a month's time, maybe two.

Give me suggestions down below. I'm asking on Discord, Twitter, etc.

  • FumpyAer [any, comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    5 months ago

    Think about and research transportation costs within Italy before you plan a sprawling trip with upwards of 5 cities.

    When I was there, train ticket prices within Italy were scaled with the distance traveled. I only visited 3 or 4 cities and I was blown away how much I spent on train tickets. It was an unbudgeted "surprise" expense.

    My advice would be that unless you're backpacking/hitchhiking (which gets harder the more people you have), either pick two or three or even fewer locations and really really explore them thoroughly, or consider picking up a Eurail pass, which will for a flat rate allow you to take pretty much any train for free after the initial cost. Or, if one of you is older than 25 + you have 3 or 4 people going, it may make sense to split the cost of a car rental among your friends.

    • Pluto [he/him, he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      5 months ago

      Think about and research transportation costs within Italy before you plan a sprawling trip with upwards of 5 cities.

      When I was there, train ticket prices within Italy were scaled with the distance traveled. I only visited 3 or 4 cities and I was blown away how much I spent on train tickets. It was an unbudgeted "surprise" expense.


      Alright, I'll try to aim for 6 or 7 since it's meant to be a big trip for all of us.

      • FumpyAer [any, comrade/them]
        ·
        edit-2
        5 months ago

        Just do yourself a favor and price it out beforehand. A single-country eurail flex-pass will almost certainly be cheaper than individual tickets if you want to use trains extensively:
        https://www.eurail.com/en/eurail-passes/one-country-pass/italy

        Basically, the way these passes work is that you have a limited number of "travel days" where you can do all the train trips you want. And you have to use those up within a month. If you are there for several months, you can choose the number of days per month you want to use.

        For me, it was easy enough to board with the pass without booking in advance, but I wasn't traveling in peak season and I only had one or two travelers. I think you'll want to book reservations in advance for peak travel season, even with the eurail pass.

        Eurail is for non-eu residents. Interrail is what the service is called for EU residents, and I believe that is somewhat cheaper.

        The more people you have, the more a car rental/multiple short car rentals starts to make sense. However, keep fuel prices in mind; if you're used to US fuel prices, it's not gonna be half that cheap.

        And for long-distance travel, train is obviously superior from an experience standpoint.