Tips For Traveling Around Italy From Florence During Study Abroad
Traveling Around Italy from Florence During Study Abroad
If you’re heading abroad for a semester or academic year and are about to call Florence, Italy your new home, you should consider yourself VERY lucky! To be able to experience Italian culture and the wonderful cuisine, lifestyle, and experiences it offers is something that many people long to do their entire lives.
Italy is a country that offers vastly different experiences based on the region of the country that you’re in. With Florence being the capital of the region of Tuscany, you will be able to explore vineyards, mountains and immerse yourself in Renaissance art.
Travel south to the Lazio region and you’ll find a whole different experience. With Rome as this region’s capital, you’ll take a trip further backward in time and revel in the ancient city while you explore its ruins. The Amalfi Coast, with all of its breathtaking views and sun-soaked beaches, is located in the next region below, called Campania. North of Florence you’ll find Milan as the capital of the Lombardia region and Venice the capital of Veneto.
There are more than 15 regions across the country of Italy, each with something special to offer. Great news for you as a study abroad student, they’re all easily accessible through Italy’s multiple methods of domestic transportation.
Trains will be your best bet for traveling locally, especially to towns within Tuscany. Local trains have cheap fares and can be picked up at any of Florence’s three train stations, though Santa Maria Novella is by far the most popular of the three. At the Santa Maria Novella station, you can also grab Italy’s high-speed train options, the Italo or the Frecciarossa.
What’s the difference between these two high-speed options? The Italo is a company that only operates fast trains, while the Frecciarossa is the high-speed option that’s a part of TrenItalia, Italy’s national train service. The two travel at the same speeds, so when booking train tickets make sure to compare the two on the price before you book! Both options will get you to Rome in just over an hour and a half, as compared to just under four hours on the national train.
You also have the option of flying out of either the Florence (FLR) or Pisa (PSA) airports, but keep in mind that while you think you’re saving a lot of time by flying, you also have to get to the airport early, wait in security lines, and pay attention to baggage limits and brace yourself for any possible delays that may occur.
When taking the train, you simply arrive at the station and hop on! Airline travel may be worth it if you were traveling from northern Italy to southern Italy, for example, Venice to Sicily. I would recommend taking advantage of the central location that Florence offers and using the train system when possible for your Italian adventures!
While you study abroad in Florence, you could spend an entire semester or year traveling all around Italy and still not see or experience everything it has to offer; it is a country that is so full of life and history! With that being said, pick out a couple of places to travel to – popular destinations for study abroad students include Rome, Amalfi Coast, Cinque Terre, and Venice – and plan your trips using the Italian train system.