How to plan a trip to Italy?

When we plan a trip we always look first for the most spectacular sights and activities that will make our holiday unique. However, if you’re planning a trip to Italy, you’re sure to be interested in the best way to get around the country, the best time to go, the most typical dishes to try and many other practical tips that will make your trip unforgettable. We also tell you how to plan your trip with the Passporter App, where you can save your travel itineraries, documentation, manage your bookings and share your own experience.

At Passporter we know that the small details make the difference. That’s why we have prepared this post where we answer all those questions you may have before or during your trip. Below we review practical aspects such as the necessary documentation, what to pack in your suitcase and many other tips that are sure to help you.

1. How to get to and around Italy?

One of the peculiarities of Italy is that there are numerous tourist destinations throughout the country. This means that it’s relatively easy to get to and around the country. Here are your options for getting to Italy:

• Airplane: Italy has many airports that receive both local and international flights. The 5 main airports are Rome (Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport), Milan (Malpensa International Airport), Venice (Venice Marco Polo Airport), Bologna (Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport) and Naples (Naples International Airport). From Europe you can find many low cost flights for less than €50. From Spain one of the cheapest destinations is Milan.
• Bus: It sounds crazy, but it is possible to travel from many European countries to Italy by bus. From Spain the journey can take up to 3 days and cost more than €200. So, it’s not a recommended option.
• Train: Italy’s larger cities are well connected by train to nearby European capitals such as Paris. Journeys are longer and more expensive than by plane.

If you’re staying in the same city during your holiday, or moving around nearby towns and cities, you can get around by public transport. Bus and train lines connect the main points of interest. If you’re travelling to the Alps or to any of the islands, such as Sardinia or Sicily, you’ll have no choice but to hire a car. In this case we recommend driving very carefully, as traffic in Italy is somewhat more chaotic than in the rest of Europe. Be aware that car hire in Italy is considerably more expensive than in the rest of Europe.

One of the advantages of Passporter is that it allows you to compare and buy airline tickets through Skyscanner from the app itself. There you can also save them to have all your travel documents collected in the same place. From the Passporter App you can also book a car for transfers with MyTransfer.

Travel Tip: To organize your trip we recommend using Passporter totally free. You can be inspired by the experiences of other travelers, choose the places that interest you most, create the travel route with a geolocated map, upload all important documents such as reservations and invite your friends so that everyone can participate in the organization of the trip.

2. Have your travel documents for Italy at hand on the Passporter App

If you are a European Union citizen, your ID card or passport will suffice to travel to Italy as long as your ID card or passport does not expire within 6 months of your departure date. While travelling from a non-EU country, you should check with the embassy whether or not you need a visa to enter the country.

If you need a visa to travel to Italy, you can save it in the Passporter App so you will always have it at hand and will not run the risk of losing it.

3. Taste the gastronomy in Italy and find the best restaurants with Passporter

A great reason to travel to Italy is its superb cuisine. Italian cuisine is characterised by the variety and quality of its ingredients that give rise to exquisite recipes with Mediterranean flavours. Incredible cheeses, wine, olive oil, vinegar and cold meats are just some of the delicacies Italy has to offer. Although the most popular dishes are pizza, pasta and gelato, there are hundreds of recipes specific to each region. On the coast and on the islands, fish and seafood recipes abound. While as you move north, the cuisine is becoming more and more similar to French and German cuisine.

Famous Italian dishes

Here’s a list of the country’s most famous dishes:

• Pizza: You won’t have tasted a real pizza until you’ve been to Italy. The funny thing is that not only the ingredients vary, but also the shape and the dough depending on where you travel.
• Pasta: there’s a wide variety of pasta in both shape and flavour. In addition to the classics such as carbonara, bolognese or with pesto, you can try an infinite number of incredible combinations.
• Osso Buco: is a slow-cooked veal stew with white wine, vegetables and herbs, served with a marrow-stuffed bone.
• Polenta: a yellow corn puree, served as a side dish or as a base for other dishes.
• Prosciutto: In Italy they also have their own Serrano ham, which is characteristically slightly milder than Spanish ham.
• Cheese: Italy is famous for its magnificent cheeses such as gorgonzola, parmegiano, tallegio, ricotta, mozzarella and many others.
• Tiramisu: is a classic dessert made with layers of sponge cakes soaked in coffee, mascarpone cream and cocoa powder.
• Gelato: Italian ice cream (the good kind, because there are also bad ones) is characterised by its smooth, creamy texture and very intense flavour.
• Cannoli: It is probably the most famous dessert. They are tubes of fried dough filled with a sweet mixture of ricotta, sugar and flavours such as chocolate or nuts.
• Wine and spirits: Italy has a long winemaking tradition, which means you’ll find top-quality wines and sparkling wines. Among the spirits, the most famous is Limonccello.

It may seem obvious, but the food is not good everywhere. There are exceptions, but in the more touristy places you won’t eat as well as you might expect. We recommend asking locals or checking the Passporter App for restaurants and bars recommended by other travellers.

You should also bear in mind that in Italy you eat earlier than in Spain, so you’ll have to adapt to their schedules if you don’t want to miss lunch or dinner. Lunch is usually between 12:00 and 14:00 and dinner around 20:00.

4. The best time to plan a trip to Italy

The best time to travel to a country is usually determined by three factors, weather, location and whether it’s high or low season. As you may already know, Italy is one of the most touristy countries in the world, which means that during the high season you can hardly walk in the streets of certain cities because they are so crowded. Also, keep in mind that during these months, prices increase a lot due to high demand. The good thing about travelling during this period is that all the tourist attractions are open and there is a lot of atmosphere in the cities. High season runs from mid-May to August, Easter and Christmas.

Climate-wise, the summer months in the vast majority of the country, with the exception of the mountainous areas, are incredibly hot and can reach up to 40 degrees Celsius. This is perfect if you’re planning a beach holiday, but not so good if you plan to spend the whole day in the sun visiting ruins. During winter it’s moderately cold, but you’ll need a warm coat. The further north you travel, the colder it gets.

The third factor to consider is the type of trip you’re making: If you’re going to the beach we recommend summer, but if you want to visit the most famous cities such as Venice, Florence or Naples we recommend you dress warmly and go in winter to avoid eternal queues of tourists. If you want to visit the Italian Alps we recommend winter for snow sports, and the rest of the year for hiking.

5. Plan a trip with friends to Italy and get inspiration from the Passporter App

Travelling with friends is an exciting and wonderful experience, but it can also be the source of arguments when someone organises more than the rest, when you don’t agree on dates or simply because you have different interests. That’s why it’s important to know the person you’re travelling with well.

At Passporter we want you to enjoy your trip to the maximum, that’s why we help you to prepare your holidays with friends with these tips that you will find in this post: Group travel: The best way to travel with your group of friends.

With the Passporter App you can also plan your travel itineraries from start to finish and discover the experiences of other travellers. You can read about the best places to visit in Italy, but also about transport, necessary documentation and many other details. Add your friends and create together your travel itinerary with the stops you are going to make and the points of interest you are going to see. Later you can share your experience through the photos you take during your trip.

6. Pack your suitcase for your trip to Italy

Your suitcase will depend on the type of trip you’re planning – it won’t be the same if you’re thinking of a sun and sand holiday in Sicily or a hiking holiday in the Alps. Even so, these are the essentials to take to Italy:

• Sun cream: Wherever you go, sun cream is a must. In summer the temperatures are high and the sun scorches. There are many points of interest where you’ll spend hours in the sun.
• Water: For the same reason that we recommend you bring sun cream, we advise you bring water. Especially during the summer months.
• Comfortable shoes: Wherever you go in Italy, you’re going to be walking a lot. So you’d better get comfortable shoes.
• Snorkels: Although there are plenty of fine sandy beaches in Italy, there are also small coves that are more difficult to access, with plenty of pebbles.
• Warm clothing: In winter you’ll need a coat and even a hat and gloves, especially if you’re travelling north. And during the warmer months, it is advisable to bring something warm for the night because it can get chilly.

And our final recommendation is to leave room in your suitcase to bring some Italian products with you when you return.

7. Other tips for travelling to Italy

If you’re travelling from Spain the culture shock won’t be as great as if you were travelling from an Asian or even Northern European country, however, there are certain aspects that we haven’t mentioned before that you may want to know about when planning your trip to Italy.

• Italy is a safe country, but there are also people who are willing to rip you off. Beware of people who want to help you with your luggage or people in gladiator costumes at tourist sites who will ask for a lot of money for a photo.
• Book your accommodation well in advance. There’s a wide range of hotels in Italy, but prices are high, especially during the summer months.
• Book in advance. We know you don’t want to travel to Italy and miss the Sistine Chapel, the Last Supper or the Colosseum. That’s why we recommend you to buy your ticket in advance to avoid queuing and to make sure you get your place.
• Restaurants in tourist areas may charge between €1 and €2 for cover.
• Italy has so much to offer that if you try to take in too much you’ll end up seeing nothing. It is therefore recommended that you plan your trip to Italy carefully and do not try to see everything in a short time.

8. Use Passporter to organise your itinerary and keep documents up to date

Register on the website or download the free Passporter App and discover all its possibilities.

• Get inspired by other travellers’ experiences, photos and itineraries.
• Organise your trip by the categories that suit you best: dates, number of days or type of trip (beach, mountain, restaurants…).
• Add your friends so they can see and modify all the plans and trip information.
• Create your own itinerary of your destination with everything you want to visit each day.
• Add the stops that interest you most, including your accommodation, restaurants, museums.
• Book your flights, accommodation, transfers and activities through a single app.
• Save all your documents in the app so you always have everything at hand: reservations, boarding passes, important documents.
• Make any changes you need to make and you’re all set for your trip.
• Share your experience with other users. Upload photos of the places you have visited on your trip to the app. Inspire other travellers with your experience! You can also share your own tips for planning a trip to Italy.
• Enjoy your trip to Italy!

If you have any doubts about how to do it, you can check our post: How to create a travel itinerary in Passporter.

9. Frequently asked questions for planning a trip to Italy