Independent travel in Italy
In this story, I want to share the experience of my travels in Italy and neighboring countries as a "savage", that is, on my own. Maybe it will be useful to someone and help save money, time and nerves. Of course, all the facts below will be presented solely from my point of view, which may differ from the opinions of other people and does not claim any priorities.
So. To travel in Italy, you need to obtain a Schengen (or Italian) visa, as this country has joined the Schengen Agreement. On the one hand, this is a big plus, because there are no borders between the Schengen countries and tourists who have a visa of any Schengen state can safely travel to neighboring countries without any barriers. However, obtaining such a visa is not always (and not for everyone) easy, as there are certain restrictions and rules.
If you plan to travel on your own, then you can go in two ways: get yourself a visa separately (which is more difficult and expensive) or buy yourself the cheapest tour to Italy and get a visa with it (without problems and for a penny). I received visas in the second way, that is, along with a tour package, so there were no problems. To do this, just contact any tour operator in Italy and he will prepare all the necessary documents, from the tourist you only need a passport and a photo (sometimes even a certificate from work). In general, it must be said that Italy is the most democratic country of all Schengen countries and gives visas to almost everyone. As for the hotel and everything else in the tour package, this does not matter when traveling independently. You can take the most terrible hotel somewhere on the outskirts, since the tourist is only required to come there and register (it is not required to be there! ).
After that, you can leave some junk in the room (such as an old jacket, shirt, bag, etc. ) and say that you are going on a tour of the country. And next time you will need to appear in this hotel only before leaving home. The rest of the time you can live wherever you want (good choice is great). For example, you can rent a private apartment for yourself (from 10 euros per day, or from 270 euros per month) or check into any hotels that you like best. It is not necessary to pay for the transfer (delivery from the airport to the hotel and back), as there are regular buses from any Italian airport to the nearest city and a lot of taxis. In addition, you can always arrange with the guide of any tourist bus to give you a lift to the city, or just walk (if it is not very far) to the nearest bus stop, and then use public transport.
Thus, it is enough to pay only the cheapest hotel, tickets, insurance and visa.
After checking into a hotel and resting from the road, you can start planning your trip (if this has not been done before). This will require a detailed map of those countries that you want to visit. I planned to go to San Marino, Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein and Slovenia, as well as visit several large and popular cities in Italy itself, so I studied the route at home and bought myself a pocket atlas of Europe in advance. However, if you need it, you can buy a card on the spot, as there are many bookstores in Italy, especially in large cities. For example, in Milan, Rome, etc. , bookstores are located right at the train stations and there is a large selection of all sorts of maps and guides. Moreover, local maps are more convenient and accurate, as there are many small villages and city names are given in their language.
For example, Genoa is written in Italian Genova, Florence - Firenze, Switzerland - Swizzera, etc. This is very important when buying tickets at the station, as they may not understand our names (let alone ticket vending machines! ). Moreover, it is better to know the names of states and cities also in their languages. For example, Switzerland has 4 official languages: German, Italian, French and Romansh, so it would be nice to know the Italian and German (or French) names of cities and the country itself in order to duplicate them when buying tickets. By the way, here you need to be very careful and clearly pronounce (or write on a piece of paper), since there are many similar names in Europe. For example, the city of Bux is located in Switzerland, and Brook is in Austria, while in Italy there are many names such as Pisa, Pesaro, Pescara, Peschici, etc. , which are scattered throughout the country. All these names can still be found at home on the Internet and written out on a piece of paper.
It is also advisable to read at least general information on the countries and cities themselves in advance in order to have an idea of where you are. Well, one more feature of independent travel is communication with the local population directly, so it is recommended to have Italian and other languages phrasebooks with you if you plan to travel to different countries. You can stupidly print them from the Internet (as well as maps), and it is also advisable to familiarize yourself with writing and pronunciation. At the same time, it is not at all required to speak several languages fluently, it is enough to know numerals and common phrases such as "how much does it cost ... ", "where is ... ", etc. , and of course the names of transport.
Now the most important thing for the "savages" is transport.
When traveling independently, it is very important to have an idea about the various modes of transport of those countries that you plan to visit, and I would like to talk about this separately. The fact is that each country (or region) has its own peculiarities of movement. Somewhere there are almost no railways (as in Montenegro and Croatia), but somewhere it is better to travel by water (as in Venice). So in Italy, in general, the most convenient, fastest and cheapest mode of transport between cities is trains, and inside cities - buses and trolleybuses (in large metros). (Unless, of course, you have a mania for renting cars everywhere. ) The railway network in Italy is very extensive and covers almost the entire country. Trains run quite often even over long distances (for example, to neighboring countries), and to the nearest cities several times per hour, and it is relatively inexpensive.
For example, the road from the city of Rimini (on the Adriatic coast) to Milan (the capital of northern Italy) takes only about three hours and costs 40 euros, and the famous Bologna from Milan can be reached in over an hour, paying only 15 euros (and from Rimini it costs less than 10 euros and an hour's journey), you can also get to Florence or Venice from Bolonia for 10 - 15 euros. The road between neighboring cities takes less than an hour and costs 4 - 8 euros. For example, from Rimini to Ravenna, as well as from Ravenna to Bolonia, you can drive in 50 minutes and it will cost about 5 euros per person. That is, to start the journey, it is enough to find the nearest railway station, and then everything will go "like clockwork". It is better to buy tickets at the box office, it is cheaper and more reliable, although there are usually long queues there and you should always leave time for this.
But the information is much more convenient to look at the ticket machines, of which there are now a great many at all stations. It is very easy to use this item. You choose the language (by pointing your finger at the corresponding flag), you press a button like "buy a ticket" and you start typing the name of the desired city. As you type, the computer gives out suitable names, and if the desired city is already on the list, then just poke your finger at it. After some time, the computer will issue several nearest flights in a given direction. Then you can sort by time, stations, etc. The resulting list contains the train number, travel time and price. It is very important to pay attention to the fact that at different times the price will vary greatly (several times! ). It depends on the carrier, the class of the car (first or second) and on the train itself.
For example, 2 expensive trains (of different companies) and 1 cheap one can go in an hour. Well, the travel time is also different, since there are high-speed trains, and there are those that "bow to each post" and let everyone through (these are the cheapest "livestock trucks"). However, buying tickets from vending machines is quite fraught, as they often freeze up. That is, the machine can take money or a bank card from you and freeze for an indefinite period ...It is better to copy the train number and time on a piece of paper and buy a ticket at the box office. Well, one last recommendation. You should not take the train at "rush hour" (in the evening, at 6 o'clock), as there are a lot of people. Although there are also advantages here, because tickets are almost never checked in the flea market and you can drive like a “hare” if you want adrenaline, and if the controller does come, you can pretend to be a “broom”, drool and start a song like “we ourselves don’t locals, we don’t know anything here, and in general, passing by purely by accident ....", etc.
and then pay the fare. By the way, tickets with an open date are very popular in Italy, which can be used within a certain period (for example, two months), which is written on the ticket itself. So, such a ticket is "extinguished" stupidly with a pen, writing the time of its use. Usually these are the cheapest tickets for the "cattle cart", which can be bought at the box office of the station. And with these tickets you can ride on such a train at least every day until they are paid off (and they are not checked so often), the main thing is that the fare and direction match. For example, you buy such a ticket from Bologna to Rimini for 10 euros and you can use it on any train of the same carrier at this price and in this direction, which go about once every half an hour (other trains are more expensive and they need a different ticket).
In addition to railways, buses can be used in Europe, especially for short distances.
For example, there is a bus from Rimini to San Marino and other nearby cities, and it costs a penny (about 5 euros).
As for urban transport, it also has its own characteristics. I had to travel by bus and metro more, so I'll tell you about them. The fact is that almost all tickets for public transport in Italy are reusable, but many tourists do not know about this and buy them every time. So, on the ticket itself, as a rule, the time (period) of its validity from the moment of validation (composting) is indicated. Usually it is 60 or 90 minutes, although you can buy a ticket for 24 hours (day), but it is valid only in the zones (areas) indicated on it. That is, having bought such a ticket, you can ride on it within the specified period from the moment you first enter the bus (or metro), where it must be validated.
Well, or stupidly "score" at all and ride on such a ticket while it is valid.
The next important issue for independent travel is hotels. Many people don't travel themselves because they don't know how to book a hotel room (or are afraid they won't be understood). So, there is nothing terrible and complicated in this. First hotels in bulk throughout Europe and in any city, especially near the sea and major train stations. And do not believe in fairy tales about the fact that all hotels are full and places need to be booked a month in advance, etc. , our travel agencies compose such fables to cheat you out of money! I have traveled to many different countries and have never encountered such a situation! Usually just the opposite - the hotels are half empty and there is no one there, even in the summer. Secondly, even if you can’t get a room in some hotel, feel free to go to a neighboring hotel, where there are probably places.
And you shouldn’t worry about not knowing the language at all, since now our fellow citizens or people who speak Russian perfectly work in the vast majority of hotels. Well, if you can also learn a few phrases in English (or the local language), then all the doors will be open to you. The cost of one night in a hotel can also vary greatly depending on its location, number of stars, etc. However, you can always find an inexpensive hotel for 20-50-70 euros per night (depending on the country and city). And if you are planning to stay somewhere for 3-5 nights, then you can also rent private apartments. Usually these are hotels or hostals (hostels), or just apartments. There are a lot of them in tourist areas and near the city center, and somewhere there are even special agencies that act as intermediaries for those who want to rent out their housing (they can also be found on the Internet).
Well, the last advice.
I strongly do not recommend taking excursions at the hotel or immediately with the tour! The fact is that the price of these excursions is very high, and the quality is very low. After all, they are offered in order to rip off more money from you or get a "kickback" from sellers, that's all. As a rule, they take you to all sorts of expensive shops and restaurants, selling you some cheap goods, etc. , or, even worse, they swindle you for money on the bus, collecting HUGE sums for something that costs a penny. For example, in one such excursion to Venice (where I got by chance), most tourists were charged from 50 to 100 euros for all sorts of little things like a boat trip (since there is only water transport in Venice), lunch at a restaurant, headphones for an excursion, etc. In fact, all this costs several times cheaper! For example, a trip by boat or air railway to the city center costs a little more than 1 euro (and our tourists were ripped off 15 euros!
), lunch in a cafe costs about 10 euros (and the participants of the tour paid 30 euros each! ), etc. Plus, these excursions take a lot of time and are very exhausting. For example, from Rimini to Venice, a bus with an excursion crawls for 5 hours there and back the same amount. That is, 10 hours you will only be on the road! And they will pick you up at 4 o'clock in the morning for this excursion. And the sightseeing tour of the city itself lasts only about an hour and a half and that's it. And what will you have time to watch during this time? But if you are traveling on your own, then you get enough sleep in your hotel, have breakfast like “white people”, calmly get to the station and after a couple of hours you are already in the center of Venice. Then you can walk there as much as you like and eat whatever you want without any restrictions and haste. And in the evening you can take a train to the nearest town and spend the night there, or return to your hotel.
In this case, you will see everything you want and as much as you want, the travel time will be halved, and financially, you will save a lot. So the choice is yours!