Flying within Italy~

[peachy3333]

Hi all,

Just wondering if I could get an opinion on some Italian domestic airlines. We've never flown the domestic European airlines, but we need to fly from Milan to Naples. Our options are:

Easyjet - Good times, lots of flights, cheap price
Lufthansa - 1 flight per day, cheap price
Air one/Alitalia - Lots of flights, medium price

I was thinking perhaps Lufthansa is our best bet? We don't want to be delayed too much because of connections and are worried about our baggage too! It seems like easyjet does not have allocated seats either =\

Any advice would be great!

(Oh, train is too long for =), that would be out of the option)

Thanks

 

[ejb_nz]

Why not hire a sporty little Italian car and drive the 774 kms.

Stop off for sightseeing, try the local food.

Sounds wonderful.

As to the airlines, never been to Italy so I can't help.

ejb

 

[Travel Guru]

Lufthansa have always been good when i've used them.

Airone are a disaster.

I second ejb, if you have the time, drive or at the very least train it, otherwise you're missing some fantastic scenery and some lovely towns.

The train system within Italy is sensational, tolls on driving can be exxy, so I usually train it, then you get to see more of the countryside as well.

TG

 

[SQ1]

Hi all,

Just wondering if I could get an opinion on some Italian domestic airlines. We've never flown the domestic European airlines, but we need to fly from Milan to Naples. Our options are:

Easyjet - Good times, lots of flights, cheap price
Lufthansa - 1 flight per day, cheap price
Air one/Alitalia - Lots of flights, medium price

I was thinking perhaps Lufthansa is our best bet? We don't want to be delayed too much because of connections and are worried about our baggage too! It seems like easyjet does not have allocated seats either =\

Any advice would be great!

(Oh, train is too long for =), that would be out of the option)

Thanks

Hi peachy3333,

Go with Lufthansa most reliable and punctual in Europe. :mrgreen::mrgreen:

I've been with Air Berlin and German Wings (Europe) very good and top prices, but I don't think they'll do Milan to Naples unfortunately.

Cheers

 

[albatross710]

Easyjet - Good times, lots of flights, cheap price

I flew Easyjet in October. The actual flight was good and fo rthe distance you are saying, it should be good value.

On the flight I did it was operated 4 hours later than originally scheduled due to baggage handler options but this was advised to us well in advance so we could arrange around it.

I would use them again.

 

[medhead]

Did a quick check, the train is only 4 hours and 10 minutes on the quickest schedule. 4:55 on the longest. compared to the flying time of about 1:30 maybe the train is a bit long. But then add on at least 30 minutes at each end and 30 minutes of extra time to get to and from the airports, it is up to 3 hours. And for that I'd do the train. Nice relaxing time, enjoy the scenery, take on some nice food and vino and make a decent time of it.

But if flying then Lufthansa.

 

[docjames]

Agree with medhead. Factor in the extra time and the train is by far the way to go (you need to save one hour?).

There's also likely to be more trains each day than flights (although i havent checked this!)

If you must fly, Lufthansa by far.

 

[albatross710]

Did a quick check, the train is only 4 hours and 10 minutes on the quickest schedule. 4:55 on the longest. compared to the flying time of about 1:30 maybe the train is a bit long. But then add on at least 30 minutes at each end and 30 minutes of extra time to get to and from the airports, it is up to 3 hours. And for that I'd do the train. Nice relaxing time, enjoy the scenery, take on some nice food and vino and make a decent time of it.

But if flying then Lufthansa.

The other advantage of the train is that it is usually from city centre to city centre. Also, no need to be at airport 30-60 minutes before departure and no security screening. And trains are usually on time.

 

[peachy3333]

Thanks everyone!

I didn't think the train was so short~!

Could one of you guys guide me to the site for timetables/tickets, or cheap fares? =)

Thanks so much again

 

[MrHyde]

I'd second the option of using the train. I have used the train system extensively in Italy and the inter-city trains are very nice. They are not very punctual, so I would see if you can get a direct train or have time between connections. In Germany, a 5 min connection is more than enough... in Italy, a 30 min connection maybe ok.

If you buy train tickets a few days early, you can get very good prices. We just purchased them on the day. That did mean that we missed out on some trains and had to wait around for a couple of hours on one of our journeys.

As for flying, of those three, I would choose Lufthansa first, then easyJet.

 

[Travel Guru]

The italian website is Ferrovie dello Stato - Homepage, but unless you speak italian its not going to be too useful.

I suggest if you want to book, go through Eurail, Eurorail, Eurail passes, Britrail, Eurostar, rail passes and trains in Europe - Rail Plus Australia here in Australia, but honestly, you really dont need too for a sector like that, just turn up and purchase at the station.

TG

 

[MrHyde]

The english version is at Ferrovie dello Stato - Homepage

 

[tuapekastar]

Thanks everyone!

I didn't think the train was so short~!

Could one of you guys guide me to the site for timetables/tickets, or cheap fares? =)

Thanks so much again

Try The Man in Seat Sixty-One . . . , which deals with all things train.

 

[RB]

We have used both train & plane within Italy. Earlier 2009 Flew Easyjet from Milan to Catania and it was fine & cheap.
For your circumstances I would go rail & sit back & enjoy.

 

[medhead]

Everyone else has mentioned good websites. I usually use the Deustche Bahn website for checking timetables and all that.

www.db.de

You can select english in the top right under the banner picture of a train.

I did a quick search for 23 Dec, there seems to be about 2 trains per hour and most of them have zero stops, obviously the way to go to avoid issues with changing trains. Lucky thing is that milan is on one of the main intereurope lines, so a quite a few trains are passing through from paris to rome or other intereurope capitals. That is way the time is so good. Generally inter country (usually IC or EC, but these one are ES for some reason) trains will be on time.

Ohh and all of those trains are subject to compulsory reservation. You should definitely do this in advance if at all possible, if you are going to travel on a rail pass. Otherwise, be very flexible.
I got to spend a cold, boring 2.5 hours in florence station because we didn't reservation on the fast train, there were no reservations to be had and it was absolute chaos due to a sudden cold snap. Not good with a 6 year old and a 3 year old.

 

[Travel Guru]

They are not very punctual, so I would see if you can get a direct train or have time between connections.

I've caught bucket loads of trains in Italy in my many trips there and haven't ever once been left waiting, they've always operated like clockwork.

Having said that, i'd always go for a direct service if possible, though i would think a route like Milan-Naples would at least route via Rome.

TG

 

[MrHyde]

I've caught bucket loads of trains in Italy in my many trips there and haven't ever once been left waiting, they've always operated like clockwork.
TG

Must have just been our bad luck then... We were on a train from Roma to Venezia and had to change at one stop before Venezia. We had about 20 minutes between connections and the kiosk at Roma Central said that the time may not be enough. Our train arrived 45 minutes late at the stop. At 10 PM at night, the station was not manned and we couldn't figure out how to get updated tickets. In the end, we just jumped onto the next train going to Venezia.

We did travel extensively around Italy in trains, but don't remember much about the other journeys. Just remember the one that didn't go to plan.

 

[albatross710]

As for buying the ticket at the station use Automatic machine which are very convenient and usually faster than the counter service.

The ticket machines can be selected to English language and also allow you to select your seat for reservation.

If you are buying a point-to-point ticket then it will be inclusive of the reservation.

 

[medhead]

If you are buying a point-to-point ticket then it will be inclusive of the reservation.

Yes, of course, I just realised that my post about reservations was for a different situation, with a rail pass. I'll make an edit to show this.

 

[mannej]

Trains can be booked using a good TA over here if you have your dates set.

The scenery is great, and they generally are in quite good condition unless you are heading to a really small regional centre.

Never tried catching a flight, so can't comment on that one.