How many questions do you ask yourself before you leave for a trip and how many doubts come before pressing the "Book" button? Then when you arrive at your destination and the real vacation begins, every problem disappears and the only hope is that the time slows down to make the journey last as long as possible that moment of relaxation you have been waiting for a year.
When you travel to a country other than your own you become an explorer who with new eyes discovers lands, cities, traditions and above all gets to know new people. This mix of elements is connected by a fundamental aspect of the journey: the means of transport with which to move once you've arrived at the destination.
Italy offers different solutions to move around, and in this article I will try to shed light on the positive and negative aspects of each means of transport. Let's start from the most common to the most extreme.
Airplanes
Given its compact size, it almost seems like a waste to cross Italy by plane. It is undoubtedly the quickest way measuring the time from takeoff to landing.
The country of Italy seems almost wasted to cross by plane, but it is undoubtedly the quickest way, if we consider exclusively take-off and landing. There are routes that are under and hour but for which it is necessary to appear in airport at least two hours before, so my advice is to limit the use of the plane to reach the main islands and save on average 12 hours by ferry.
Ferries
The ferry is for lovers of slow travel. It harkens back to the time of travel before planes. You'll get to experience the sea at night and you'll disconnect from your devices since there is no cell coverage or Wi-Fi available. It remains a convenient means for those who like to move around by car, since you can bring your own rather than rent one upon arrival.
Land Options
Excluding the islands and remaining on the peninsula, there are various other means of travel; just use your imagination: the most common vehicles are certainly cars and trains, but then we can find buses, campers, boats, motorcycles, Vespas, vintage cars, bicycles, electric scooters, and our trained feet.
Things to Consider
A big factor in choosing how to get around is cost. A car, van or truck would be the most expensive; just think of petrol, motorway tolls, parking and / or rent of the vehicle. However, it is also true that you are more free to reach places that are not too touristy on the map, giving you a good amount of freedom.
Another increasingly common factor is the ecological impact of travel. Moving around via train reduces the production of CO2. It can also be faster than a car, in somme instances. Italy's main cities are well-connected by high speed rail and this has definitely changed the logic of the classic Italian Grand Tour.
Transportation as the Tour
There are events that allow vintage car enthusiasts to spend a week among the most beautiful villages and to cross roads made of hairpin turns and stories of past races. In this way the means of transport becomes an active element of the journey.
More and more often we hear stories of people who have left everything behind to travel the world and who perhaps are doing it right now, riding their Vespa or motorcycle with the sole aim of living a life outside the box and not simply feeling like a number.
We conclude with a concept of recent travel, the so-called Slow Tourism, practiced by bike or on foot and this introduces an immense rediscovery of the landscape of the country you choose to visit; in addition to the absolute ecological choice, reaching a point B starting from point A with one's own strength is an experience that leaves you with an added value far greater than any souvenir and to carry around for a lifetime. All of Tourissimo's tours have this element, most often with travel by bicycle or on foot.
We have a saying that translates as: "It doesn't matter with what shoes you do it, the important thing is not to stop traveling."
How do you travel? Leave a comment below to let us know your favorite way to get around.
Watch Heather explore a bike path in the Dolomites in this video:
