Studying in a Medical School in Italy has so many benefits such as travelling through this beautiful country, and experiencing the different culture and life that every city offers. Being a tourist in Italy can be a very expensive ordeal, but as a student with the numerous discounts offered to you, you can experience the country in a different way, and this guide is here to help you do it on a budget.
As every “fuori sede” does (literally translated from “out of location”, referring to students that have to leave their hometowns to study) I know a lot about travelling through Italy. I changed universities and moved to different cities within Italy in the past two years, and having family and friends spread around the country has only increased my knowledge of the transport system in Italy.
Trains
Starting with trains, we have two main railway companies: TrenItalia and Italo. Along with them, you may find other companies such as Thello, ÖBB (Österreichische Bundesbahnen) and DB (Deutsche Bahn) that link Italy with France, Austria and Germany respectively.
TrenItalia is in charge of both regional (slow trains that connect small towns to big cities) and high-speed trains (connecting only big cities); prices vary on the distance traveled, on the service (first, business or second class), and on the speed of the train (general rule: the slower the cheaper). It is the main railway company in Italy and can take you almost anywhere in the country. If you are younger than 26 and have an Italian ID or passport I recommend you subscribe for “cartafreccia young”, which can give you up to 50{bb8d53cabbfbfa48737bbedab9cb9b55bf5183c8f56cc8e5fd88b7a4065b00a7} discounts on high-speed trains. I suggest you book your tickets as soon as possible to benefit from the savings.
Italo is the underdog, the newly born company that competes with Trenitalia for high-speed connections. Unlike Trenitalia, it is not present in every single station but only in the largest cities. Its services are very nice but the best thing of all is the affordable first class deals; sometimes Italos first class may cost you less than second class if you don’t mind not having cancellation options on your ticket. If you are travelling with Italo it is extremely important to book in advance as prices skyrocket quite quickly.
Here is a price comparison of the 2 companies for the same date 3 weeks away from today. Prices are currently effected due to travel restrictions as a result of COVID-19, however you can still see the price difference for Italos 1st class at €81.90, compared to TrenItalias despite the travel time actually being shorter!
In my opinion, trains are the key to visiting most places in Italy and are also perfect for one-day trips. Leaving early in the morning to come back at night will allow you to spend a full day in any city around you.
Buses
If you don’t mind spending a few more hours in order to spend less, many bus companies will take you anywhere in the country. For short trips buses might be much more convenient than trains and can take you to small towns that would otherwise be unaccessible by train; however if you are planning on visiting a distant town, keep in mind that buses do take a long time to travel from city to city and traffic on highways also slows them down. The most popular bus company is Flixbus, but there’s plenty of others that you can simply google search or go to the closest train station to you to learn which companies serve your area.
Here is the price and time comparison for the exact same trip (date and locations) as above, but with the company flixbus instead.
Planes/Boats
I only recommend taking a plane if you are going to Sicily and Sardinia (Italy’s major islands), but there’s also many ferry companies that will take you to both of them as well as to the minor islands from the mainland.