Cheapest transportation in Italy

In general, when you're buying tickets shortly before departure, buses are likely to be cheaper than trains, because the super-low non-changeable train fares are probably long gone. Depending on origin and destination, buses can take much longer than trains, but that's not always the case.

TrenItalia is the place to get current fares for the trains. It insists on the local spellings of city names (so Napoli, Roma, Firenze, Venezia, etc.)

Rome2Rio is a good first step for checking on the availability of buses or mixed-mode transportation. They'll need to follow links to bus-company websites to get reliable information. The prices on Rome2Rio.com are not necessarily trustworthy.

Another technique for getting bus info is simply to Google Bus X to Y where "X" and "Y" are your origin and destination cities. The will usually yield a travel-forum posting from someone who's asked the same question and gotten an answer as well as possibly a direct link to the appropriate bus-company web site.

The cheapest option for Napoli-Positano may well be train to Sorrento and bus from there to Positano.

Hi Becky,

They can travel by a combination of train and bus fairly cheaply in Italy. You can use Rome2Rio www.rome2rio.com for figuring out transporation options pretty much anywhere in the world. It's not perfect, but it can give you a good idea of your options and usually has links for bus and train websites. For example, from Naples Airport to Positano, they can catch a Curreri bus to Meta, not far from Positano. In Meta, they will switch to a local SITA bus on to Positano. Use this website for finding Curreri bus schedules: www.curreriviaggi.it/eng/index.php. SITA bus schedules here (Italian only): http://www.sitasudtrasporti.it
It's usually not necessary to buy bus tickets ahead.

Often buses can be cheaper than trains in Italy, but usually take longer between the bigger cities, such as Salerno-Rome, Rome-Florence and Florence-Venice. The train will be faster and tickets are not too exepensive. You can use Trenitalia, the Italian National Rail website for finding train schedules, routes and purchasing tickets anywere in Italy: www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
You need to use the Italian spellings for cities, such as "Roma termini" for Rome's central train station, "Firenze SMN" for Florence and "Venezia S. Lucia" for Venice.

There's no need to buy tickets ahead, especially if they want some flexability in their schedules. Trains are frequent between big cities. For instance there are trains every half-hour between Rome and Florence, taking 1.5 hours. A full-fare, 2nd class ticket costs 44 euros. There are also cheaper, slower InterCity and Regionale trains, which could save them money, but of course, take more time.

If they want to save some money and are willing to commit to a particular day and time, they can book cheaper, advance-purchase train tickets ahead online. Just be aware that the advance-purchase "super economy" fares are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. They will be buying a reserved seat on a particular date and time, so they should be ready to commit at time of purchase.

Hope that helps!

For Rome to Florence go to Trenitalia site for train schedules. There are different prices depending on time of day. Also, look at number of connections and duration time of train. The regionale 2nd class tickets are the most common and most economical - like a city busline on tracks. Schedules are available online two weeks in advance of riding. Just use hotel wifi and check the day before departure. Buy the tickets at the station before boarding. VALIDATE your ticket at the little machine PRIOR to boarding to avoid a fine. If you don't have wifi, the ticket booth at the train station can help you with tickets. There are many trains running between Rome - Florence - and Venice.