Local Travel in Cities

That's really an unanswerable question. It depends on the specific starting point and ending point. I'm a big fan of walking, but most travelers need to temper that due to time constraints even if they are physically capable of walking considerable distances.

Rome and Milan have subway systems, which frequently are the fastest way to cover longer in-town differences. However, the Rome subway is limited enough that it may not turn out to be useful to you.

I don't know anything about Sorrento, but the other three have a lot of bus/tram service that will save your legs when you need a break.

Of course, there are taxis if you don't mind the cost; I'm a bit leery of taking taxis from airports and train stations, because they can be happy hunting grounds for the less ethical taxi drivers. I don't know whether that's a significant issue at your Italian destinations, however; I virtually never take taxis in Europe, because public transportation is so readily available.

Major-city transit authorities usually have good apps providing routing and scheduling information. Rather than dealing with a new one in each city, I tend to use the CityMapper app wherever it is available, because you gradually begin to get comfortable with the way the information is displayed. CityMapper covers Rome, Florence and Milan; it has no information on Sorrento, but that's a much smaller place with probably quite limited bus service.

Google Maps will also provide routing information. You can take a look at both it and CityMapper and see whether there's one you prefer. Both will suggest walking routes as well as public-transportation routes. In places like Rome and Sorrento (hills!) it can be useful to take a look at the suggested walking routes even if you don't need them purely for navigational purposes.

My first choice from a train is bus or metro but while not my favorite sometimes taxis are easiest. Florence we took taxi to and from train station to hotel, walked everywhere. Very easy to get in the taxi line at the train station to get a taxi. There was a bus stop by our hotel but we found walking easiest to sights and restaurants. Rome we took train from airport to Termini then walked to our hotel which was blocks away. We took subway and bus in Rome to sights and walked as much as possible. In general we take bus or transit from train station or occasionally taxi, and bus, metro in bigger cities and walk as much as possible.

A taxi is the most convenient mode of transportation from the airport or train station to your hotel (and back), unless your hotel is walking distance from the station and your amount of luggage is reasonable.

For everywhere else the best mode of transportation is your feet.

Google maps will do a decent job of showing you options from where you are to wherever you want to do. It will provide walking times and distances and other tabs will give you mass transit options - buses, metros or whatever is available. You can explore these now by just putting in two locations in Rome - for examples - and seeing how it works. I will sometimes do this when choosing between hotels to see which one is best placed for access to mass transit.

Citymapper does all of these things on steroids for large European cities but generally wants to be in the city before it downloads the local maps. So open the app in Rome - when you have WiFi - and it will grab all the local information. It's free app and I've been impressed when I use and many people swear by it.

Many cities have gone to "Tap In" using credits cards and away from paper tickets on buses and metros which makes things much easier but in many places everyone needs their own credit card - one ticket per card. Check the mass transit in the places you will visit. But generally you get on, hold your card to the reader until it turns green and you will present your card if they ever ask to verify your "ticket" and they will tap it and check.

There are many taxi apps in Italy that will call a cab to your location after putting in your destination. Some will even let you pay via a credit card in the app. Unfortunately there isn't one app for all the cities. In Florence (and northern cities) AppTaxi has worked well for me but ITTaxi and some even suggested FreeNow in Rome. My only complaint about taxi apps is that sometimes they want to call or text you to confirm the service and if you don't have full foreign service (such as using an eSim) or an actual SIM calls and texts won't work. Also get the Trenitalia train app.

Just an observation but we often use taxis coming into a new town when we have bags and don't know where the hotel is. On the way out - or in towns we know - we'll decide between mass transit and taxis based on how we feel. Getting around the city is one of those time versus money versus convenience questions that you'll have to answer. If you're trying to hit multiple museums in one day with timed tickets a taxi may be the right answer. In Florence walking is often the answer since the city is small and much of the city core is difficult to access otherwise. Or walk all day and get a bus back or vice versa taking a bus to the far end and then walking back. We did this recently in Florence when our first agenda item was the Pitti Palace so using Google Maps I saw that the C4 left from just in front of the station and directly to Pitti Palace. After the Pitti Palace we walked through the city core and after visiting another museum grabbed a bus a few stops to the train station (again mapped out by Google maps) to get to the train station in time to catch the good train back.

Hope that helps,
=Tod

One advantage of taxis is door-to-door service, from your hotel right to your destination. An advantage of a hotel with a front desk is that there’s someone there who speaks Italian, and can call a reputable taxi company to send a car to pick you up at the hotel. It may not necessarily be your cheapest option, but convenience may be worth spending some extra euros.

Buses can work well, but you have to get to the correct bus stop, and managing luggage on and off a bus can sometimes be cumbersome, especially when it’s busy and crowded.

The Metro (subway) system can be convenient. In Rome three years ago, I had to walk 10 minutes over narrow sidewalks and curbs, and rough street surfaces to reach the nearest Metro station, but then the Metro took me directly to the Centrale train station.

Walking is the most direct, and cheapest in terms of price, but can require some energy and navigational skills, and takes sone time for longer distances.

If you’re staying in a hotel, and not an Airbnb like we’re doing more and more often, you should be able to get good transportation advice from the front desk staff. Now that I say that, Airbnb hosts will often be able to provide information, like closest bus stop and bus numbers, favorite restaurant recommendations, and whether something is walkable, too.

You can change the city setting in the CityMapper app by touching the gear wheel icon (upper left on my screen), then on the "App Settings" screen, touch "Switch City".