Hello,
I am travelling to Italy/Spain in July. We are planning to start with Rome, then make our way to Florence, then Venice, Milan, Madrid, and Barcelona, before we return to London for our flight home.
Any recommendations on best way to get around in Italy and Spain?
We are not planning to rent a car. Thank you
Posted by
Sioux Falls, SD, USA
3102 posts
Lot of cities there. I hope you are planning on at least 3 weeks. The only city in your list that is under 4 nights is Milan.
At least in italy, all 4 of those cities are easily accessed by trains.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11948 posts
Trains will work fine in Italy for the listed destinations.
Probably quicker to use train for Barcelona-Madrid, than flying when looking at the total hotel to hotel time.
Hopefully you have all of July to hit all the places you list. Otherwise you may find you are running a marathon rather than enjoying a vacation
Posted by
Washington DC
28247 posts
There's no question that the train is the best option between Madrid and Barcelona. That will take as little as 2-1/2 hours.
The best option between Milan and Madrid is flying. Even if you went from Madrid to Barcelona, flying would still be the best option. Cobbling together a train itinerary would mean a very long trip and likely be more expensive than flying.
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1145 posts
Hello via972, and welcome to the boards!
Largely reiterating what others have said but make sure you have enough time and trains will be easiest, fastest and cheapest within country. Flying between countries makes a lot of sense - especially when there is a country in between them.
There are fast trains between all the cities you mention in Italy. When you are sure of your schedule you can book your fast train tickets because the earlier you book them the cheaper they are and you can't get sold out. All fast trains will come with seat reservations whether you book the Trenitalia Frecciarossa (https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html) or the privately run .Italo (https://www.italotreno.it/en) and the price is largely tied to how flexible the tickets are. If you book non-refundable tickets don't miss your train.
There are cheaper, slower trains for all of these cities as well, but usually time is more important on vacation than saving a few dollars. Get the Trenitalia and/or Italo Treno app for your phone to help in navigating your trains.
Fly to either Barcelona or Madrid and then train between them in whichever direction works best for you. The Spanish train company is Renfe but the tickets are available through them and any number of resellers.
If you need information on train travel in general get the RS book(s) and consult the ever recommended Man in Seat 61:
https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-italy.htm
https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-spain.htm
Also most major airports are outside their respective cities - the big Rome and Milan airports are about an hour outside the city so consider city transfers as well. Milan has several airports so be aware of which airport you're looking at when buying tickets to Spain.
Make a spreadsheet - track the number of nights in each city, the day and dates and travel time between cities for transfers. For each day put in your "must-see" things making sure their open and you have enough time in each place. Two nights is only one full day and three nights is two full days and so on. Don't underestimate the amount of time packing, checking out, transfer and checking into a new place will take and be realistic in your planning for travel days.
Once you're happy with your schedule look at booking rooms, purchasing train tickets and reservations for the things on your "must see" list if you can. Be sure to program in some slack and down time to just enjoy things, do laundry and deal with/enjoy the unexpected.
Spritz all the time, eat all the gelato and have a great trip!
=Tod