Strikes in Italy

I don't think there is any rule. We never worry about it. I think we have spent a month off and on in Italy over the past ten years or so and never saw a strike. I just don't think you can plan around strikes. And there are generally alternatives to the strike should one occur.

Hi Dawn. We were in Italy last summer and there was a strike. It was announced about 3 days ahead of time. It can be an inconvenience, but not usually a show stopper. e.g. some of the trains still run, and i tis announ ced the day before exactly which trains will run. I wouldn't worry about it, if you hear of one, just decide whether there is anything you can do to adjust your schedule so it has less impact on you.

I agree. On two different trips, strikes were announced a couple of days ahead - one affecting only one airport (Naples), and the other affecting trains. The hours were announced ahead of time and people just adjusted. Both times I found out by seeing the headline "SCIOPERO" on the first page of newspapers on the street. That seems to be the magic word to be on the look-out for.

I've found that they place very good warnings. I encountered a rail strike about a year and a half ago and even in the tiny Vernazza station there were many signs about it. Also be warned that for train strikes, lots of the "major" trains are guaranteed anyway, such as eurostars between the bigger cities, etc. Information is also posted here: http://www.summerinitaly.com/planning/strike.asp and in Italian from the transportation minister:
http://www.mit.gov.it/mit/site.php?p=scioperi

Thanks for all of your answers. I already have my airline tickets and will be in Italy the first two weeks in May, so I am not planning my trip to Italy around strikes. I need to travel on the train on certain days to reach the next stop on my itinerary. So I was going to check that official website to see if any strikes had been called for my travel days. Also, I plan on getting tickets to the Scrovegni Chapel in advance. Just wanted to make sure there were no strikes on the day I planned to visit Padua. Having said that, it looks as if I could find out a strike had been called right before my travel day. I had thought I had read that the unions have to announce strikes a reasonable time before the date of the strike--it looks as if I read that info incorrectly.

" announce strikes a reasonable time before the date of the strike " Reasonable to ? Dawn, get ready for Italy by understanding that often there is no rhyme or reason to politics ( like here ) or trains. In the general scheme of things, I believe that outside of Rome, strikes are infrequent and of short duration.

We got caught in a rail strike in the middle of the night , in the middle of our train trip, on one of trips to Italy. What an experience! We always carry a Lonely Planet guidebook with us. We used it to find alternative transportation. I agree; keep checking...don't get caught in one!

Steve, was this strike announced a few days before your travel? thanks

The others are correct, in Italy, unless something unusually fast happens, they do annouce the major strikes that will happen and to whom, trains buses, airplances, stores, govt workers etc. I remember one year, many years ago, a department store in downtown Rome called for a strike we were ushered out quickly. So if a strike happens, just adjust your day the best you can, or your trip plans. We had also recently been involved in a train strike in Germany, most unusual, and we had to be in Frankfurt the next day, so we could fly out the following day. There was no way we could have used the train. So, our hotel owner was nice enough to take us to the other hotel in Frankfurt. She went out of way to help us, and we appreciated it. Have fun.