In this article I want to share with you some travel hacks to save money that you can use during your trip to Italy. Let’s start!

As you know, travel to Italy can be expensive, and the cost of transportation is not irrelevant. But there are solutions you can use to save money. The railway system in Italy is quite good, especially between major cities (Milan, Rome, Florence…). Although Italian trains aren’t famous to be on time, connections between cities are frequent.

The two major train companies are Trenitalia and Italo treno. Both companies offers a high speed train service. However, buy high speed train ticket it’s often expensive, especially for the last minute tickets.

You can easily pay 60 to 80 euro for a Milan-Rome one way trip.

On the other hand, both companies offer promotions and discounts you can take advantage.

Italo Treno

This company offers promotions every week. When you’re buying the ticket, enter the discount code provided. The discount depends on the route but you can save up to 30% on the basic ticket price.

Note that the offer almost always starts the day after the one indicated (30 oct. in the image).

Best deals end rapidly, so be ready!

If you are a group of people traveling, you can take advantage of “Italo friends”. There’s a discount from -45% to -60% calculated against the price of the Flex fare. It’s valid from 2 to 10 people traveling together. The offer is non-refundable. Offer can be purchased up to 7 days prior to train departure.

There are also offer for one day round trip but I doubt you will spend only one day in one city.

Here the link to the site: https://www.italotreno.it/it

Frecciarossa

Frecciarossa is the high speed train service of Trenitalia, it’s more expensive than Italo treno but it has several deals.

When you’re buying the ticket, you can choose which offer do you want. There are basic and cheap fares. In this image you can see all the offers.

If you’re young, you can save a lot. In fact, there’s a special offer for those under 29. In my case, for example, I went to Milan from Rome for just under 60 euro round trip. In this case, you have to register on the site for a special card that allows you to have these discounts.

You don’t have to pay nothing, and you don’t have to wait for a physical card. When you sign up, you will be asked for your place of residence in Italy. Since you don’t live in Italy, you can apply for for this card by sending an e-mail following the instructions on this page.

https://www.trenitalia.com/it/cartafreccia/assistenza_ai_soci.htm

Remember to apply for it in advance.

If you are 60 years of age or older, the Senior offer allows you to travel at a discounted price with a variable discount compared to the full Base price from 40% to 50% for Frecciarossa, Frecciargento and Frecciabianca trains and from 20% to 50% for Intercity and Intercity Notte trains in 1st and 2nd class, in Business, Premium and Standard service levels.

If you’re a group of people you can take advantage of group discounts.

Flixbus

This is maybe the cheapest option. However isn’t the most time-convenient. Fares are very attractive , you can save a lot of money but it can take many hours between destinations.

I recommend this solution only if you have time on your hands and are willing to spend several hours on a bus.

An option could be travel during night. In this way you can save money on the hotel and at the same time move between cities.

Here the link to the site:

https://www.flixbus.it/

BlablaCar

Car sharing company. You can share the journey with other people travelling on the same route.

The price depends on the person offering the ride and the route, but in general you can find very affordable rates. To offer a ride you need to be verified.

Thats

Like the previous one, this choice may take time to move from one point to another.

https://www.blablacar.it/

That’s all for today, hope this post will be useful to someone. See you next time! 🙂