Air Travel

Flying time is 8½ hours from New York, 10-11 hours from Chicago, 11½ hours from Dallas (via New York), and 11½ hours from Los Angeles.

Airline Security Issues

Transportation Security Administration (www.tsa.gov.)

Airports

The major gateways to Italy include Rome's Aeroporto Leonardo da Vinci (airport code FCO), better known as Fiumicino, and Milan's Aeroporto Malpensa (MIL). Flights to Florence make connections at Fiumicino and Malpensa.

Florence is served by Aeroporto A. Vespucci (FLR), also called Peretola, and by Aeroporto Galileo Galilei (PSA), which is about a mile outside the center of Pisa and about one hour from Florence.

Perugia is served by Aeroporto S. Egidio (PEG), a small airport that receives connecting flights from Milan's Malpensa airport and London's Stansted airport.

Italy's airports are not known for their efficiency; however, all have restaurants and snack bars and Internet access. Each airport has at least one nearby hotel—the city centers of Florence and Pisa are only 15 minutes away by taxi, so if you encounter a long delay, spend it in town.

Airports in Italy have been ramping up security measures, which include random baggage inspections and the presence of bomb-sniffing dogs.

Airport Information

Aeroporto A. Vespucci (055/30615. www.aeroporto.firenze.it.)

Aeroporto Galileo Galilei (050/849300. www.pisa-airport.com.)

Aeroporto Leonardo da Vinci (06/65951. www.adr.it.)

Aeroporto Malpensa (02/74852200. www.sea-aeroportimilano.it.)

Aeroporto S. Egidio (075/592141. www.airport.umbria.it.)

Ask the local tourist board about hotel and local transportation packages that include tickets to major museum exhibits or other special events.

Ground Transportation

It takes about 20 minutes to get from Aeroporto A. Vespucci into Florence. Taxis are readily available, charging between €20 and €25, with a €1 surcharge for each bag and a €3 surcharge for nighttime trips. Outside the main terminal to the right is a bus stop where the SITA bus leaves every 30 minutes, making its final stop at the main Florence train station (Santa Maria Novella)—a ticket costs €5.

Taxis from Aeroporto Galileo Galilei to central Pisa cost about €15. Train service runs from the airport to the Central Pisa train station (€1.10); from there you can make connections to trains reaching all parts of Tuscany and Umbria. A train ride from Pisa to Florence takes just over an hour (€5.70). You can also reach Florence from the Pisa airport by taxi (€180) or by bus—the Terravision service runs from the Pisa airport to the train station in Florence (70 minutes; one-way €10, round-trip €16).

The train from Aeroporto Leonardo da Vinci stops at five stations in Rome and takes one hour (cost: €11) to get to the city. A taxi from the airport to the central train station costs about €60.

Metered taxis are available outside both Arrivals and Departures areas of Aeroporto Malpensa. The journey time to central Milan is around 50 minutes; the taxi fare is €75-€90. For bus service to the Milan central train station, the Malpensa Shuttle departs every twenty minutes at peak times and runs from 4:15 to 12:30 am. The journey time is about one hour (€7.50).

Flights

To Florence, Tuscany, and Umbria

Air travel to Italy is frequent and virtually problem-free. Sometimes, however, airport- or airline-related union strikes may cause delays. These delays are usually reported in advance. Alitalia, Italy's national flag carrier, has the most nonstop flights to Rome and Milan. Frequent flights are available from the United States aboard Lufthansa, Air France, United, US Airways, Delta, and Continental; these stop once in Europe before they or their code-sharing partners continue on to Florence or Pisa.

Within Italy

Alitalia—in addition to other major European airlines and smaller, privately-run companies such as Ryanair, Meridiana, and Air One—has an extensive network of flights within Italy. Ask your domestic or Italian travel agent about discounts.

Information

Air One (06/2222 in Rome; 800/650055 elsewhere in Italy. www.flyairone.it.)

Alitalia (800/223-5730 in U.S.; 06/2222 in Rome; 800/650055 elsewhere in Italy. www.alitalia.it.)

American Airlines (800/433-7300. www.aa.com.)

Continental Airlines (800/231-0856 for U.S reservations; 06/60053030 in Rome. www.continental.com.)

Delta Airlines (800/221-1212 for U.S. reservations;. www.delta.com.)

Meridiana (0789/52600 in Italy. www.meridiana.it.)

Ryanair (44/871 246 002 England. www.ryanair.com.)

United Airlines (800/864-8331 for U.S. reservations; 800/538-2929 for international reservations. www.united.com.)

US Airways (800/428-4322 for U.S. and Canada reservations;. www.usairways.com.)