Hi,

I am traveling to Italy at the beginning of August and will be staying with family for a few weeks. They live in the south (Calabria) and there is the Lamezia airport in that area. I am trying to figure out whether to:

1. Fly into Rome and then book an internal flight to Lamezia (once I arrive in Rome);
2. Book both flights from home - one to Rome and then one to Lamezia (but this seems more expensive) on the same airline;
3. Book flight to Rome through Air France or BA or whichever airilne I get the best deal with; and then book a budget flight from Rome to Lamezia before I leave Canada.

Thanks.

If you are determined to fly you can of course do so, but have you considered the train? Its only a 4 hour trip from Rome and not bad viewing out the window! You can book by train when you arrive.

I did consider taking the train but I read somewhere that it was a 6 hour ride. I looked on the trenitalia site. Perhaps I read it incorrectly. The one major pro with taking a flight from Rome to Lamezia is time. After flying for 8-10 hours, I wasn't sure if I wanted to sit on a train for another 4 hours. However, I will think about it.

Thanks.

P.S. Do you know if it's the Eurostar train that I would take, and what the cost would be?

The Trenitalia website listed one train daily that takes 3 hours and 59 minutes: I didn't check costs but its all there and easy to navigate in English (just don't try buying in advance, it is neither easy nor necessary).

I do agree, I wouldn't want to get right off a plane and commit myself to a 6 hour train ride or, frankly even a 4 hour train ride. But, then I wouldn't want to get on another plane either (is it the same airport?)

Wouldn't you consider one night in the Eternal City?it seems botht the logical and attractive solution and with the money you'd save going by train versus plane, you can afford the hotel!

That once-a-day fast ES train takes 4 hours, but you still have to get from the airport to Termini which bumps the overall travel time to 5 hours. The fare is 86 euros in first and 62 euros in second. The fast ES train leaves Termini at 5:00 p.m.

http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/homepage_en.html

I thought that taking a budget flight within Europe would be cheap. I read some articles that quoted between $21-60 for a flight. I thought that a plane ride from Rome to Lamezia wouldn't be expensive. I will have to look into it more.

I will consider the other option of staying in Rome for 1 night.