This page will help you plan how to get to Italy, and how to get about when you are there; how to book a hotel in Italy online; which cheap airlines fly to Italy from the UK; where to start looking for budget travel insurance. On each club page, we do our best to provide directions to the stadium; there is always plenty of public transport laid on for fans. For more detailed Italy travel information, visit the tourism site Italy Heaven.

Be aware that the exact time of a Serie A weekend fixture will not be confirmed until 2-3 weeks prior to the game. Although most kick off at 3pm on the Sunday listed, two games are usually played on Saturday evening and one on Sunday evening. So if you're travelling to a weekend match, try to plan your trip to allow for a Saturday or Sunday evening match (check the Italian league or club websites for scheduling). Very few matches are cancelled, but it can happen: sudden deaths, flooding and crowd trouble have caused games to be postponed or abandoned in the last couple of years.

Buying tickets

In the 2005-2006 season new laws have been introduced to help fight violence in football stadiums. Tickets are supposed to be issued to named individuals, upon provision of address and ID. The application of these laws is causing a headache for everyone, and as we write most clubs still haven't organised their online ticket sales or published guidelines for purchase. Some interpretations mean you need to buy your ticket in advance (with no sales on matchday at the stadium) upon presentation of ID, address and maybe even an Italian tax code. This seems to us to discriminate more against the innocent (like the overseas fans who turn out in force for Italian fixtures), than the guilty. Overseas fans buying tickets online will have been used to providing their details anyway, but now it is likely that full details are required for each member of your party. If you can't buy tickets online before your trip, purchase them as soon as you arrive in Italy. Hotels can sometimes be good sources of advice. Make sure everyone in your group takes their ID (passports are best) with them when you collect your ticket, and to the football ground.

Accommodation

Football in Italy has a partnership with leading Italian accommodation website Venere. They list thousands of accommodation options in Italy, from humble B&Bs to swanky 5-star hotels. They have a nice site, informative hotel homepages, and also user reviews, so you can check what previous guests have to say before you book. The online booking system is secure and straightforward. And if you make a booking via Football in Italy's links, Venere will pay this site a small amount of commission to help with site upkeep.

Flights to Italy

Nowadays it can be very cheap to fly to Italy from the UK. Several budget 'no-frills' airlines fly to various Italian destinations from airports around the UK.

Ryanair fly from Stansted to Rome, Pisa, Palermo, Genoa, Ancona, Milan (actually Bergamo Airport), Venice Treviso, Brescia, Turin, Bologna (Forli), Trieste, Alghero, Pescara, Brindisi and Bari. They also run flights from Luton to Venice Treviso, Rome and Milan Bergamo, and from Liverpool to these three cities as well as Pisa. From Glasgow flights operate to Rome, Pisa and Milan Bergamo. Travellers from the Republic of Ireland can fly to Rome from Dublin and from Shannon to Milan Bergamo.
Easyjet fly their customers to Rome, Naples, Milan Linate, Venice, Turin and Bologna, as well as Olbia and Cagliari in Sardinia. Most flights use London Stansted Airport, but they also operate some services from regional airports.
Thomson Flights fly to Naples, Pisa, Venice, Catania, Palermo, Olbia, Cagliari and Alghero and Brindisi from a number of regional UK airports, and are a good option if you live a long way from Stansted.

Trains in Italy

Trains are an efficient and cheap way to get about Italy. You can look up timetables and reserve tickets online at www.trenitalia.com. The rail service, Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), operates many different types of train. You pay per mile, and each type of train has a different price. It's worth comparing a few options as slower trains can be much cheaper. Sometimes for a journey that is 20 minutes longer you can halve your fare - but do be sure to have the right ticket for the train you get on. The fastest, most comfortable service is the costly Eurostar (not to be confused with the London-Paris namesake). To travel on this train, you need a seat reservation as well as a ticket. We've always found a good way to buy tickets is from the automatic machines in stations. The ones in Rome are plentiful, efficient, multi-lingual, take credit cards and there is hardly ever a queue. Much better than waiting in a long line for a surly assistant behind a glass window.

The main problem associated with travelling in Italy is the likeliood of strikes. These happen at irregular intervals, generally taking place at weekends, from Saturday evening until Sunday evening. Some trains may still run, but you can't rely on being able to make your journey. When a strike - sciopero - is scheduled, details should be announced on the FS website (see above). Bus services also connect cities, although they can be hard to find, so try to plan in advance.

Note: always validate your ticket by stamping it in the machines provided on platforms. Inspectors can be very hard on anyone travelling without valid tickets, and they don't always take pity on bewildered tourists (it's always worth a try though). If you absolutely can't find a machine that works - this goes for buses as well - try writing the date and time on the ticket yourself. This shows your good intentions.

Feeling daunted? If you're prepared to pay more for someone else to do the legwork, you could consider booking a package deal. Visit the Football in Italy package deals page for useful links.