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TRAIN TRAVEL

Where Italy’s new ‘tourist trains’ can take you in 2024

New rail routes are planned to take visitors from Italy's major cities to smaller destinations under a scheme aimed at making tourism in the country more sustainable.

Published: 15 November 2023 11:27 CET
Updated: 5 January 2024 14:59 CET
Where Italy's new 'tourist trains' can take you in 2024
A passenger waits for a train at Manarola, Cinque Terre. Italy's rail network is set to expand to include special 'tourist train' routes. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP)

Though some passengers may have not-too-distant memories of run-down trains trundling through the Italian countryside, national rail services have improved significantly overall in the past two decades and journeys are becoming faster and more comfortable.

For visitors, rail travel is already seen as a generally reliable and efficient way to tour Italy’s major destinations, and trains are expected to play a bigger part in Italy’s tourism industry from next year.

MAP: Where can high-speed rail take you in Italy?

The Italian state-owned railway company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) has announced plans to introduce several new tourist-focused services, known as Treni Turistici Italiani, employing ‘luxury’ trains and reconditioned vintage locomotives on some popular routes as well as with lesser-known itineraries.

The initiative comes as Italy struggles to manage overtourism: the issue of too many visitors cramming into popular destinations, such as Rome or Venice, at one time.

The number of international tourists visiting Italy is only expected to keep rising, with an estimated 75 million in 2023 up from 56 million the year before, according to FS.

EXPLAINED: The big changes for train travel across Europe in 2024

The new tourist train services, which appear to be aimed at Italians as well as foreign visitors, are hoped to encourage more people to travel beyond the major cities and best-known tour destinations, encouraging a more sustainable form of travel which supports local economies in lesser-visited areas, FS says on its website.

The new lines were first announced shortly after FS launched a special direct service this summer linking Rome with the ancient archaeological site of Pompeii, a journey which previously required changing to a local stopping service.

Though there’s no information yet about exactly when in 2024 the other planned services will be launched, or how much tickets will cost, the announcements so far give an idea of what passengers can expect.

FS says it plans to run three different types of services – from luxurious international services to slower-paced regional lines – each aimed at making the train journey “an integral part of the vacation”.

The Lusso (Luxury) services will be fronted by the Orient Express La Dolce Vita fleet, with a total of six trains, each featuring “deluxe cabins” and a fine-dining restaurant, travelling across 14 Italian regions and regularly crossing national borders to reach Paris, Istanbul or Split, Croatia.

Meanwhile, the Espresso (Express) division will employ late 20th-century trains restored to modern standards, with sleeper cabins, restaurant cars, and storage areas for bikes and skis. These will link Rome, Milan, and potentially other large cities to popular seaside or mountain destinations.

The first of these will be launched in mid-December 2023, linking Rome with the popular ski resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites.

The Omnibus category will include slower (and lower-priced) regional services, with itineraries aimed at exploring lesser-known regions and their natural landscapes.

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DISCOVER ITALY

What’s on: 9 unmissable events taking place around Italy this July

Italy in July offers an embarrassment of riches when it comes to summer events and activities. From film festivals to medieval jousting tournaments, here are nine events you definitely shouldn't miss out on.

Published: 3 July 2024 12:50 CEST
What's on: 9 unmissable events taking place around Italy this July

Quo Vadis?, Rome: July 8th-17th

The Temple of Venus and Roma, an impressive Roman Forum structure located right next to the Colosseum, will once again host a free film festival this July.

Born out of a partnership between city authorities and Italy’s national film archive, the Quo Vadis? festival will run from July 8th to July 17th, featuring blockbusters such as Ridley Scott’s Gladiator and William Wyler’s Roman Holiday as well as Italian classics including La Grande Bellezza by Paolo Sorrentino.

All films will be shown in their original version with Italian subtitles, or English subtitles for films in Italian. Admission is free of charge, but advance booking is recommended. 

Umbria Jazz Festival, Perugia: July 12th-21st

One of Europe’s leading jazz festivals, Umbria Jazz has both a summer and a winter edition, with this year’s summer festival set to run throughout the third week of July.

Lenny Kravitz, Thornetta Davis, Ray Gelato & The Giants, and Sammy Miller and the Congregation are some of the acts due to make an appearance in 2024.

Puccini Festival, Torre del Lago, Tuscany: July 12th-September 7th

Located right between the Tyrrhenian coastline and Lake Massaciuccoli, the small town of Torre del Lago, Tuscany, famously hosts an open-air opera festival entirely dedicated to Italian maestro Giacomo Puccini every summer. 

This year’s edition, which marks 100 years since the Italian composer’s death, will run on various dates from July 12th up until September 7th.

This season, opera buffs will have the opportunity to see performances of La Boheme, Tosca, Turandot and Madama Butterfly among other classics.

All shows will be held in a purpose-built lakeside arena offering spectators unique views of Lake Massaciuccoli and the surrounding hills.

Giostra della Quintana, Ascoli Piceno: July 13th

If attending a medieval jousting tournament is on your bucket list, the city of Ascoli Piceno in the Le Marche region is the place to be in July.

The event takes place twice a year, with the first Giostra held on the second Saturday in July (falling on July 13th this year) and the second one unfolding on the first Sunday in August. 

The Quintana joust sees six ‘knights’, one from each of the city’s sestieri (districts), ride their horse around a treacherous racetrack and insert their lance through a ring held by a statue of a Saracen warrior. The knight who hits the target with the greatest accuracy in the shortest time is declared the winner.

The city of Ascoli goes all out to celebrate the Giostra, with a flag throwers contest and a costumed historical parade among the events preceding the tournament.

Festino di Santa Rosalia, Palermo: July 14th-15th

On July 15th, Sicily’s capital celebrates its patron saint’s day with the Festino di Santa Rosalia (in dialect, U fistinu).

Rosalia Sinibaldi was a young 12th century Norman noblewoman who ran away shortly before her wedding to live as a religious mystic and hermit on Monte Pellegrino.

According to legend, when a deadly plague hit Palermo in 1624, Rosalia appeared on two separate occasions instructing people to find her bones and parade them around the city; they did so, and the plague abated.

Every year on July 14th, a statue of La Santuzza is paraded down the city’s main thoroughfares to music and singing, ending with a fireworks display at sea. July 15th is a more solemn affair, with a silver urn containing the saint’s relics brought down Corso Vittorio Emanuele in a sombre procession.

Both the church and the city of Palermo put on a programme of additional events leading up to the feast day itself.

This year’s celebrations will be particularly special, as 2024 marks the 400th anniversary of Rosalia’s miraculous appearance; a new statue has been made in honour of the occasion.

Stresa Festival, Lake Maggiore: July 16th-Sept 6th

From the third week in July to the start of September, the waters of Lake Maggiore come alive with the sounds of classical music from the Stresa Festival, the lake’s most eagerly anticipated summer event.

This year’s 63rd edition of the festival features performances from Ludovico Einaudi, the Barbican Quartet, and the Trio Chagall, among many others.

Venues include such sites of such artistic and historic importance as the hermitage of Santa Caterina del Sasso, Isola Bella and Isola Madre islands in the lake’s centre, and the Chiesa di Madonna di Campagna.

Festa del Redentore, Venice: July 19th-21st

Venice’s Festa del Redentore (Feast of the Redeemer), held on the third Sunday of July, commemorates the end of a plague that decimated Venice’s population, killing as many as 46,000 residents between 1575 and 1576.

A number of events take place on the weekdays preceding the feast itself, including the construction of a floating walkway connecting Venice to the nearby Giudecca island.

Celebrations traditionally kick off on Saturday afternoon, punctuated by a 40-minute fireworks display over the lagoon’s waters at 11.30pm.

A view of the firework display marking Venice’s traditional Feast of the Redeemer.

A view of the firework display marking Venice’s traditional Feast of the Redeemer. Photo by James Robinson su Unsplash

Archery contest, Fivizzano: July 19th-21st

A historical reenactment of a contest that dates back to the 16th century, the Disfida degli Arcieri di Terra e Corte sees archers from Fivizzano’s five neighbourhoods compete to see their district’s flag raised in the historic centre.

The event itself is preceded by two days of food fairs, performances and workshops, with local fare such as testaroli, polenta incatenata and tordelli on offer.

A detailed programme has yet to be released, but the contest is scheduled to start at 8.30pm on the 21st; keep an eye on the organisers’ Facebook page for updates.

Giostra dell’Orso, Pistoia: July 25th

If you miss out on Ascoli Piceno’s Quintana, don’t despair – you’ll have the opportunity to attend another medieval jousting tournament towards the end of the month in the Tuscan town of Pistoia.

The Giostra dell’Orso, or Bear Joust, involves costumed rivals from the city’s four districts of Porta al Borgo, Porta Carratica, Porta San Marco and Porta Lucchese competing to strike a target in the shape of a wooden bear with their lance.

The event is held on Pistoia’s patron saint’s day, the Festa di San Jacopo, and is preceded by a historical procession with flag-throwing and trumpets.

Do you have a July event that you’d like us to highlight? Let us know in the comments section below.

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