Italy’s Travel Strikes EXPLAINED - What You Need to Know!

Italy, it's the dream destination until you show up at the train station and find out the whole system is on strike. That's what happened to me and my sister when we were trying to get from here in Florence to Montecatini for simple gelato, and what followed next was an absolute mess. I'll get to that story here in a second, but here's the thing. Strikes in Italy aren't the end of the world. They're predictable, predictable, manageable, and sometimes even avoidable. I'll show you how to avoid panicking and even outsmart them. What are strikes in Italy? Well, a strike is called un sciopero, and they can affect trains, buses, planes, and even taxis. But the thing is, they're usually announced in advance, so you'll have a heads up. But don't assume the whole system will be shut down. There's usually a minimum of service guaranteed, meaning some buses, some trains, and yes, some flights will continue to run. The key is knowing where to check, so you're prepared and ready to face the strike, un sciopero. My advice to you, how to know when the strike is coming? Well, check local news media websites, like Google News, putting in the key search words Italy strike. Ask at your hotel lobby, or ask around from the locals here in Italy. If you say the word sciopero, their ears will perk up, they'll know what you're talking about, and they'll give you the information you need to know. The key is having that information, If you see the word sciopero at the train station, no, that's not a fancy type of espresso, it's a warning. How to avoid getting stuck? Well, travel outside of peak hours. In Italy, the strikes usually aren't all day, a few hours here and there, and at maximum they are one day long. But, if you find it is a one-day strike, you'll see there are still some essential services operating at peak hours, so you can get to where you need to go. So, consider showing up there at the bus stations, airport, or train stations in those early morning hours, or later in the evening when the services are likely to be operating. Have a backup plan. If you find yourself stranded in Italy due to a strike, well, congratulations, you just unlocked the authentic Italian experience of roaming around looking for a plan B. If you see the high-speed, long-distance trains are canceled, well, consider taking a regional, a slower train. If the trains are down, check for the buses, which is what I want to get into later, that story I want to share with you. In most cities, walkouts are usually partial, meaning you'll find some Metro, some bus services still operating. If you like this sort of content, and if you love Italy like I love Italy, well, hit the like button down below. That helps me out so much, and by subscribing and hitting that notification bell, you'll make sure you're not going to miss out any of the upcoming videos that I make on this subject, and you're also supporting me, helping me grow the channel, get these videos out to a much wider audience of Italian lovers. Thank you. Book flexible tickets. The good news, if there's a strike, your ticket is still valid on the next available train, so you're ready to go, but be prepared to not have that assigned seat, and perhaps standing in the aisle like a true Italian commuter. I always think of the James Brown lyric, I don't know karate, but I know crazy, and that's a phrase you might want to keep in mind in these strike situations. Also, if there's massive train delays, I think of my story when I was arriving at the airport in Rome, got to the Rome Central Station, and I needed to get from there to Florence. All the trains were delayed. I'm talking one hour, hour and a half, and so with my ticket, I just ran and found that first train that was leaving for Florence. I didn't care which train it was, it didn't matter, and I just jumped on. No worries, I just stood there between the cars, and I was prepared to tell the conductor if he came by that I got a ticket, these are crazy times, and you think of the James Brown lyric. Think of it as an immersive cultural experience, and personal space doesn't exist. When in doubt, just show up. Even during the strikes, you'll find that some essential services are still operating, even with delays, but locals and staff at the stations will find a way to make things work out. So, just go to the station and see what's going on, find out for yourself. Panicking won't get you there any faster, but showing up and pretending to be Italian just might. All right, now let me explain the story that my sister and I had, the adventure, when we needed to get to Montecatini to go meet my landlord and his family and have gelato his shop. When we showed up at the train station here in Florence, boom! Chopero! Strike! Not what we wanted to see. We looked up there on the board, all the trains were showing cancelled, cancelled, cancelled, but we heard there was another way to get there by bus, so we rushed to the bus stop. There were no buses to be found, however, so we didn't know what to do. But we kept wandering around aimlessly, asking locals, asking some of the train station staff, until we finally found the bus. So, we got on the bus, hot, smelly, sweaty, stinky. When we got there in Montecatini, sat down with that gelato, what was a well-earned ice cream. We truly enjoyed it and savored it. The irony of the story is, by the time we were finished in Montecatini, we'd also gone to Pisa, we'd seen the tower. Well, the train strike was over with, so the trains were running as normal, and we were able to take a train back from Montecatini to Florence, no problemo. All this information is ram-jammed in my regular email newsletter. There's a link downstairs to sign up for that, and you'll get all sorts of free tips and information. Think of it, in Italy, strikes aren't the end of the world. They're an excuse to eat more gelato, and that was truly the case with us. If you want to get insider, exclusive content, behind-the-scenes footage, early bird viewing to my videos, well, consider joining my Patreon. As a patron, you'll get all the goodies and the good warm feeling of supporting me and the work that I'm doing. So, thank you very much. My advice, well, before your travel dates are coming up, plan in advance. Look ahead a couple weeks out to see if there are any strikes going on via the searches that I explained. On the day, don't just assume everything's a total blackout, everything's cancelled. Instead, go to the station, ask around, find other ways. Not everything will be cancelled. And just be flexible, learn to embrace the chaos, have a little bit of that James Brown crazy inside of you. If you are coming here to Italy, and you're gonna be traveling by train, which I highly encourage you to do, well, I made a complete guide breaking it down, how to go by high-speed train, enjoying the Italian countryside. Check it out here next. You know, thankfully, the park workers aren't on strike.