Vehicles

1. la macchina

   Car

   Usage

   The everyday word. Signs and written Italian prefer "l'auto" or "l'automobile"

2. l'autobus

   City bus

   Usage

   You cannot buy a ticket on board — get one at a tobacconist ("il tabaccaio") or kiosk first and stamp it in the machine, or risk a fine. The stop is "la fermata"

3. il pullman

   Long-distance coach

   Usage

   The intercity coach, and the way to reach hill and coastal towns without a railway. "La corriera" is the rural-sounding synonym. The SITA buses along the Amalfi coast are these

4. il treno

   Train

   Usage

   The national operator is Trenitalia. "Il treno per ..." is the train to somewhere; the station is "la stazione" and the platform "il binario"

5. il Frecciarossa

   Frecciarossa high-speed train

   Usage

   Trenitalia's fastest service — literally "red arrow" — Milan to Rome in about three hours. Seats are reserved and early booking is much cheaper. Its slower siblings are the Frecciargento and Frecciabianca

6. l'Italo

   Italo high-speed train

   Usage

   The private high-speed operator competing with Trenitalia, in red livery, on the same routes — so compare the two fares. It has its own ticket desks and gates, so look for the Italo counter in the station

7. il regionale

   Regional train

   Usage

   The cheap all-stops service with no seat reservation — but you must validate ("la convalida") the ticket in the green or white machine before boarding, or face a stiff fine. There is also a slightly faster "regionale veloce"

8. l'Intercity

   Intercity train

   Usage

   The intercity service on lines without high-speed track — the Adriatic side, Sicily. Reserved seats, slower than a Frecciarossa but cheaper. The overnight "Intercity Notte" has sleepers

9. la metropolitana

   Metro / Subway

   Usage

   Often shortened to "il metrò" in speech. Rome (lines A, B, C), Milan, Naples and Turin have one. Several Naples stations are famous art installations, the "stazioni dell'arte"

10. il tram

    Tram

    Usage

    Running in Milan, Turin and Rome. Milan's wooden 1928 cars are still in daily service on routes such as line 1

11. la funicolare

    Funicular

    Usage

    A cable-hauled car up a steep slope. Naples has four, covered by the city transit ticket, and they also carry you up to Bergamo's Città Alta and the hill of Orvieto. The song "Funiculì, Funiculà" was written for the one on Vesuvius

12. la funivia

    Cable car

    Usage

    The big cabin suspended from a cable — the Dolomite and Alpine viewpoints, or Monte Solaro on Capri. Not the same as a "funicolare", which runs on the ground

13. il taxi

    Taxi

    Usage

    Italian taxis are white. Hailing on the street is rare — use a rank ("il posteggio dei taxi") or call. Airport runs are often a flat fare, so ask "è una tariffa fissa?" before setting off

14. il motorino

    Scooter / Moped

    Usage

    The vehicle that defines an Italian street, also called "lo scooter". A full motorcycle is "la moto". They weave through Rome and Naples traffic, so look twice when crossing

15. la Vespa

    Vespa

    Usage

    Piaggio's scooter, made since 1946, and now almost a generic word for a scooter in Italy. The name means "wasp", after the buzz of the engine. Tourist towns rent them and run Vespa tours

16. l'Ape

    Ape three-wheeler

    Usage

    The three-wheeled workhorse built on Vespa parts. Its name means "bee", paired with the Vespa's "wasp". It delivers through alleys too narrow for a van and doubles as a tourist taxi in the south and on the islands

17. la bicicletta

    Bicycle

    Usage

    Shortened to "la bici" in speech. The flat northern towns — Ferrara, Bologna — are cycling cities with plenty of rentals

18. il monopattino elettrico

    E-scooter

    Usage

    Shared ones line the streets of Milan and Rome. Rules have tightened recently — helmets, no two riders — so read the app's notices. The cobbles will throw you, so keep the speed down

19. l'aereo

    Airplane

    Usage

    Domestic flights are the practical way to Sicily and Sardinia. The airport is "l'aeroporto"

20. la nave

    Ship

    Usage

    A large vessel; a small boat is "la barca". The port is "il porto"

21. il traghetto

    Ferry

    Usage

    The car-carrying ferry — the Strait of Messina to Sicily, and the routes to Sardinia and Elba. In Venice the word also means the standing-room gondola that crosses the Grand Canal for a couple of euros

22. l'aliscafo

    Hydrofoil

    Usage

    Faster than a ferry but it takes no cars — Naples to Capri and Ischia, Sicily to the Aeolian islands. Rough seas cancel sailings, so check your return in good time

23. il vaporetto

    Vaporetto water bus

    Usage

    Venice's water bus, the city's equivalent of a bus route, run by ACTV. Line 1 works its way down the whole Grand Canal and doubles as sightseeing. Single tickets are pricey, so buy a pass for your stay. The name comes from "vapore", steam

24. la gondola

    Gondola

    Usage

    Venice's hand-rowed boat. Tourist rides run on a city-set tariff, charged per boat and per half hour rather than per person. The rower is "il gondoliere". For a cheap taste, take the crossing gondola, "il traghetto"

25. l'ambulanza

    Ambulance

    Usage

    The emergency number is the Europe-wide 112; the old medical line 118 still works. "Chiamate un'ambulanza, per favore" — please call an ambulance

26. l'auto a noleggio

    Rental car

    Usage

    Most Italian historic centres are ZTL zones — Zona a Traffico Limitato — where cameras photograph unauthorised cars and a large fine arrives months later. If your hotel is inside one, have them register your plate. Motorways ("l'autostrada") are tolled

27. il camion

    Truck / Lorry

    Usage

    A heavy lorry; a delivery van is "il furgone"

28. il camper

    Campervan / Motorhome

    Usage

    Motorhome touring is popular in Italy and towns provide dedicated "aree di sosta camper". They do not fit in old centres, so park outside and take public transport in

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