Italian Buses: How to and How NOT to

When it comes to buses in Italy, you should consider them your way of getting to the very few areas that trains cannot take you. If available, always take a train or subway; however, there will be a few times when buses are the only public transportation to get from point A to point B. We only had a handful of experiences taking buses in Italy, and depending on which part of the country you are in, your experience may differ from ours, so take our advice with a grain of salt. Without further adieu, here are our tips and tricks.
Finding a Bus Pass
When taking buses in Italy, you must first get a bus pass. You can get a bus pass at a variety of places, and most often this was at newspaper kiosks. We were even able to find some at a local cafe which was a very lucky find.

Asking for a Bus Pass
When asking for a bus pass, indicate you would like to buy a bus ticket, or “Biglietto dell’autobus." Often, there will be multiple bus passes available for purchase, so you will have to choose between the options. (Pointing is often best for this if you are like us and don’t speak Italian.)
Finding the Right Bus
After you get your bus pass, Google Maps is your friend. Google Maps will get you to the right stop, tell you which bus to take, and show you where to get off. If you are not familiar with the map app of the century, you can get the app on your phone, search for directions to your destination, and tap the bus icon.
Motion Sickness
Italy is full of winding roads with Italian bus drivers that often stop and start suddenly. All of this is to say, if you are the type to get motion sick quickly *cough cough* Abbey *cough* then you should always have some dramamine handy... or a plastic bag if you didn’t prepare well enough ahead of time.
Follow the Rules!

On a bus in La Spezia, your favorite budget backpackers may have gone a little too budget-friendly. We didn't ask the driver how to validate our bus passes (and may have kept the passes for a few bus rides beforehand).
We were happily staring out the window admiring the Italian coastline when two bus police boarded. We looked at each other in horror and, of course, the bus police looked at our passes and were clearly very upset. They told us to get off the bus with them, and we were running through countless nightmare scenarios in our head, hoping we wouldn’t have to spend the rest of our trip in a musty Italian jail cell.
To our luck, we were given a simple ticket, with the bus police only issuing us one fine instead of two. We had to sit and wait with them at the bus stop for around a half hour, and one of them happened to know more U.S. State capitals than either of us. Although, he didn't think it was too funny when we tried to bet him the price of a bus ticket that he couldn't guess the capital of Illinois (Springfield, not Chicago).

Overall, if you find yourself needing to navigate the Italian bus system anytime soon, just know everyone makes mistakes! Know your route ahead of time, do your research, and look for helpful faces along the way if you run into problems.
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