Flights from Bilbao to Italy from 16GBP*

Flights to Italy from Bilbao

Italy is the country with the most direct destinations from Bilbao: 14 cities, from the industrial north to the Mediterranean south, all within about 2 and a half hours of flying.

With flights this short, journey time hardly matters. The real question is where you land. Rome and Milan are the obvious picks, but touching down in Bari, Cagliari or Catania gives you a completely different trip, and the airport you choose shapes everything that follows.

What documents you need to travel to Italy

Italy is part of the European Union and the Schengen Area, so Spanish and other EU citizens only need a valid national ID card or passport, with no visa.

Schengen flights require the physical Spanish ID card (DNI). The digital version is only valid on flights within Spain, and that detail catches people out at the check-in desk. If you are travelling with children, each one needs their own document. If you hold another nationality, check your case on the travel documents page before you book.

What to know when you land in Italy

High-speed trains. They link much of the country, so any of the 14 destinations can serve as a starting point. Rome and Milan are around 3 hours apart, with Florence halfway between them, and Bologna works as the hub for the north and the Adriatic. Flying into one city and home from another usually gets more out of the trip than an out-and-back.

The coperto. Many restaurants add a cover charge to the bill. It is not a mistake or a hidden tip. It is standard practice, and worth knowing before you query it with the waiter. Outside the big cities, cash still comes in handy.

Climate by latitude. The north has cold, damp winters, with fog settling over the Po Valley, and it is nothing like the Basque Country despite lying at a similar latitude. The south and the islands are already warm in spring and very hot in August, which is also when half of Italy shuts up and heads for the beach.

Opening hours. Many shops and restaurants close in the middle of the day and reopen in the afternoon. If your flight lands in that window, factor it in when you plan your first meal.

Plug sockets in Italy are types C, F and L, at 230V. Type L is the one with three pins in a row.

What to do in Italy

Rome and central Italy

Every street has centuries of history behind it, yet the classics are what define the trip: the Vatican, the Colosseum, and the Trastevere and Pigneto neighbourhoods for a meal without the queues. Florence is an hour and a half away by train and makes a good base for Tuscany, with Siena and San Gimignano a short drive away.

The north

Milan for design, fashion and an easy base for the lakes. Turin, grander in style and home to the finest Egyptian museum outside Cairo. Venice, which needs no introduction, with the Veneto behind it. Bologna is a city you eat your way through, and Genoa faces the sea, with an old town that surprises almost everyone.

The south

Naples is Italy at its most intense, with Vesuvius, Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast all within a day trip. Bari opens up Puglia, which is another world entirely: trulli, masserie, olive groves and an Adriatic coast quite unlike the Tyrrhenian side.

Sicily and Sardinia

For Sicily, fly into Catania, right beside Etna, Palermo, with its markets and baroque churches, or Comiso, which puts the baroque south-east within easy reach. For Sardinia, it is Cagliari in the south or Olbia, next to the Costa Smeralda. On both islands a car is practically essential.

Luggage for your flight to Italy

What you can take depends on the fare you choose when booking. The simplest fare includes a personal item that goes under the seat in front, and from there you can add cabin or checked luggage.

For a city break, cabin luggage is usually enough. If your plan strings together several stops by train, sorting out your luggage when you book saves you hauling too much between stations. Check the current conditions in Vueling’s luggage policy.