Parma Transportation

Parma is not a big city and if you go there as a tourist, you can avoid using public transport, since you can reach all the attractions on foot.
However, Parma is growing and two light metro lines are to be built to connect the city centre to the airport, the university and the motorway. You can see the plan of line A in the link below.

Parma lies halfway on the Milano-Bologna railway. Regional trains, as well as Intercity and Eurostar trains connect it to these two cities but also to other minor destinations, such as Parma and La Spezia.
I took the train from Bologna to Parma: it covered the 90 kms in just one hour, i.e. at an average speed of 90 kms/h, which is very high for a regional train. Moreover, once the high speed line between Milano and Bologna is put into service in 2008, the travel time to both cities will reduce to half an hour!

The Stadio Tardini is situated a bit outside the city center, but is still very easy to reach. If you come by car you should just follow the signs with ¡§Stadio¡¨, as in all Italian cities, and you should be fine. I couldn¡¦t see any parking-places when I was there, but there should be, at least you think so¡K

If you come to Parma with train, there is a bus-shuttle that leaves from the Centralstation to the Stadium at matchdays. They have signs with ¡§Stadio¡¨ on them. No problem at all, and you¡¦re there after 10-20 minutes.
More problems after the game though, since the bus doesn¡¦t go as often as before¡K ƒ¼ I had to wait there for nearly two hours, and that wasn¡¦t something I was very happy about in the cold November¡K
It is also possible to take a walk back to the station, I learnt after. And it shouldn¡¦t be long either. Maybe that¡¦s something that¡¦s better.

Parma has an airport, but just a small one.
Anyway, the regular flights to and from Rome are useful to catch international flights from there and also for business people who need to go to Rome just for one day (the trip by train takes 5 hours each way).
In summer there are also regular flights to Olbia (Sardinia) and other places.
If you arrive here and need a taxi you will not find them waiting outside, so you should ask the staff at the ticket counters, they will call one for you.

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You can get to Parma:

1. by a car - remember to buy a good city map before driving into the city, I don't remember any problems with finding a parking lot for my car.
Parma is located by the main Italian Highway (toll) A1 - called often Highway Of The Sun: half-way between Milan and Bologna.
Distance from the cities:
Ancona km 312 (194 mi), Firenze (Florence) km 186 (116 mi), Genova (Genua) km 208 (129 mi), Milano (Milan) km 123 (76 mi), Torino (Turin) km 246 (153 mi), Venezia (Venice) km 219 (136 mi).

2. by a train:
Railway Station
Stazione FS Parma
P.le Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa
tel. (+39) 147888088
Check your timetable:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en - page of German Railways (Deutche Bundesbahn) in English,
www.rail.ch/index_e.htm - page of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in English
www.cvut.cz/home/railway.htm - index of European railway resources (hundreds georgeus links although some of them are not updated).

3. by air
Parma has its own airport:
Giuseppe Verdi (4 km from Parma; international code: PMF)
tel. Parma Airport Information Office (+39)521 9515
www.aeroportoparma.it/zeindex.htm

4. Any more possibilities? Hmm... I think about a baloon landing in Piazza del Duomo - would you like it? He? :-)
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Bad impression if you get out from the motorway with your car; before reachin' the downtown the city is not so nice to see .. but pls be patient ... you'll get satisfied !
There's also a small airport you can reach from biggest cities in Europe an Italy: check the website @ www.aeroportoparma.it/
In the downtown absolutely walking !

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The historic center of parma is compact - easy to walk around on foot.
You can use taxis or orange city buses as well (from airport for example).
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