Practical Information for visiting L'Aquila

L'Aquila is closer to Rome than most of Abruzzo and is reached by road.

Coaches are the main link: frequent direct services to Rome in about an hour and three quarters, which is how most people arrive, and to Pescara on the coast.

Trains serve L'Aquila on a slow branch via Terni or Sulmona and are not a practical way in.

By road, the A24 motorway runs from Rome through the mountains in tunnels and viaducts and is one of the more dramatic drives in Italy.

The nearest airports are Rome Fiumicino and Ciampino, both around two hours, and Pescara, about an hour and a half.

Sulmona is about an hour south.

Coverage for mobile networks is good in the city, patchy on the Gran Sasso.

L'Aquila is a safe city with low crime, and ordinary care is sufficient.

The distinctive hazards are the building sites. The centre has scaffolding, overhead work, propped walls and diverted footways. Obey the hoardings, do not enter closed buildings, and be aware that pavements are sometimes occupied.

This is a seismically active region with a documented history of destructive earthquakes. Minor tremors are not unusual. Modern buildings are built to current codes; if you feel a shock indoors, the standard advice is to stay put, away from windows, rather than run outside.

On the Gran Sasso, weather changes fast, snow is possible in any month at altitude, and the Corno Grande is a mountaineering objective rather than a walk. People die on it most years.

Mountain roads close in winter without much notice.

Emergency services are reachable on 112.

No vaccinations or special precautions are needed; standards are those of Italy generally.

Altitude and cold are the things visitors underestimate. At 714 metres, and far higher on the mountain, L'Aquila is a great deal colder than coastal Abruzzo, and winter here is a mountain winter.

The centre is flat and walkable, though building works create detours that can be awkward with a wheelchair or pushchair.

On the Gran Sasso, altitude, exposure and sun all matter, and ticks are present in the grazing land.

Pharmacies are plentiful with a posted out-of-hours rota.

The Ospedale San Salvatore is the regional hospital; it was itself damaged in 2009 and has been progressively rebuilt.

EHIC and GHIC cards are accepted; travel insurance is worth having, particularly if you intend to go into the mountains.

The single emergency number across Italy is 112, reaching police, ambulance and fire, generally with English-speaking operators.

Other numbers still in use: 113 police, 118 medical, 115 fire.

The Ospedale San Salvatore in L'Aquila is the regional hospital and has a full emergency department.

There is no foreign consulate here; the nearest consular representation and all embassies are in Rome, about two hours away.

Report thefts to the Carabinieri or Polizia di Stato for the report an insurer will require.

Mountain rescue on the Gran Sasso is coordinated through 112 and is the number that matters most here. Coverage on the massif is unreliable: leave your route and expected return with someone before walking, and be aware that a rescue on the Corno Grande is a technical operation.