fightclubbones

We are planning a 3 week trip for next June. Traveler ages are 42, 40, and 8. We will be using only public transport (buses and trains). Does anyone see any problems with this?
Home---> Paris for 4 days.
Paris ----> Florence
Florence-----> Siena
Siena------> Rome
Rome -----> Barrea
Barrea-----> Naples
Naples ----> Home

Outside of the 4 days in Paris, we are open to filling the rest of the 3 weeks in each city. Is there one that deserves more attention than another? Siena and Barrea are important because those cities are where our families came from, so we don't want to miss out on them. i know whe can make day trips from Siena to Rome, but I really want to stay in Siena and reseach my husbands family heritage.

Any suggestions about is this is "do-able" and what anyone can recommend would be great!!!

Michael

Since most of your trip is in Italy, why Paris? I would start in Venice (as someone who goes to Paris every year).

PalenQ

Yes very doable and with that many trains in Italy investigate the Italy Railpass - the more days you buy the cheaper it becomes to at some point about $20/day or so for unlimited day's transit - great sites for info on Italian trains - www.trenitalia.com (check for schedules and regular fares - online discounts however are in practice hard to change and to secure must be booked weeks in advance, locking you in stone - a pass can be used on any train anytime (but you do need to make a seat reservation, mandated, each time except on regional trains - other great sites - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id12.html.

And IME of decades of travel on European trains I am adamant that for the average traveler on the trip of a lifetime to go first class - exp if hauling around luggage - about 25% fewer seats in same size train car - lots of empty seats IME often - bigger seats and the to me priceless aisle and window seats on only one in a row - and the railpass is even a much better value in first class compared to regular first class fares.

fightclubbones

@ Michael... we are starting in Paris because of a wedding... Italy, is just for us.

charnees

First, I would caution you that day trips to Rome from Siena would be a mistake. Too much time enroute, and far, far too much to see in Rome!

Depending on your interests besides genealogy, I would drop either Florence or Naples, although you may have to spend a night in Naples before leaving for home. I don't think. it will be too daunting to do that. It seems that Naples is the nearest departure point from Barrea.

If you are very interested in Renaissance art and history, then keep Florence and skip Rome on ths trip.

fightclubbones

I'm sorry... I think I meant to say Siena to Florence for day trips. As far as hotels, which do area do you think is less expensive to stay in? Siena or Florence? The genealogy part is a SMALL part of our trip. Outside of a little oohing and aahing.. we don't plan on doing any intensive research. Florence is a must and Naples is really an afterthought of somewhere to fly out of that isn't Rome. Open to other suggestions of where to fly back home from.

BigRuss

Siena's a great little town with one of the world's outstanding churches (its highly underrated Duomo) but it is a LITTLE town. You shouldn't spend too much time there at the expense of Rome or Florence. You also need to look into the availability of records - Italian records are notoriously poor because the Italian nation is about 150 years old and before the 1860s present-day Italy was either part of France, part of Spain, part of the Holy Roman Empire, part of another power, or separated into various city-states (e.g., Kingdom of Naples). Italians are neither British nor German; unfortunately, they are much closer to the Greeks in this respect such that Italian records will not be of the highest quality.

<<i know whe can make day trips from Siena to Rome>>

Um, not really. Siena is not on a fast train line and so the trip to Rome is long. Rome is one of the world's great cities so a "day trip" is a bit daft considering how much there is to see and how little you will see in just a day. Simply stated: go to Rome and spend time there.

What city deserves more time depends upon what you like. Florence is the capital of Renaissance art, Rome is a great city of the world for various reasons, Naples has its allures but many reasons not to go. Not certain what you want to do in Barrea, but it's day-trippable from Rome (80 miles).

And the Naples-Home issue is something you'll need to look into. Doubting there are many direct flights from Naples to the US other than through JFK. More options from Rome.

ticadonnita

WE are going to Italy in October and I discovered a great site that has rooms, apts., houses, villas for rent at good prices. Many places look more interesting and certainly less expensive than hotels. airbnb.com is the link.

fightclubbones

@ BigRuss Thanks for the message. yeah, I screwed up. It should be Florence to Siena. Sorry everyone. I have found the bus information for the trip.

We are going to Siena to see the Piccolomini sites-- that is my husbands side of the family-- and of course Saint Catherine! We are going to Barrea to see where my family is from. I have found an amazing inn there right on the lake that we are very excited to visit.

I guess we could change things and go from Siena to Barrea and then leave from Rome. My heart isn't set on Naples. I just don't know the best way to get from Siena to Barrea on buses/trains.

I would forsake Naples for longer in Florence and Rome.

kybourbon

If you want a cheap place to stay in Siena take a look at Alma Domus (convent hotel). Great location, AC, breakfast and great views. It's just to the right of San Domenico (Catherine's head is here if you want to see it!), but your views are of the Siena Duomo. A double is 75€ per night with breakfast. It's a few minutes walk from the campo.

http://hotelalmadomus.it/

http://www.operaduomo.siena.it/

There's a couple of restaurants just above Alma Domus where you can eat outside with views of both churches.

PalenQ

I just don't know the best way to get from Siena to Barrea on buses/trains.>

Could take the train to Chiusi and connect with mainline trains there to l'Aquila or take the bus Siena to Florence and take train to L'Aquila (know Barrea is an hour or so from L'Aquila but does it even has train service - buses IME are very frequent in that area and run everywhere so should be possible from the closest main rail station.

Buses do not always however in that mountainous terrain go in straight lines between cities like Siena and Barrea and may involve multiple changes - rarely any problem as there are so so many buses and they are dirt cheap.

fightclubbones

Everyone here is so helpful. Thank you for all of the advice.

bilboburgler

Siena is glorious and surrounded by other smaller cities of equal interest so you could easily base yourself here and get buses to Volturra, St Gim, Pienza etc after which you will have seen enough dressed stone to drive you mad. For this reason and the iced cake that is the duomo I'd give it at least 4 nights. If it is mid summer you will need to throw in a swimming pool for you all as it gets hot in them-ther-hills.

Florence has enough to fill 4 weeks so be tough and just do the key things and spend time in the gardens of Florence to keep cool (take a frisbee) there are some lovely appartments in Florence to rent often for less than a week and if you book now you can stay in a locals area rather than a stuffy old hotel.

I might drop Naples, just because it will be hot and smelly but the water front and ferries take you to Capri so cannot be too bad.

Rome is fascinating if you are into Ancient Roman stuff.

Palenq has a thing about first class. I can understand and I have used first class in some "interesting" countries to get something enjoyable. But unless you have two big bags each or you are massive (I'm not judging here) then there is no need, but I speak as someone who is svelte. European trains and Italian ones especially are a very pleasant way to get around.

bilboburgler

"Palenq has a thing about first class." That sounds bad, so I'll withdraw it now.

kybourbon

For transport, it looks like buses are best for all of your routes:

Sita bus from Florence to Siena

http://www.sitabus.it/sita-toscana/F...-Siena2010.pdf

Sena bus from Siena to Rome

http://www.sena.it/Home/78-1-en.html

Arpa bus from Rome to Barrea.

Arpa bus from Barrea to Naples

http://ro.autobus.it/ro/asp/RicercaOrari.asp?User=arpa

Buses are more efficient with less changes and are more comfortable on these routes than the slow R trains.

jgg

I agree that you might want to skip Naples to provide more time in Florence and Rome.

Also, just wanted to mention that we did a similar trip a few years ago where parts of it were to the little towns that my husband's side of the family was from. We never did tried to find any documents, but many of these small towns had only a few family names so his family names were written in a lot of places in the town, so that was fun. We did see the church his great grandparents were married in and even found his great grandfather's tombstone (which was amazing since so many of them had fallen down). Just wanted to say, that even without doing tons of research it is still fascinating to go to the small town where your family is from and just "experience" it.
Here is a link to my trip report along with pictures:
http://www.fromhometoroam.com/2012/0...t-acqui-terme/

vespacurves

Barrea may turn out to be the most interesting place you go in Italy and more emotional than you expect. With an 8 year old, I would focus less on sightseeing and more on experiencing the every day joys of Italy and your family connections.

If you don't have a specific reason to be in Florence or Naples, they are not necessarily easy places with 8 year olds. Naples has intensely difficult traffic and a fair number of nutty people. It's so chaotic, you'll constantly be on your guard.

Florence is lot more user friendly, but it is still a very crowded small city with less elbow room than Paris. It's always a real toss up whether a child will take to it like a duck into water, or quickly tire of being told "look at this" "look at that" all the time. In Siena, an 8 year old can run around a bit more freely, since more of the town is pedestrianized.

I hope you will all skip the really long slogs like the Vatican, the Forum and many churches and art galleries in Rome unless you are all so enthusiastic about the mere thought of it, you just can't wait.

Pack light, especially if you plan to squeeze onto buses with suitcases. But you'll tire of train steps and overhead racks too if your bags are too heavy.