Jayne11159

My husband and I are traveling to Italy for 14 days in November, flying in and out of Rome. We want to spend a few days in Rome, Florence, Venice and Cinque Terre. We are thinking about doing Rome first, then flying to Venice and working our way back to Rome. We are having trouble determining the most logical route and mode(s) of transportation. We prefer to travel by train as we don't feel confident driving in the cities. We've never done a single European country completely by train. I prefer to go through an agency to purchase train tickets so that I don't have to guess the most convenient stations, fastest train, best routes etc. Years ago I used a great agency to purchase train tickets between Berlin, Krakow and Prague but I can't locate them.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide.

jscarbary

If you are flying into and out of Rome, it makes more sense to train to Venice when you arrive and work your way back to Rome for your flight home. It is only a three hour fast train ride from Rome to Venice, no sense to fly. We loved Venice and had four days there in the Spring time. Days will be shorter in November, I wouldn't go for fewer than four days again, but that is me and not you. Florence is another 90 minute fast train ride from Venice. Florence is compact and full of Italian Renaissance paintings (among other things). What I learned on our first trip to Italy was that I am not a fan of Italian Renaissance painting but absolutely love the sculpture. We didn't have time for the Accademia but did go to the Uffizi, wished we had done it the other way around - there are a lot of Italian Renaissance paintings in the Uffizi, but again that is me and not you. We have never been to Cinque Terre so I can't tell you how much time is needed. We have spent most of our time in two Italian trips in Rome and LOVE it. There is so much to see and so much gelato to eat in Rome I think it needs the most number of days.

zorrosf

Since you will already be at FCO on arrival, IMO it makes more sense to fly (Alitalia for $88) to Venice. The flight is 1 hour. By the time you travel from FCO to Rome Termini, and figure out which train to catch, and spend 3 hours en route, you could already be enjoying Venice if you flew. Otherwise, train travel in Italy is efficient and reasonably priced.

Remember, if you fly in on Day 1 and leave on Day 15, that is not "14 days" on the ground, but only 13 (depending on time of arrival), the first of which may be shot due to jet lag. In your planning, make sure you schedule the time it takes to get to each new place. For example, it takes most of a day to check out of your hotel in Venice, travel to the train station, find your train, travel to Florence, travel to your hotel, check in, unpack, etc., etc. Others may quibble with my time estimate, but this has been my experience.

You may wish to consult "the man in seat 61" website for expert advice on train travel in Europe.

isabel

Train to Venice on arrival makes the most sense. Just because you will 'already be at FCO' doesn't mean you'll find a convenient flight to Venice, and even if you did it would be foolish to book it because if your first flight is late and you miss the flight to Venice you are out of luck.

There is a "Leonardo Express" train every half hour from the airport to Roma Termini (main train station in Rome), journey takes half an hour. Even though you could save some money if you book tickets 90 days in advance I would wait till you land to buy the ticket to Venice (again, if your flight is late and you miss the train you are out of luck as the advance purchase tickets are not refundable). You can buy both the ticket from the airport to Roma Termini and the ticket from there to Venice (Venezia S. Lucia) at the airport train station. Tickets from Venice to Florence and Florence back to Rome you could advance purchase if you know what times you want to travel. Trenitalia site is easy to use (http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en). Just give yourself enough time to find the next train as Termini Station is quite large, I would give myself at least a half hour, more if you want to get something to eat.

www.seat61.com is the guru of train travel in Europe also www.ricksteves.com. has good info. For specific questions just ask on this forum and you will get lots of help. You do not need a travel agent.

Starting in Venice (best Italian city for a first timer, great place to start) then going to Florence and ending in Rome so you will be near the airport for your flight home, and so you do not need to 'split' your time in Rome makes the most sense.

Cinque Terre in November will be 'iffy'. Rains a lot in Italy in November and if so there is nothing much to do there. I would rethink that. If you really want to go it is possible to do it as a day trip from Florence and that way you could pick which ever of the days you are in Florence that has the best weather and go then. It's regional train so no need to pre book those tickets anyway. And there are other good options for day trips from Florence if the weather is not optinmal (Siena, Lucca, Pisa, etc.) If Cinque Terre is a real priority for you and you want several days, then at least book your hotel at one of the larger towns in the area (I like Rapallo) rather than one of the five villages.

Unboundly

The others are right, it makes more sense to start with Venice, then head back down to Rome and see everything else in your way.

If you decide to go by train (which is quite reliable and could give you the chance to see more of Italy), booking your seats in advance could save you some money. And make sure you check for any scheduled strikes. The agency will take care of all this if you book through them.

It might be easier to just fly out of the airport as soon as you arrive, like zorrosf suggested though. And I think the prices will add up to about the same amount.

bvlenci

There are also two direct trains a day from Fiumicino airport to Venice, with no need to change trains in Rome. One is at 11:28 (or thereabouts). The other is in mid-afternoon.

I would buy the ticket to Venice when you arrive at the airport train station, because the tickets are reserved for a specific train. It's impossible to guess which train would be best. You might either miss the train or arrive early and have to wait hours.

Overseas travel agents usually use one of the overpriced resellers for European train tickets. It's fairly easy to buy tickets online, and I would recommend doing so for the other trips after Venice.

greg

I don't know how long ago you have used a travel agent. Since the airline deregulation in the 1980's, along with the emergence of do it yourself booking and review sites, the agents' main business seem to be to sell prepackaged deals and pocket the commissions or cater to business travelers. If they handle custom individual trips, they would charge separate booking fees and book as many commissionable hotels (not necessarily what you want) as possible and be done with your business quickly. It is simply that the agents don't make much money out of doing custom trips for the amount of work they need to put in. I found all the agents I have dealt with to be quite clueless. There are always exceptions for some folks, and well it is good for them.

A difficulty with your approach, "We are having trouble determining the most logical route and mode(s) of transportation," is that if you place them on a map, you have three end points: Venice, Cinque Terre, and Rome.

By boxing yourself to start and end in Rome, you are now forced to do backtrack three times to cover three end points. If you had started from Venice in a open-jaw flight, you only back track (going over the same segment twice) Cinque Terre and back. Having ruled out open-jaw, the next best thing is to avoid staying in Rome twice. I don't think you have actually computed time and money, but by staying in Rome only once, you have eliminated one checkin-out cycle time and hassle as well as transportation to get to your hotel and back in Rome.

There is not many choice of trains, stations, or routes to waffle. If you enter your destinations at train booking sites such as www.trenitalia.com, www.italiarail.com, there is usually only one station in each city that makes sense.

Jayne11159

Thanks everyone. All of your suggestions were quite helpful. I do think we will plan on more time in Florence as a base to do day trips including Cinque Terre. Makes sense. Round trip in and out of Rome was a better choice for us to avoid multiple stops on the way home since we prefer the convenience of the regional airport 15 minutes from our house.

fmpden

Your posting seems a little unclear. Are you spending a few days in Rome prior to going to Venice? Or straight to Venice after landing in Rome?

Jayne11159

I think we'd like to spend a few days in Rome first. This is our second trip to Rome and the last time we ended our vacation there we found ourselves pretty worn out compared to the other cities we visited. We want to end this trip on a relaxing note. We have 14 full days not including travel time and we want to see more of the country, but a maximum of four places. Day tripping via train travel from a central location is also desirable option.