plouffes

Hi everyone,

My husband (31) are I (25) trying to plan a brief tour of Italy and Nice prior to board our Med Cruise from Civitavecchia. I've been looking at the train schedules on DB Bahn and Rail Europe and I am getting more and more discouraged between the logistics and prices. I was hoping to get some recommendations from any experienced travelers. Our itinerary is flexible this is just we had kinda planned.

21 Sept- Arrive in Rome 1750, stay night in B&B near termini (B&B already booked)
22 Sept - Early AM -- train to Florence/Day in Florence
22 Sept - Late PM - (night) train to Nice
23 Sept - Late PM - Day in Nice/(night) train to Venice
24 Sept - Day in Venice/Stay night in Venice (not booked)
25 Sept - Train to Civitavecchia/Board cruise by 1600

Are these too far of distances to travel in such a short period of time? Are we better off eliminating one of our destinations? Or perhaps including Milan instead of Nice? We are very interesting in spending a day in the French Riveria. We are on a modest budget and don't want to spend more of our time in trains versus actually in the city. We are young, flexible and do not require the best accommodations. Also, plan to leave our 'cruise luggage' at the Rome termini and pack very light for our few days of travel.

Any other suggested itineraries? I would say Venice is a must. Nice would be nice.

Also, I know Eurorail offers 4 day regional passes for $316 each. Would that be our best option?

Thanks in advance!

Sarah

bobthenavigator

Far too much in too little time.
Drop Nice--or Venice. I would train to Venice from Rome and then see Florence last---giving you more time to get to the ship--probably via Rome.
Forget rail passes--just buy as you go.

ellenem

For trains in Italy, check schedules and prices at the official Italian rail site. You might find discount for purchasing ahead:

http://www.fsitaliane.it/homepage_en.html

Nice is too far for the short time you have. I agree with bob's suggestion. Since you arrive so late on 21 Sept AND most of 25 Sept will be spent checking out, transferring, and getting to Civitavecchia, you really have only 3 days. If Venice is a must, then head to Venice.

Personally, I would not want to travel the distance from Venice to Civitavecchia on the day of the cruise . . . train troubles might cause you to miss the boat.

21 Sept- Arrive in Rome 1750, stay night in B&B near termini (B&B already booked)
22 Sept - Early AM -- train to Venice
22 Sept -Venice
23 Sept - Early AM train to Florence/late afternoon train to Rome
24 Sept - Rome (you didn't mention interest in Rome, but it seems a good fit here.)
25 Sept - Train to Civitavecchia/Board cruise by 1600

StCirq

You're jamming way too much into too short a time, IMO. Eliminate Nice to start with - it just doesn't fit into this "plan."

I can't imagine why you'd want a rail pass of any kind for this. Trains are cheap in Italy.

J62

Here's what you could do - a simple Rome/Florence/Pisa to cruise loop.

21 Sept - Arrive in Rome
23 Sept - Go to Florence or Pisa, via Florence
25 Sept - Train from Pisa to Civitavecchia. There are high speed (2hr 3min or 2hr 20min) every 2hrs, and slightly slower but much cheaper regional trains also every 2hrs but in between the faster trains.

I mention Pisa not because it's a must see destination, but rather because there are direct trains from there to the port right down the coast.

nytraveler

I assume you already have RT flights to Rome which is a mistake. If you really want to see other places instead of doing a great big circle you should fly into where you want to start - Nice or Venice - and then out of rome (assuming your cruise ends there as well).

You are trying to see way too many places and will spend a ton of time and money on the train. Also - unless you are spending time in rome after the cruise - you seem to be ignoring that. In the very limited time you have I would just stay in Rome and see a little of that. If you are spending time in Rome after the cruise I would pick either Venice or florence - and head there immediately after landing - not wasting the first night in Rome - knowing that you have to return there to pick up the cruise.

ira

Hey P,
If Venice is a must, go to Venice.

Are you spending any time in Rome?

Forget the railpass. Use www.trenitalia.com.

Enjoy your visit.

plouffes

Thanks for all of the advice. I did not mention that we are spending 3 nights in Rome after the cruise.

We realized our mistake of not flying 'open-jaw' -- ideally we would have flow into Venice and out of Rome, not round trip Rome. But the flights/deal we got through BA that was not a possibility.

As of now this is my tentative itinerary.

21 Sept - Arrive in Rome (FCO) at 1750 -- Stay night in B&B near Rome Termini
22 Sept - Early AM train to Venice/stay night in Venice
23 Sept - Stay 2nd night in Venice (any suggestions for B&B/hotels near the St. Lucia station?)
24 Sept - AM Train to Florence/Stay night in Florence
25 Sept- AM Train to Rome, then port

j62 - You bring up a great point about going from Pisa directly to the port, down the coast.

It would be great to be able to take the AM train from Florence to Pisa, then to the port. But we had planned on storing our luggage at the Rome termini and only traveling with a small backpack each for our few days of travel. Any suggestions/solutions?

Also, I have been looking at the trenitalia website for what seems like hours. From the advice on this site and others, I have determined that the pass is not the way to go because of the multitude of (reservation) fees, etc. But train fair still seems fairly expensive, even booking the MINI tickets. I also read that regional train fares are only posted 7 days prior. Can I expect the regional trains to be less expensive than the Eurostar, etc.?

Ideally, I would like to spend less than 150 E for transportation between Rome, Venice and Florence -- is this naive and unrealistic?

Thanks again!!

plouffes

Would I be absolutely insane if I just try to figure out the trains when we get there?

Problem is we would like to book our hotels in advance, since my husband remembers spending much of their days in various European cities just trying to secure a place to stay for that night. We would like to avoid that if possible.

and J62- the loop you suggest would probably be much easier. I'm just a little hung up on Venice.

plouffes

Any other suggested loops even negating Florence and Venice?

What about going south? Sperlonga? Naples? Or even Italian Riveria? (I know not south)

We could also do another trip another time to Venice/Florence, etc.