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Rome: Vatican to Tiburtina Station by bus?

Rome: Vatican to Tiburtina Station by bus?

Old Jan 31st, 2015, 11:50 AM
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Rome: Vatican to Tiburtina Station by bus?

Looking for feedback about how to get from Borgo (St. Peter’s Square area) to Florence on a Saturday in July midday. This is for a family of 5 (all teenagers).

Plan is to take the #62 bus (not the #64) which starts in Borgo, then ends at Tiburtina Station where we will have already reserved the Italo train to Florence.

Reasoning:
1. Taxi is out, since we would need 2 and prefer not to split up.
2. Trenitalia means Termini which is chaotic and can have pickpocket gangs. Will be vulnerable to crime while keeping track of my children and bags and prefer not to have to slap/swear at/smack urchin pickpockets in front of my children.
3. Since we will be at the first stop for the 62 bus, we are sure to get seats. And getting off at the last stop, no need to push thru any crowds to disembark.
4. Midday Saturday will have fewer bus riders and less crowding.
Options not taken:
a. We could walk to San Pietro commuter rail station and get to Ostiense Station, then pick up the Italo there, but the station is farther to walk than the bus stop and how often do the suburban trains run on the weekend?
b. Could walk north to the metro and take that all the way to Tiburtina with an unfortunate transfer at Termini (see pickpocket ref above). The way I read it the platforms of the Metro at Termini are not secure, i.e no ticket is required to loiter there.
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Old Jan 31st, 2015, 12:11 PM
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Are you sure you will need 2 taxis? Many taxis in Italy to day can handle 5 adults comfortably plus luggage unless you are carrying insane amounts of it. Your hotel should be able to get you the right sized vehicle, and if you are renting an apartment, a landlord can usually do it as well. Or you can book in advance with a limo service and be sure of getting a van.

You are not "sure to get seats" on a bus coming from St Peters. There are tour groups that take those buses, plus residents.

You neeed to read up on how to get rid of your worries about pickpockeing, and please be aware that the risks of pickpockets in the St Peter's area if very high. So you need money belts and, like I said, information about how to secure your valuables everywhere you go in Rome, not just the train stations and buses.

Saturday is a working day for Italians, not a day off, so there will be the same number of residents on the bus.

If you want to walk to San Pietro commuter rail station, but what if there is a summer thundertorm and downpour?

Again, you seem to think Termini is the only place in Rome that has pickpockets. You need to know that this is not true, and you should read up on how to go to Rome and no worry about being robbed because you have protected your valuables from theft.
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Old Jan 31st, 2015, 12:15 PM
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"... Termini which is chaotic and can have pickpocket gangs."

That has not been our experience in multiple trips to Rome. I think you'd have to more alert to pickpockets on the bus, and I rather doubt there would be fewer bus riders on a summer Saturday.

Regarding the train from S. Pietro to Ostiense to Tiburtina, trains depart about every 15 minutes in the middle of a Saturday and take 35-40 minutes.

But I would split up and take taxis. Oh well.
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Old Jan 31st, 2015, 12:37 PM
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Thanks. I didn't know that most Italians work on Saturday (mornings only?). Or I forgot.

Since we are not on a tour I like to plan the transitions well. Also, I need to buy tickets well in advance to get a good value so need to know the station.

We are "doing too much" as usual so this micro-planning is also a way to keep the transitions from being overly exhausting. Would like to get in one activity in Florence that same day (say the Duomo dome climb).

I'll check out a taxi stand when I arrive to get some idea of the sizes. It's an apartment, so we only have the booking agency to arrange things.

Thanks, taking 2 taxis to San Pietro station would be another option, and splitting up is not such a big deal for a short distance.

I would think being a pickpocket around St Peter's would be very bad karma.
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Old Jan 31st, 2015, 12:59 PM
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on my first trip to Rome I used a money belt quite a lot but by the third, I was getting a bit blasé and took no more precautions then i would do anywhere like Paris or London. Really nothing to get too hung up about. The worst thing that happened to us was someone offering to "help" us buy our train tickets at Termini - a polite non, grazie got rid of them.

if you want to make transitions easy, cab is surely the way to go. they do have large taxis but even if they don't have one available, what's so bad about having two vehicles? assuming you have two adults [or at least a responsible teen] can that be so bad?

BTW, having used St Pietro station, that would worry me more than Termini i think. It's a typical busy commuter station where everyone [except you] seems to know where they are going. I'd certainly want to do a dummy run if I were intending to use it in earnest.

if you've got plenty of time, I might like the bus idea, but I'd allow a large amount of time in case of hold-ups.
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Old Jan 31st, 2015, 01:52 PM
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Yes at Termini on several occasions I have been offered help by suspect type folks - as annhig says happened to her - and folks looking like they were from Albania asking me - in groups - about where to find their train - they may have been OK but I said I did not know and beat the heck out of there.

Distractions by a group can quickly end in a bag being stolen by another of the group - there are always warnings about Termini - overblown or not heed them - folks offering to help take bags off trains have been known to do that and just keep going out of the station with them.

Unfortunately anyone coming up to you is suspect - demure and move on and watch your belongings.

Tiburtina is such a low-key station I love it - just a handful of tracks compared to the zillions all over the place in Termini - the station has always seemed chaotic to me - just so so many trains arriving and departing - folks moving every which way - but there are lots of amenities too - caffes, restaurants, etc to pass the time.
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Old Jan 31st, 2015, 02:25 PM
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Ask your landlord to help you book a taxi. Or book one online. Check our reviews of Roman taxi services on Tripadvisor for starters.

"Karma" is not a Catholic concept.

Most Italians work all day on Saturday. They usually take off all day Sundays plus an afternoon off on a different day of the week. It varies from business to business, or town to town.

People who say they can tell the difference between someone who looks like they are from Albania and somebody who is Italian is suspect to me. Many Italians are of Albanian ancestry, for at least 1,000 years. Here is a picture of the current prime minister of Albania and one of the last prime minister of Italy. Can you see which is the Albanian and which is the Italian?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9j7k0gol0n...tta-enrico.jpg

http://www.statopotenza.eu/wp-conten...fd431f8c8.jpeg

You really needn't worry about getting robbed if you protect your valuables by making them secure and doing exactly the same thing you would do in any train station in the world: Don't give strangers your luggage! If someone asks you for help or directions -- no matter if they look Albanian or Lituianian or Portuguese (you can recognize all these different types, yes) -- it woud be foolish for you to try to help them since obviously you are a tourist newbie.
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Old Jan 31st, 2015, 02:26 PM
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Typo alert: meant to write : Check OUT reviews of Roman taxi services on TripAdvisor
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Old Jan 31st, 2015, 04:01 PM
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Thanks again, there will be more questions coming over the next months.

I was careful to book apartments near rail stations in Florence and Venice, within a 5 min walk. But I didn't want to stay near any of the Rome rail stations and we are arriving by air. 25 years ago stayed near Termini and don't remember much positive about the area.
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Old Jan 31st, 2015, 06:26 PM
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>>>a.We could walk to San Pietro commuter rail station and get to Ostiense Station, then pick up the Italo there,>>b.Could walk north to the metro and take that all the way to Tiburtina with an unfortunate transfer at Termini (see pickpocket ref above). The way I read it the platforms of the Metro at Termini are not secure, i.e no ticket is required to loiter there.
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Old Feb 1st, 2015, 06:56 AM
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Checking Italotreno.it it is showing that all the Florence trains stop at Ostiense first except the 2 that start at Termini and they have bad timings for us, basically 7 AM and 7 PM.

The 19 tram appears to a good suggestion, shorter walk than the bus stop, but would need to not miss the right stop to get off.
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