Advice on Italy Rail
 

Hi, planning a trip to Rome shortly. Had some questions about the rail.
Would like to go to Florence from Rome. Once in Florence would like to go to Pisa and Lucca. I can get a day tour from Florence but it is $175.00 and I want to visit the markets in Lucca and I am affraid if I take a tour I won't be able to do that. If I go on my own by train I could. Any advice on the rail system? Do I purchase tickets for the rail before I get to Italy? Do I buy a pass? Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks

Buy your tickets at the rail station once you arrive. Trains in Italy are inexpensive, you likely wouldn't save anything buying online (and don't need to), and you don't need a pass.

There are frequent regional trains Florence to Lucca that cost just several euros - they go about hourly and take about an hour - right to the walls of this fantastic walled town.

Then you can take the same regional train from Lucca to the Pisa S Leandro (not sure of station name) station that is a short walk from the Leaning Tower and the huge square with the basilica, etc. and then get back on that train and go to Pisa Centrale and change for trains back to Florence.

I have done this and it is all very easy - just buy tickets in Florence before setting off.

There is no pass worthwhle for your trip plans - just buy regular tickets once there - ditto for Rome to Florence.

For loads of info on Italian trains i always spotlight these info-laden sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com - and there are Fodorites like kybourbon who are vertiable experts on Italian trains - so keep topping so they will see and give more info - there are some potential minor discounts you may get on the Rome to Florence train perhaps if you are there and can book several days in advance, etc - things i am not as well versed in as say kybourbon and others.

But one thing - trains are easy to get on and you will have no problem doing so - this is one thing that you should not worry about at all.

the regional trains to Lucca you just buy a ticket and hop on any train to Lucca, as long as it is a regional train and nearly all are if not all.

Rome to Florence you will get a mandatory seat reservation when you buy the ticket - train specific - you have an assigned seat on that train.

Trains in Italy are inexpensive, you likely wouldn't save anything buying online (and don't need to), and you don't need a pass.>

For trains to Lucca this is correct - and i believe that you cannot even buy a regional train ticket online

But for Rome to Florence there are online discounts of perhaps 20% or so just for buying i think 7 days before but American credit cards just do not seem to work as legions of Fodorites have found out and reported. A few seem to get trenitalia.com to work but others after hours of frustration just give up - that said the discount on a short ticket - 1.5 hours or so would not amount to much - and certainly not worth the hassle. So yes just buy the ticket to Florence once in Rome.

How "shortly" is "shortly"?

And what markets in Lucca are you thinking of visiting?

If you are traveling in August, especially the latter half of August, this is time when most Italians travel, millions of them using the trains.

You can easily get to Lucca by train, but make sure you nail down which day the market is, where it is, etc. (I say this because I have spent days in a row in Lucca -- as long as a week -- and I only recall one morning market, in San Michele in Foro, and my recollection was that it was a special event . I'm sure Lucca has some kind of market somewhere, and maybe I'm the last person on earth to know about it, but just be certain you have the info on it. (If you are referring to shopping and stores in Lucca, they are abundant, but they do close between 12:30-4 every day, and probably all afternoon one day of the week, and many all day Sunday.)

PS: I also recommend that you simply go on your own to Lucca and Pisa with a guidebook. That's a very pricey tour.

Hi, Palenq.

I know about those discounts (or at least some of them), but I didn't mention them because of the legions of posts here about people having problems.

alabrash: the market in Lucca takes place Wednesday and Saturday mornings next to the stadium. I can't imagine needing a guide to take you to an Italian market. Just wander around like everyone else and have fun!

Where is the stadium in Lucca?

alabrash,

I tried to google up the location of "the stadium" in Lucca, and didn't have much luck in pinpointing a location, so let's hope StCirq has an address and returns. I am fairly certain it is outside the walls and historic center of Lucca, which means you will need fairly exact directions for locating it.

Morning markets in Italy tend to close up by 1pm, so if you are heading out from Florence, you need to make sure you can get there in time to make it worth your while.

You also should know that most Italian markets are quite utlitarian -- they sell lots of household goods, baby clothes -- a mobile five and dime -- along with the produce. Most are rather ordinary.

Interestingly, Pisa has a more than ordinary market, which is held every day, and is overflowing with beautiful fresh produce. It iis located right off the Borgo Stretto, near the cenral train station. It is held every day. It is in the Piazza delle Vettovaglie, from 07:00 to 13:30.

You might find it much easier to go to Pisa by train, see the market, walk to the Leaning Tower and Duomo, and then proceed onto Lucca after lunch. You could take in the historic center of Lucca at your leisure, including the very fine walk everybody takes when the stores re-open around 4pm. Everyone circles the town, window shopping.

Last but not least, the utliitarian markets of Italy may not "need" a guide, but if you are intrested in food, and you don't speak Italian, and you would like to really learn something, perhaps the money you were thinking of spending on a tour of Pisa and Lucca from Florence would be better spent taking a chef's tour of the food markets of Florence.

There is a woman in Florence who has done this for years. She also runs cooking cooking classes. You might see if yiou can join her in Florence for a market tour. She knows all the vendors, what they sell, the unusual vegetables, cheeses etc. This is her website:

http://www.divinacucina.com/

But if you have a special reason for wanting to go to the Lucca market, just make sure you know where you are going and leave early enough to get there before it closes.

Just to be clear about the Pisa market in the piazza delle Vettovaglie:

It is open every morning except Sunday morning, 7:00 - 13:00.

I know about those discounts (or at least some of them), but I didn't mention them because of the legions of posts here about people having problems>

understandably so - but you only need to book some of them 7 days in advance once in Italy to get the Amica or whatever they call the 20% about discount - so if the OP were to be in Rome 7 days ahead of train to Florence - unlikely i think - he/she should at least ask at the station if Amica fare tickets are available - they are not only sold online like in other countries like i think the case in France.

When i buy a ticket to anything now i also always add i am over 60 - never know about a senior discount and does not hurt to ask.

I'm guessing St Cirq is referring to the arena pretty much in the center of the old city.

One of the most interesting sites is the Piazza del Mercato, built on the ancient Roman amphitheater, and still retaining its arena shape. The archways around the piazza mark the points where animals and gladiators would once have entered the arena>

from italystravelguide.com - must be this and i remember this is a very very unusual place - this market area.

http://www.knowital.com/tuscany/lucca/accommodation/

On the third Sunday (and preceding Saturday) of each month there is a large antiques market centred around Piazza Antelminelli and Piazza San Giusto. On the last Sunday (and preceding Saturday) of the month there is an arts and crafts market in the same area. Lucca's ‘ordinary' market is held along Via dei Bacchettoni every Wednesday and Saturday morning.

I went back and checked my notes, and actually the food market is in the cloister in the Piazza del Carmine, every day except Sunday. The other market is outside the city walls and has very little food - mostly clothing and linens and such. At least that was the case when I was there in 2006.

Another interesting place on the Florence to Lucca rail line IMO is Montecatini Terme - one of Italy's poshest and nicest thermal spa resorts - in a bucolic park-like setting you have several ornate thermal establishments and the town is rather posh - and unique for Italy besides Venice IME none of those loud obnoxious mopeds running amok. It is just a few minutes before Lucca and can easily be combined with a day trip there.

The antiques market in Lucca is on the 3rd Sunday of the month and stretches through many of the piazzas. Worth the visit if you like antiques. Ironically, we actually bought provencal tablecloths.
We took the train from Lucca to Florence but many people recommended taking the bus as it is non-stop.

Yes the train takes a round-about route, probably due to terrain - i love trains so i took the train and i like to be able to move around easily but the bus may be a better and quicker i suspect option. check schedules at SITA bus Tuscany web site i suppose - though if like buses to say Siena from Florence they may go all the time - like 3-6 Florence to Siena and only cost a couple of euros - buy your ticket before boarding the bus is the usual tip in Italy and then if the driver don't cancel it cancel it yourself in the canceling machines on board.

SITA - www.sitabus.it/wps/portal/Toscana -
Section on the official Sita bus company site dedicated to the services offered in Tuscany. The section includes information on the regional office, with useful information on schedules, routes and rates according to area of the various Sita lines operating in the region.