I need to know if there is a problem checking baggage on the train from rome to florence. <BR>I would also appreciate any info on the taxi's at the Florence airport and the pick-up of baggage once arriving in Florence. <BR>Thanks so much!

Pam there's no problem, you carry it on and you carry it off. It can be stored at the end of the car you're in or in the overhead (small in 2nd class, large in 1st). HTH Regards, Walter <BR>

Just in case the previous answer is not clear, there is no such thing as "checked" baggage on this (or any other) in Italy (or in Europe? - - I do think there may be a provision for checking items like bicycles on some French trains). <BR> <BR>You carry all your luggage with to your seat and stow it over head (the space is much larger than on any airplane), and unload it all off yourself. <BR> <BR>Larger stations (like Florence and Rome do have some luggage trolleys available at or near the platforms (binario) where you board and disembark from the train. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR> <BR> <BR>

It's going to come as a shock to many that one can't check bags on trains in Europe. Among them, I suspect, those rail employees who handle checked luggage. <BR> <BR>I can't speak authoritatively for trains in Italy as I've only checked luggage on the train in Switzerland. But I've found that rail practices tend to be pretty much the same throughout Europe. And certainly I've seen baggage offices and baggage carts in Italian train stations. Who knows, though ... maybe all those baggage cars I see really contain ... well ... maybe ICBMS? <BR> <BR>Pam, there's usually plenty of room for carryon on most trains. In compartmented trains (most commonly the case in Italy) there seems to me to be a bit more luggage rack space per passenger than on airplanes. And there's usually room at either end of the car, though some may worry about safety. <BR> <BR>If you do find, as I suspect, that the Italian railroad (FS) does handle checked bags, the luggage may well not travel on the same train you do. Unlike airplanes there's usually no guarantee as to exactly when the baggage will travel. So unless one has a lot of luggage most of us would find pretty good incentive to want to carry bags onboard. <BR> <BR>twenj

Ed, <BR> <BR>Thanks for poking a hole in my lack of experience, and - - maybe, just maybe - - what must have sounded like a way too "know-it-all" confidence in my answer. <BR> <BR>I tried to leave myself an out by acknowledging that I, too, have seen baggage handling facilities (such as for bicycles) in some train stations (though not in Italy). I remember a baggage "cage", in particular in Antibes (France). <BR> <BR>But it sounds like our answers are essentially the same. The "normal" luggage procedure for the vast majority of travelers on a train like the Eurostar from Rome to Florence is to take all your own lugagge into the same (PASSENGER) car, where you will be sitting. <BR> <BR>Desoite my preference for driviing in europe, I did recently take the Eurostar from Venice (via Florence, no change or stopover required) to Rome. We boarded cars 2 and 3 (both first class, one smoking, one non-smoking); car 4 was also first class non-smoking; car 5 was the dining car. I did not take the opportunity to walk further down the platform and learn what other cars made up the train - - so I don't know if there is a baggage car on the Eurostar from Venice to Rome, or not. <BR>

One shouldn't expect to find "baggage cars" on every train, not by a long shot. <BR> <BR>First, there's little checked luggage. There are many different types of combination cars, some of which include provision for a small amount of checked baggage. <BR> <BR>Second, as I pointed out, checked luggage may not travel on the same train on which the passenger travels. <BR> <BR>All that said, if one has a reason to send luggage ahead by rail, I suspect it's possible to do so in most cases almost everywhere. <BR> <BR>And by the way, visitors to Switzerland can check luggage from any airport in the US (as well as elsewhere I believe) to their destination city in Switzerland, for a small charge. And if flying Swissair can do the reverse on the way home as well. A very nice service indeed.

Pam, <BR> <BR>We travelled Eurostar 2nd class this last April. <BR>My answers to train travel in Italy are: <BR>1. Make sure you have a reserved seat. People travelling on the crowded trains at Easter were forever having to reshuffle their bagage as they moved for other passengers with reservations. I was glad we had them! <BR>2. Travel light. There wasn't much room for one of our larger bags so we left both bags at the carriage entrance in a sort of luggage area they have, tied together with a little locking gizmo. It was fine. You need to be able to haul the luggage up onto the train too as Italian platforms are very shallow, so kept to a minimum. <BR>3. Get to the station in plenty of time. The trains seemed to pull in 20-30 mins before departure - if leaving from a termini like Rome-then you can grab a spot for your stuff without awkward shoving etc.

Rex, don't try to weasel out of what was obviously a situation where you blew it. To avoid further embarrassment, Rex, I suggest you follow a simple procedure: Only respond when you know the answer! <BR>Oh, the forum was so much better when you were away! <BR>(Please, let's not have all the Rex sycophants responding!)

aaaa : <BR> <BR>Rex wasn't really wrong. Checked luggages do exist, but it's at best an uncommon occurence, and not at all mandatory. <BR> <BR>IMO, giving an answer about checked luggages on train would be in most cases confusing, since people would believe it works the same way than on planes, while actually it's an optionnal service you pay for and only used by people with really cumbersome luggages (can't remember having checked luggages on trains since my childhood, when my parents used for some reason to travel with a gigantic trunk)

Now howd on a minute, Rex and Clairobscur. This is more than weasling. It's outright deception. <BR> <BR>Rex clearly said, and I quote, <BR>"...there is no such thing as "checked" baggage on this (or any other) in Italy (or in Europe? ..." That's about as clear and distinct a statement as possible. It's not the same as Ed's statement at all, and it's not like Rex "wasn't really wrong". <BR> <BR>Rex was flat-out wrong. He answered, as he so often does, a question for which he really didn't know the answer. Then he and his sycophants (or is it really Rex taking on yet another forged identity) try to get you to believe that giving the wrong answer is really the same as giving the right answer. <BR> <BR>People asking questions on this forum need constructive, correct answers ... not spin control.

I didn't practice deception. <BR> <BR>I didn't weasel. <BR> <BR>I gave an answer that was essentially right, and I acknowledged additional information that made it even closer to right, where I had not been 100% accurate. <BR> <BR>And I thank you for your kind words of encouragement, button-pusher. I know that you USED to be so proud of your ability to do that. But no more. <BR>

Gave an answer that was "essentially correct"? <BR> <BR>Hardly. <BR> <BR>The question was, "...if there is a problem checking baggage on the train from rome to florence". <BR> <BR>Your answer said there is not such thing as checked baggage on trains in Europe. <BR> <BR>That is not an essentially correct answer. It's not remotely correct. <BR> <BR>It's wrong. <BR> <BR>What do they teach in ethics class in medical school these days? Yes means no? Black means white? Dead means alive? <BR> <BR>No, you're not a weasel. Your problem is more serious than that.