When I arrive at the Rome train station, can I check my bags like one would do at an airport? Is there a charge per bag? I will be purchasing the ticket the day before. What is the process to check the luggage? I am going to Florence for 6 weeks. In addition to my own luggage, I have gifts for my Italian friends and family. Therefore, I don't want to be lugging 2 bags and my carry-on on the train. I have traveled on Italian trains in the past, but have only had carry-ons. Thanks for your help!

You may be out of luck, Alba. I don't think it's possible to check your bags on the train in Italy. Maybe someone else knows more about this than I and will respond here. You could send your gifts ahead by mail, maybe.

As far as I know, you cant check your bags at Termini station as if you were at the airport but you can store them in lockers that are situated along the inner right side of the station (along platform 22 if I am not wrong, near the Upim shopping department store). They go with euro coins. Years ago there was a baggage deposit where you paid the attendant to leave your baggage there (they gave you a receipt ticket with which you then picked them up), but they should have moved it somewhere else after they introduced new shops along the right platform area (where there is now a bar and the Upim department store). So the only place it comes to my mind concerning placing your baggage at the station are the lockers

If you mean checking your bags ON the train itself, you are out of luck, it is up to you to handle your own bags, hurling them onto the train and then storing them on the racks at the end of the cars. You can take a little bicycle chain and lock to tie them to the rack for security, but that is as far as checking them goes. No charge per bag, just take what you can handle. MAYBE someone will help you put your luggage on the train but don't count on it.

Thank you for all your responses!<BR>I did consider mailing the gifts, but when I did so at Christmas, the box was opened and not all of the gifts got back in the box!<BR>And, yes, I did mean checking the bags ON the train, and not storing the bags in the terminal.<BR>Last year, I thought I saw baggage porters with big luggage carts in the station. Perhaps that was a special group or something.<BR>Thanks again!

I would call CIT Tours, the official representative of the Italian State Railway at their offices in New York<BR>(1-800-248-8667). They would certainly know if the Rome train station has a bag check and how long you can leave them.I think I would carry anything with me that I deemed really valuable/irreplaceable just in case. I do know I was able to check my bags in Florence at the station - you give them your bags and they give you a claim check but I don't know the duration that is available. We only checked them for a day. Rail Europe in NY (www.raileurope.com) may also have the answer as they sell Italian rail tickets and passes.<BR><BR>bearcoll

I have traveled several times on italian Eurostars (on the Rome-Milan way) and I have never heard of any possibility of checking the luggage on the train like you do at the airport. There are some racks where you can put them but at your own responsibility, I mean that if your seat is far from these racks (which are at one end of each coach) and some ill intentioned person takes your luggage and gets off at the next train station there is no way to trace them back. There are other racks on top of the seats but generally they are narrow and you cant store bulky suitcases. It is possible to put them in between 2 seats, for there is a little room there, not much, but at least you can keep them within your reach and your sight. When I travel on eurostars I usually reserve the single seat because in this way I can keep my baggage right near me (because the single seat has a blank space where the other seat should be). The men you saw at the station with baggage carts are only porters that help you carry the baggages from the train to outside the station gallery or viceversa. So, again, no possibility to check them ON the train in any other case, not even the a day earlier because the eurostars might go in several directions during the day.

There are no porters, but the carts are available for free to anyone needing them. Carts in the sttion with escalators are made so that you can use them on the escalators too.

Here are some thoughts and suggestions:

Have you already bought the gifts for your friends and family. If not, try to think of gifts that are very small and very lightweight.

Think about how you can make your own suitcase as small and light as possible. Don't take things like toiletries, hairdryer or other electronics, extra shoes, jacket or sweater, which take up a lot of room and add weight. You can buy all those things after you get to Italy.

Have you thought about flying from Rome to Florence? I don't even know if there are reasonably priced flights between the two cities, but even if they cost a little more than the train it might be worth it just so you can check that luggage.

As an alternative to lugging the luggage (is that why they call it LUGgage?) is to put your gifts in a backpack, this way your hands are free and you can use the empty bag for things that you want to bring back.

Nicky:
I an mot sure if there are flights at all from Florence to Rome. The two cities are so close toghether (less than 2 hours by train!) that an airplane wouls have to start landing before it has finished to take off!!! In any case, du to the small distances between cities in Italy, flights are always VERY costly, woth the one exception of flights from Rome or norhtern Italy to Sicily and for flights to Sardinia.

Thanks again for the continued responses.
I did check on one-way flights between Rome and Florence, and it costs about 140 Euro or more.
Even though I dread shipping the package of gifts (since the package I sent at Christmas was opened), that's the way I'm going to go.
By the way, someone suggested gifts that are light and small. That's what I did (adding the adjective &quot;unbreakable&quot, but when one has 16 gifts to bring, even &quot;light and small&quot; starts to add up!
I appreciate everyone's ideas!