geranium

My family ( my husband and two teenagers) is going to Italy in the second week of August. We arrive in Rome 7:30 am and we have to depart from Geneva at 9:30 am to our home in NJ.(That's the only availble tickets using frequent flyer mileage)
We have 6 full days and we're thinking about Rome, Florence, Venice , or Milan.
I know it's very tight and we have to go to Geneva for flight. Because of hotel reservation, we need to decide how many nights we should stay in each city. Most important thing is how we get to Geneva from Venice or Milan in time for early morning flight. Please help!

HowardR

Common sense dictates that you'll probably have to get to Geneva the night before your flight. Thus, you're really talking about five-day itinerary.
Still, whether five or six days, trying to cover three cities in that short period is rushing it a bit. Since you are flying into Rome, obviously that should be one of the destinations. For the other, I'd research two things:
1. What Florence and Venice have to offer and decide which of the two is more to your liking.
2. Check into the best way of getting from those two cities to Geneva.
Then, make your decision based on your findings.

suze

You are correct that it is very tight! I guess 2 days x 3 cities (skip Milan) would work. But with all the train riding, truly that will give you 1-1/2 days each city. I'd prefer 3 days x 2 cities, keeping Venice and one other place.

Look into overnight trains from Venice (transfer at Milan) to Geneva. I've done that in reverse. The train station & airport in Geneva are connected buildings, so depending on AM arrival time, that might work. If not, I don't see what choice you'd have but staying in Geneva (or maybe Lausanne, Vevey or Montreux) the last night.

chris1234

skip florence and venice with that amount of time. I say Rome, Siena 1 night, and then cinque terra for 1 day and night. hire a guide through the cinque terre. you will have more fun doing that than the strees of getting to venice and back to geneva. drive from CT to milan for a night and then out.

ps. you really need more time than this. I would look in to changing the trip till you can accomodate more.

bobthenavigator

Call me crazy, but I would not spend the points until you had more time. And, I would try not to go in August. I know you may not have many good options, but that is a ton of points for only 6 days.

geranium

Thank you for all the reply!
Actually we leave on the 7th day morning , so we can use 6 full days. I was wondering if there's any overnight train from either Milan or Venice to Geneva to save our time and Suze's reply was really helpful.
Thanks!

geranium

I checked a EurailPass website and the passes were quite pricey. Does anyone knows abouthow much sleeper train or couchettes costs more than regular class?
Should I buy the pass here through on-line or at the station in Italy?

ira

Hi geranium,

You probably do not need a railpass, but you might be able to save money since there are 4 of you and you get a discount for groups of 2 or more.

Enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com.

You can also price the trains at www.trenitalia.com/en and
http://www.rail.ch/index_e.htm

Cicerone

Six full days is not very long. At the most, I would do 2 places. On your arrival day, by the time you land, get through immigration, get your bags and get to your hotel in Rome it will be about 10 am at the earliest, longer if you take the train into Rome, and as it is August each portion could take longer. If you plan to go directly to another city instead of staying in Rome, you will lose even more of the day. So, I would only say you have at the most, 5 ? days. Even more reason to limit yourself to 2 places.

I would say go to Rome for sure and then either Florence or Venice. I would save Milan for another trip. Rome is a great place to start and you can go back again and again on other trips as there is always something to see. I would say 3 full days in Rome is the minimum you need.

Florence is about 2 hours by train. It of course is wonderful in itself as far as art and architecture, and is a good base to explore the beautiful countryside.

Venice takes between 4.5 and 5.5 hours by train from Rome. Alternatively you can fly in an hour pretty cheaply on Volare Airlines. Take a look at http://buy.volareweb.com. Bear in mind that with getting out to Rome airport and then from Venice airport into Venice and adding the time need for security procedures, etc, it may in fact just be faster to get on the train in Rome.

It is hard for me to determine your kids would enjoy Florence or Rome more. If they like outdoor activities then Florence is probably better as you can do walks in the countryside and there are half day and full day bike tours in the countryside as well. Of course, they could go to the beach (Lido) in Venice so they might like that also.

Your real hitch will be getting to Geneva from wherever you are in Italy. With a 9:30 am departure, you would be able to take an overnight train to get you to Geneva airport by 7:30 am. Take a look at the website for Swiss Rail at rail.ch. This is much easier to use than the website for Italian Rail, which is trenitalia.it. I took quick look, and your train options appear to be.

Florence - Geneva, depart Florence at 5:48 pm, arrive Geneva airport at 6:51 am. You would need to change 3 times, the last time at 4 am in the morning. Its 13 hours in total

Venice - Geneva , departs Venice Santa Lucia station at 6:22 pm arrive Geneva airport at 6:51 am. You need to change 3 times, again the last change being at 4 am.

You would need to confirm that the above trains run on the dates you need, I just did a search for August 12 as I did not know your actual departure date.

I don't know of any low-cost airlines operating between Venice or Florence and Geneva. Others may and that may be a good option.

Remember that August is the prime vacation time for Europeans and also Americans. Things well be very crowded. Also, some restaurants will be closed (so their staff can take their traditional August holiday). Finally, it may be very hot, especially in Rome and Florence. Don't try to do too much in one day.

I would not bother with a Railpass for your limited time and the few number of trains you will be taking . You might also consider first class which is cheaper than a couchette but roomy. I am not sure how much sleep you would get as you will be changing trains several times, so a first class seat may be a better option than a couchette.

geranium

Hi!
Thanks for all the detail information.
It's my first time to post message here and I'm getting so many useful tips from all of you!
I'm working on very hard and later I'll post my plan , then please help me again!