scissors

We are headed to Rome in a week and are taking the train from Rome to Florence on May 13 for a wedding in Florence on the 14th.
There is a strike scheduled for May 12/13.
I know these don't always really happen, but if it does...what can we do?
I was going to book our reservations in advance, but was told it was unnescessary, so I didn't....now I am thinking I should, but we really aren't sure of the time we will want to travel.

Please provide any tips. This is my sister's wedding and we can't just miss it!
BUT - I dont want to get all worked up over it if this really isn't a big deal.
Thanks!

TexasAggie

I don't have any answers but I will try to help you keep this topped. I am worried about this strike too.

We need to take a train early (10am) on the 14th from Rome to Naples and I am fretting about massive crowds and not being able to get a ticket... we can't purchase a ticket early b/c we have no idea if our plane will really arrive on time and such.

Can you afford to buy the tickets in advance? If so, you might want to do it for peace of mind. Also, you might want to think about a private driver. I am sure it would be a couple hundred euros, but if it is your sister's wedding then you have got to be there!

PJK

We returned from Italy only a week ago and had to deal with two days of rail strikes and one partial day of a metro strike in Rome. Some of the trains run even when there is a strike, so your first option should be to check to see if you can get a reservation on a train that is going to run. The ticket agent at the station told us that we could buy a ticket for the guaranteed trains one day in advance. I don't know if that is a hard and fast rule (that tickets can only be purchased 24 hours in advance on strike days) or if that was just the case in our particular route. We were in Sienna and needed to get to Rome, so we found (through the receptionist at the hotel) that a bus from Sienna to Rome was a better option even without the strike. We were able to buy that ticket two days in advance, and indeed the bus was full, so I was glad we checked into that. That might be an option for you. This was a private bus company called Sena. You might "google" in that bus company to see if they have a web site. The second strike was on the day we needed to get from Rome out to the airport. Thankfully, we found a train that was running and it was not crowded. We were not aware of the strike that day, so we were really fortunate in that case. The metro strike in Rome was only for a few hours. Didn't know they did that! Still it was a mess, and we finally had to fight our way onto a train to get us to Termini from which we were able to walk to our hotel. If we had known the strike would be over by 3, we would have just had coffee and waited it out since we didn't get in until about 1:30.
The strikes are maddening to me, but try not to let it upset your whole vacation. Easy for me to say and hard for you to do! Our situation worked out okay, and I am hoping yours will too. PJK

PJK

I found a web address for Sena. It is www.sena.it
Also when I googled in "Sena bus company Italy" there were several hits for various private companies that would set up transportation. Good luck.
PJK

ChicagoDallasGirl

What if you buy your tickets in advance and then there's a strike? I am thinking of purchasing our ES tickets (one way to Rome, to Florence and then to Venice) tonight for our May 14 trip. If I do this and there's a strike am I guaranteed a seat on one of the "guaranteed" trains that PJK mentioned?

KathrynT

You could also consider renting a car...

DOCK

Is there a site for train strikes.? We leave in July and I would like to know in advance then I could extend my car hire.

Budman

Here's a site that someone posted concerning Italy strikes.

http://www.seekitaly.com/news/from_roma.html

ira

Hi sc,

http://www.senabus.it/ runs buses to Siena from Rome Tiburtina station.
(3 hr)

From Siena you can take the SITA bus to Florence (1:30 hr).
http://www.sita-on-line.it/

basketlady

Ira, Any suggestions for Venice to Florence on the 13th. We had planed on taking the train that morning!!! Help!! Very Stressed!!!

ira

Hi BL,

SITA runs a bus from Venice Pzza Roma to Florence via Padua.

Leaves at 13:00 arrives in Florence at 18:30.

basketlady

Thanks!!


What do you think we should do? 1.We could spend the day in Venice and leave late. Assuming the trains will run after 9pm. May be really crowded. 2. Stay another night in Venice and leave very early the next morning. Once again assuming the trains are running. 3. Use the bus you suggested. Can this be reserved now?

I just checked Air One and it does not look like they service Venice to Florence.



All of you have been so helpful. Any suggestions are appreciated!!

dgruzew

You could rent a car for a day - if you use AutoEurope they should not charge you a dropoff fee as long as you drop off in the same country. Driving in Italy is acutally quite an experince in its own - so you might like it. It would probably be about 100 bucks for one day ( insurance is mandatory in italy)

Don't stress - you could reserve a car and if the trains run - just cancel it.
you should not be charged.

ira

Hi BL,

Your hotel can get you bus tickets a couple of days in advance.

A rental car is always an option.

basketlady

Thank you! I will check into both. I just hate to spend precious vacation time being stranded.

You have all been so very kind and informative. I think I will have to keep watching these posts after our trip is over!!! It has been fun.

liz302

We also were planning to travel by train on the 13th- we were going to meet friends in Naples who won't be avaiable the other days of our trip. We were disappointed to have to cancel that visit- until we recieved an email from the Vatican saying they could give us Scavi reservations that day! Since we'll be seeing these friends in the US a few months anyway, that more than made up for the lost visit!

Now my bf is just excited that he'll be able to use the word "sciopero" in an authentic italian context- he says the word comes up frequently in his language class's dialogues- now he knows why!

Hope everything works out for scissors, basketlady, texasaggie, and any other Fodorites with train travel scheduled that day . . .

ira

Hey BL,

>I think I will have to keep watching these posts after our trip is over!!! <

Oh, no you don't.

You have to write a trip report.

If you don't the Fodor's computer sends a signal to your computer that melts your motherboard.

Cassandra

Here's what "SeekItaly" has to add to the chaos: "We are on vacationfrom May 24th till June 5th 2005 The following Travel Alerts column is not updated during our Vacation Time."!!!! ;-)

But seriously folks, I see May 20th could be a day of local transport strike for 8 hrs. -- would you assume this would include the Circumvesuviana?