How to take my chances on catching a close connection on Rome/Naples train?
 

Hi everybody.

Ok i KNOW I am taking my chances by hoping that this will work out. I do not need that pointed out. But it is something that I want to try to do, and I am looking for any input on how to maximize the possibility that it will work.

We are flying into Rome on 21 December. The plane is scheduled to arrive at 8:15 p.m.

The last train of the night to Naples is an ES* (EuroStar?) that leaves the Rome Termini station at 9:45 p.m. I would love for us to catch that train so we can spend the night in Naples and just get up and start our sightseeing the next day (instead of havnig to wake up really early in a crummy train station hotel, take the train in the morning, and arrive mid to late morning in Naples)

So, I'm thinking that late at night the shuttle bus would probably take about 30-40 minutes. How long would a taxi take? I'm mostly concerned with that big long lag time between when we get off the plane and when the bus is ready to leave to take us to Termini.

I kind of hate to buy the train tickets ahead of time....for Trenitalia/ES*, are the tickets only good for one particular train (Like thalys or eurostar) or would it be good for catching the train the next morning as well? There is another ES* train at 6:45 the next morning.

If we don't buy the tickets in advance, how much time woudl we have to allow for buying them at the train station? And where would we go?

Are there any hostels or inexpensive hotels by the train station in Naples that wont get us killed? :)

Carrie

You want to arrive at the Rome airport in an anxious state, run like mad to catch the last train to Naples just so you can spend your first night at an inexpensive hostel/hotel near the Naples train station...? Just me, but I'd rather take the anxiety out of the arrival and spend the first night near Roma Termini. FYI, the area around the station in Rome is quite decent, but the area around the station in Naples is NOT somewhere I'd like to be wandering around late at night, carrying luggage and looking every bit the tourist.

Jean is right, you need to be wide awake and on your toes for the Naples train station late at night. The best idea would be to go to the Rome train area for the night and then when you are fresh the next day go off to Naples. You will thank us later.

If you must do it grab a taxi outside the Naples station and go to another area but do you realize what time it will be by then? There is also a fairly nice hotel on the left across the little street as you exit the train station in Naples, the exit near McDonalds. I can't think of the name but you can google around.

IMHO you should really stay in Rome the first night. Have you been to any of these places before?

I must agree with the other posters. Going to Naples that first night is a very bad idea. Where are you flying in from? If it is an international flight, you will have to go thru customs first and that will eat up some of your time. The trains to termini run every half hour, so if you just miss one......

The good thing is, you can use the self service kiosks to buy you tickets at the termini station. They are very easy to use and there are lots of them, so waiting shouldn't be a problem. It's a two hour ride to Naples. I don't think that staying around the station there is a good idea. Bad area. If you are absolutly going to do this, get your hotel booked in advance. Try venere.com for the hotel.

My best advice, stay in Rome that night and head out early the next morning.

Good luck

I'm with those who think you should spend the night in Rome and catch the 06:45 ES in the morning. Everything would have to work perfectly--on time arrival, quick passage through immigration, etc.--for you to have any chance of catching the 21:45 train.

However, to answer your direct questions, reservations are required on ES (EuroStar Italia) trains. Your ticket will be for a specific seat on a specific train. If you miss the train, you can get a partial refund. You can book your tickets at trenitalia.com up to 60 days in advance.

Adding to my previous post. Booking in advance and choosing the Ticketless option would save you from having to stand in line at the station to claim your ticket. Here is a quote from the Trenitalia site: "Board the train with a printout of the e-mail you received after buying. The e-mail bears all the details of your trip. By using the booking code (PNR) on the e-mail, the on-board personnel will give you your ticket."

Hi LSU,

You don't want to stay in a crummy hotel near the Rome train station, but you do want a crummy hotel near the Naples train station?

You have a very small probability of making the 21:45.

ES* tickets are good for one train only. If you miss the train, you have to pay a fee for a reservation on another ES*

I suggest that you spend the night in Rome and take the new high-speed train at 10:52.

((I))

Ok, well apparently there aren't many people on Fodors who are "not morning people," I'd be willing to go through a lot of inconvenience to avoid having to get up really really early in the morning :) Anyway for those of you who are incredulous and didn't understand my thought, that was the main motivation. I would much much rather go go go go and get where we're going, and wake up the next day wherever we wanted to be. I didn't like the idea of going to bed early in an uninteresting part of Rome and then getting up really early to catch a train. But it sounds like the consensus is that that's the way to go unfortunately.

I appreciate the input about the area around the Naples train station (for whoever asked, yes I have been to Rome but I haven't been to Naples) being a scary place to be wandering around late at night. And thank you for the answer about the train tickets.

We are flying from Belgium; our last experience at Ciampino involved very little hassle getting luggage or going through customs. The main time loss came from waiting for the shuttle.

I still would like to know how long a taxi ride from Ciampino to Termini would take, if anyone knows.

Thanks again
Carrie

Ciampino? That's a different matter entirely. I think everyone assumed you were coming from FCO. I think you could easily taxi to the train station in Ciampino and catch the train to Termini (train travel time is 15 minutes). You could also taxi from Ciampino to Termini if you are determined to make that train.

Since you are coming from Belgium, are you on a budget airline? Ryanair? Easyjet? If so, you should be able to use they bus service they provide to Termini - www.terravision.it.

Now with more details you idea makes more sense and for the reoord I am not a morning person.

When you get to naples get a taxi to a nice area or just go to an hotel near the station. If you ask I will look for the name of the pretty decent hotel nearby that I mentioned.

SeaUrchin: If it's not too much trouble, I would appreciate the name of the hotel, Thanks!

Sorry, I hadn't realized that I didn't mention the name of the airport, big boo-boo for me! Yes, we're flying Ryanair; the shuttle will be fine if we're not rushing to get the train; it just seemed like there was a fairly long lag time waiting for the shuttle to leave the airport.

Hmm, hadn't thought at all of taxi to the other airport. It's close by?

Any experience with taxi from Ciampino? How long is the trip? How much does it cost?

Thanks everyone
Carrie

here it is, I haven't stayed here but I sat and had a drink in the lobby while I waited for a friend. Seemed like a classy place as far as I could tell.
It is called the Cavour.

http://www.hotelcavournapoli.it/index.htm

Since your objective is to maximize your chances of making the ES to Naples, don't take a taxi to Termini but take a taxi to the Ciampino RR station. Either that or take one of the shuttle busses directly to Termini.

As was pointed out above the rail time to Termini from there is only 15 minutes and according to Trenitalia the trains leave very frwquently.

IMO this is the only segment of the trip you have ANY control over since you cannot make the plane arrive any fasterl you have no control over the processing time after arrival, etc.

Since you want to know what all the "issues" might be I suggest you take a look at the comments about the airport itself at this link:

http://www.airlinequality.com/Airpor..._forum/cia.htm

The taxi from Ciampino to Termini should take about 30 minutes at that time of night and cost about $40. Other options would be one of the many limo services in Rome that you can book in advance. I've used www.limoservicerome.com but they have a surcharge after 9 pm so I think a taxi might be a little bit cheaper.
Here's a link to Ciampino airport's "gettin there" information.
http://www.adr.it/content.asp?L=3&IdMen=204

I can't see any advantage of a taxi to Ciampino train station (5-10 minutes), and then waiting for the next train (10-15 minutes + time to buy tickets), train to Termini (12 minutes). I would just taxi directly to Termini.