Italy and Tuscany: travel questions
Apr 20th, 2007, 10:20 AM
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Italy and Tuscany: travel questions
My husband and I will be in Tuscany from Sept. 16 to Sept. 22.
I have lots of questions about travel.
1. I know there is a train from Rome to Chuisi... but which one to take?
2. We are staying in Albergo Pensione Sonia in Chianciano Terme. We arrive on a Sunday in Chuisi and can't rent a car until Monday. Is there a bus or train from Chuisi to Chianciano Terme?
3 Does anyone know the approximate cost/times of these journeys?
I have spent hours trying to figure out the Terintalia and SCTA schedules and can't seem to find answers to my specific questions. Any help you can give me will be appreciated.
I have lots of questions about travel.
1. I know there is a train from Rome to Chuisi... but which one to take?
2. We are staying in Albergo Pensione Sonia in Chianciano Terme. We arrive on a Sunday in Chuisi and can't rent a car until Monday. Is there a bus or train from Chuisi to Chianciano Terme?
3 Does anyone know the approximate cost/times of these journeys?
I have spent hours trying to figure out the Terintalia and SCTA schedules and can't seem to find answers to my specific questions. Any help you can give me will be appreciated.
Apr 20th, 2007, 11:43 AM
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Here is the bus schedule you want:
http://www.lfi.it/orari_linee_si_mob/F_T4.pdf
G - Giornaliero is daily
F- Feriale Work days (not Sunday)
H - Festivo Sundays and Holidays.
Chiusi Scalo is where the train station is located. You could e-mail your accommodations and ask where to get off the bus in Chianciano Terme.
It looks like there are buses at 11:25, 13:35, 15:15, 16:30 and 16:55 on a Sunday.
Trenitalia will not have all the trains for September loaded into their website yet. Take a look at trains for a Sunday date in the next 2 months to get an idea of the times and frequencies. It looks like a faster IC Plus train takes 1:25 and costs 15 Euro in second class. A slower Regionale train takes 1:47 and costs 8.20 Euro apiece.
Re you car rental question: If you're Canadian look at AutoEurope.ca where the cars are rented with 0 deductible. They say that if AutoEurope offers a lower rate, and you find it and point it out to them they will refund the difference.
http://www.lfi.it/orari_linee_si_mob/F_T4.pdf
G - Giornaliero is daily
F- Feriale Work days (not Sunday)
H - Festivo Sundays and Holidays.
Chiusi Scalo is where the train station is located. You could e-mail your accommodations and ask where to get off the bus in Chianciano Terme.
It looks like there are buses at 11:25, 13:35, 15:15, 16:30 and 16:55 on a Sunday.
Trenitalia will not have all the trains for September loaded into their website yet. Take a look at trains for a Sunday date in the next 2 months to get an idea of the times and frequencies. It looks like a faster IC Plus train takes 1:25 and costs 15 Euro in second class. A slower Regionale train takes 1:47 and costs 8.20 Euro apiece.
Re you car rental question: If you're Canadian look at AutoEurope.ca where the cars are rented with 0 deductible. They say that if AutoEurope offers a lower rate, and you find it and point it out to them they will refund the difference.
Apr 20th, 2007, 11:52 AM
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Hi mackaygrae,
Is your entire trip from 9/16 to 9/22, or will you be in Italy before Sunday? If so, there might be other options for picking up a rental car. Maybe your arrival airport? Those locations, as well as the major cities, are open on weekends.
Is your entire trip from 9/16 to 9/22, or will you be in Italy before Sunday? If so, there might be other options for picking up a rental car. Maybe your arrival airport? Those locations, as well as the major cities, are open on weekends.
Apr 21st, 2007, 06:34 AM
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lovisa: THANK YOU! Your info was exactly what we needed. I have emailed the Pensione for info as well, but have not heard from them. There is still a lot of time, but I am enjoying the planning out now of the details of our trip.
Dayle: Thank you for your suggestion, but we will be in Rome and Naples the previous week and are planning on using the train systems. We are staying in a hostel by Roma Termini and then a villa down on the Amalfi Coast. Neither my husband or I feel confident enough to drive in those areas. But we have heard from friends that Tuscany is not as bad for us to drive in as the cities and coast.
Dayle: Thank you for your suggestion, but we will be in Rome and Naples the previous week and are planning on using the train systems. We are staying in a hostel by Roma Termini and then a villa down on the Amalfi Coast. Neither my husband or I feel confident enough to drive in those areas. But we have heard from friends that Tuscany is not as bad for us to drive in as the cities and coast.
Apr 21st, 2007, 06:47 AM
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Hi again Mackaybrae,
I've only driven in Umbria and Tuscany and based on that experience, I wouldn't hesitate to drive in any of the countryside using smaller roads. Yes, I agree that there is no reason to have a car in Rome or Amalfi Coast.
So if Sunday is your travel day from the villa in the south, I'm not sure there is any other plan that will be more convienent than your original.
You could train to FCO and pickup there, but that would be out of the way and take as much additional time and effort as Plan A.
Have a wonderful trip!
I've only driven in Umbria and Tuscany and based on that experience, I wouldn't hesitate to drive in any of the countryside using smaller roads. Yes, I agree that there is no reason to have a car in Rome or Amalfi Coast.
So if Sunday is your travel day from the villa in the south, I'm not sure there is any other plan that will be more convienent than your original.
You could train to FCO and pickup there, but that would be out of the way and take as much additional time and effort as Plan A.
Have a wonderful trip!
Apr 21st, 2007, 07:08 AM
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Dear mackaybrae:
I've seen your posts on the Frommers site. If you are staying in Agropoli, you are staying on the Cilento coast, which is south of the Amalfi coast, and is not the Amalfi coast.
The Amalfi Coast is a peninsula which has a narrow corniche road, but you would not need to drive that road at all. To get to the Amalfi Coast from Agropoli on public transportation would be quite time consuming.
I've seen your posts on the Frommers site. If you are staying in Agropoli, you are staying on the Cilento coast, which is south of the Amalfi coast, and is not the Amalfi coast.
The Amalfi Coast is a peninsula which has a narrow corniche road, but you would not need to drive that road at all. To get to the Amalfi Coast from Agropoli on public transportation would be quite time consuming.
Apr 21st, 2007, 07:28 AM
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Lovisa, how do we get to Agripoli? I have been studying the map and reading info from Fodorites that the town of Castellabate is our "destination" for the train/bus routes and we just get off earlier. We can begin communicating with initaly.com who made our reservations, but I enjoy the first hand info I have been getting from travellers like you.
What do you think of this plan? Is it doable?
13th -leave Rome to Naples on a high speed train. From Naples go to Sorrento and take the ferry to Castellabate. Then see if we can get a train/bus to the town of Agripoli by say 6:00 at night? The Villa is 3km out of town and we will likely take a taxi up to it.
Before we started thinking and planning this trip I knew the square root of 1 about the sites that are available to users to search and plan their own trips. Our friends think we are crazy not to have a travel agent do this for us... but we have so much lead time and I am thoroughly enjoying trying to make the most of our lifetime dream of three weeks in France and Italy that I love every minute of this searching!! Thank you to all Frommer readers and Fodorites who have helped... even all of you whose posting I read that has added invaluable info and detail to our knowledge of what to expect/do.
2. Once we are at the Villa we will fill the 14th and 15th with whatever happens; maybe daytrips to Paestum. There is a beack 3km away that we would like to see also.
The 16th will be crazy. We will need to leave Agripoli to get to Rome and then on to Chuisi; and from there to Chianciano Terme for six days. Those six days will happen as they happen... we have a "must-see wish list" and a "be-still-and-enjoy the food and wines" list.
We have the Fodor's Guide to Italy and I have not seen nor noticed anything about the Cilento Coast... I thought we were on the Amalfi Coast. I will see what I can find on the internet. Thanks!
What do you think of this plan? Is it doable?
13th -leave Rome to Naples on a high speed train. From Naples go to Sorrento and take the ferry to Castellabate. Then see if we can get a train/bus to the town of Agripoli by say 6:00 at night? The Villa is 3km out of town and we will likely take a taxi up to it.
Before we started thinking and planning this trip I knew the square root of 1 about the sites that are available to users to search and plan their own trips. Our friends think we are crazy not to have a travel agent do this for us... but we have so much lead time and I am thoroughly enjoying trying to make the most of our lifetime dream of three weeks in France and Italy that I love every minute of this searching!! Thank you to all Frommer readers and Fodorites who have helped... even all of you whose posting I read that has added invaluable info and detail to our knowledge of what to expect/do.
2. Once we are at the Villa we will fill the 14th and 15th with whatever happens; maybe daytrips to Paestum. There is a beack 3km away that we would like to see also.
The 16th will be crazy. We will need to leave Agripoli to get to Rome and then on to Chuisi; and from there to Chianciano Terme for six days. Those six days will happen as they happen... we have a "must-see wish list" and a "be-still-and-enjoy the food and wines" list.
We have the Fodor's Guide to Italy and I have not seen nor noticed anything about the Cilento Coast... I thought we were on the Amalfi Coast. I will see what I can find on the internet. Thanks!
Apr 21st, 2007, 08:00 AM
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If you want to stay in Agropoli (check your spelling), I would urge you to get a car. When I put into the Autoeurope.ca website pick-up Salerno, location 13 Mauro Clemente (Avis) September 12 , and drop off Chiusi September 22, location via Molise, Loc Po Bandito, I get a rate of CAD $399. Of course that could change in the next 5 minutes. Car rental rates are not so much per day - they vary according to how long you will have the vehicle. Short term rentals are very expensive, longer term ones are much cheaper by the day. I would not recommend pick up in Rome or Naples. Driving by on the autotrada is not so bad, but you really do not want to drive in these cities. Take the train from Rome to Salerno, and pick up a car there.
If you want to go to Agropoli by public transportation, just take the train from Napoli to Agropoli (where the station is located). Castellabate is 14 km from Agropoli down the coast, and I doubt there's much transportation between the two (it's nowhere near the rail line).
The Cilento coast is not a destination for too many first time visitors to Italy. Part of it has been protected in Italy as a National Park. I'm sure it's very nice and not nearly as touristy as the Amalfi Coast, however staying at a hotel 3 km from town without transportation will really restrict you. For a first time visitor without transport, I recommend you go to Sorrento, which has hotels in all price ranges, which is easy to get to from Naples via the circumvesuviana rail, and has ferry and bus transport all over the Amalfi Coast. Rick Steves Italy details all the transport options from Sorrento.
If you want to go to Agropoli by public transportation, just take the train from Napoli to Agropoli (where the station is located). Castellabate is 14 km from Agropoli down the coast, and I doubt there's much transportation between the two (it's nowhere near the rail line).
The Cilento coast is not a destination for too many first time visitors to Italy. Part of it has been protected in Italy as a National Park. I'm sure it's very nice and not nearly as touristy as the Amalfi Coast, however staying at a hotel 3 km from town without transportation will really restrict you. For a first time visitor without transport, I recommend you go to Sorrento, which has hotels in all price ranges, which is easy to get to from Naples via the circumvesuviana rail, and has ferry and bus transport all over the Amalfi Coast. Rick Steves Italy details all the transport options from Sorrento.
Apr 21st, 2007, 08:12 AM
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Mackaybrae: I now see you are leaving Rome on 13 September. On Hertz.ca, an 8 day rental pickup Salerno, return Chiusi Sept 22 is 269.27 Eur/$411.05 CAD without any discount coupon. If you're a member of the Automobile Club, you might get that rate discounted further.
Apr 21st, 2007, 03:03 PM
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Lovisa, the car is not an option for us... my husband wants to enjoy the trip as much as I do so we are very partial to trains and buses on the Cilento Coast...until you told me, I did not know that it was not the Amalfi Coast. But we are encouraged by what I have found on the internet: less touristy, a national park, etc. We do not mind a three km walk from the town to the Villa and we will be very happy to do nothing more than eat breakfast and dinner at the vVlla with a daytime walk in between. On the Agropoli webpage, I discovered that the town is serviced by 15 trains daily to Naples, which takes 1h 40min; and buses leave every hour. There is also an FS train that leaves 5 times a day and it takes 1h 20min to Naples. There is also a hydrofoil that leaves 7 times daily for Sorrento that takes 35 min. We will keep checking to see if this is all within our time frame. My husband is a Harbourmaster here at our port and knows that ferries and hydrofoils have specific seasons, etc,,; but we would be very partial to a ferry/hydrofoil form of transport at least one way.
Apr 21st, 2007, 06:01 PM
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Hey Mackaybrae,
It sounds like you have a winner! I've seen pictures of the coast south of Paestum and it looks gorgeous! If you have a location served well with trains and boats, what's not to love?
Highly recommend visiting Paestum. So impressive and totally different from the Roman ruins.
Your travel day will be long one between Agripoli and Chuisi, but the bus from Chuisi sounds like the only option.
Have a lovely time!
It sounds like you have a winner! I've seen pictures of the coast south of Paestum and it looks gorgeous! If you have a location served well with trains and boats, what's not to love?
Highly recommend visiting Paestum. So impressive and totally different from the Roman ruins.
Your travel day will be long one between Agripoli and Chuisi, but the bus from Chuisi sounds like the only option.
Have a lovely time!
Apr 21st, 2007, 06:37 PM
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I don't know if my information will help or not- I hope so! We traveled to Siena via Chiusi from Rome- Chiusi station was the transfer point. The train ride was about two and a half hours, if I remember correctly. It's possible that the little misspelling is why you couldn't find the station?
It is a very small station! The bus stop is right out front. There is a rental car office nearby- you don't say why you can't pick it up on Sunday? There were also some taxis hanging around. I did learn that Sunday schedules for both trains and buses are much reduced.
Sometimes I have better luck with the RailEurope or Bahn.de websites for information gathering like you are doing now.
I hope this helps!
It is a very small station! The bus stop is right out front. There is a rental car office nearby- you don't say why you can't pick it up on Sunday? There were also some taxis hanging around. I did learn that Sunday schedules for both trains and buses are much reduced.
Sometimes I have better luck with the RailEurope or Bahn.de websites for information gathering like you are doing now.
I hope this helps!
Apr 21st, 2007, 07:24 PM
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Dayle, you are right...if my husband could see an ocean every day of his life he would die a happy man. We live on the ocean in Canada. The "city-stuff" we are doing is to please me and as long as we get to see some ocean he will be happy. We found the Agropoli Villa on the initaly.com site by fluke and we have the view from the Villa of the sea from our room. The long trip to Chuisi will be interesting... we spent days on and off a train in Scotland a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed out-of-the-way places like Malag. Paestum was my drawing card... once I read about its beauty at nightfall. I have wanted to see Italy all my life and this is my dream as well as the Vatican and Saint Peter's in Rome. Anything else is gravy.
sglass... I opened the Bahn.de site but it is in German, I think, and I read German less than I can French or decifer Italian. I have tried RailEurope, etc also. I think we have most of our itinerary figured out and we have three days in Rome to get our tickets to everything else. We will keep checking the car rental agencies until July-August likely before we book. As to your question about not picking the car up on Sunday... the two Chuisi rental dealers are both closed on Sunday. I did get an idea from a Fodorite to see if the agency would make an exception for us and meet us on Sunday to make the car transfer. The worst that can happen is bussing and using the train, but we would be content with that too. My husband just wants to drive in Italy and/or France for the experience of it and is looking forward to it, although nothing too scary like what we have read about the Amalfi Coast!!
sglass... I opened the Bahn.de site but it is in German, I think, and I read German less than I can French or decifer Italian. I have tried RailEurope, etc also. I think we have most of our itinerary figured out and we have three days in Rome to get our tickets to everything else. We will keep checking the car rental agencies until July-August likely before we book. As to your question about not picking the car up on Sunday... the two Chuisi rental dealers are both closed on Sunday. I did get an idea from a Fodorite to see if the agency would make an exception for us and meet us on Sunday to make the car transfer. The worst that can happen is bussing and using the train, but we would be content with that too. My husband just wants to drive in Italy and/or France for the experience of it and is looking forward to it, although nothing too scary like what we have read about the Amalfi Coast!!
Apr 21st, 2007, 08:05 PM
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Sounds like you have everything in hand. Have a wonderful trip! Incidently, the German bahn.de site has a choice on the red bar near the top, "Internat. Guests" one from the right which is the English language option.
Apr 22nd, 2007, 07:46 PM
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lovisa, I looked the Cilento Coast and also got some info from Castellabate and we are really pleased about what we read. There is a public bus sevice
and the writer included a phone number to call for a car rental so we will wait until we get there and see what strikes our fancy. Thank you for the advice about finding English on the Bahn.de site. I will look it up again. Thanks for your help; we are sure excited about the experiences we can look forward to.
and the writer included a phone number to call for a car rental so we will wait until we get there and see what strikes our fancy. Thank you for the advice about finding English on the Bahn.de site. I will look it up again. Thanks for your help; we are sure excited about the experiences we can look forward to.
