gshlaw

This may sound silly to some of you -- if you're one of the "snide" responders, please refrain. My husband & I are taking a "direct" EVI train from Venice to Florence and aren't familiar enough with Italy train travel to know whether we will check our bags as in air travel or must load them on the train ourselves. Any constructive assistance will be appreciated.

rex

You must load yourself, and for most people, that means lift completely over your head. The overhead can accommodate bags much, much bigger than on an airplane.

The good news is that you don't have to do it in a hurry. The train originates in Venice and sits there for a half hour before it leaves.

Best wishes,

Rex

nytraveler

also note that train doors are usually not on the same level as the track - you usually have to lift the bags up 2 or 3 steps and through a fairly narrow doorway to get on the train.

mendota98

Hi gshlaw,

On 12/24/03 my family of four traveled from Florence to Rome by train. We arrived at the station early and I anticipated no problems as I grew up riding on trains. Two days before we had bought first class tickets for the "extra comfort". I enjoy having meticulous travel arrangements when traveling with my family as it allows more time to just relax.

The train arrives and I cannot figure out which railcar we are riding in. The numbers of the railcars are small and the train tickets are in Italian.
With minutes before departure a friendly English girl showed me the correct railcar as there was no one else around to help me.


I rushed up to the correct railcar with our four pieces of full size luggage on a cart. I heaved the luggage up the three steps onto the train and stood at the end of the railcar trying to decide where to place the luggage.

One piece I placed on the floor of the overflowing luggage compartment. This particular train had started out in Venice and was proceeding to Naples so it had plenty of people on it. Three pieces had to go in the overhead rack. Wow, what a chore(I'm 6'1" and work out every day)! There would be no room around our seats if the luggage did not go onto the rack as the train was moderately crowded. After wrestling the final piece up to the rack I fell into my seat exhausted.

Please someone tell me there's a better way?

==Mike

yk

Mike-

I think you brought up a good point - a point that folks on this board kept stressing over & over again - pack light! A lot of travelers (esp from the US) had no idea of how difficult it is to have large/heavy suitcases when they travel in Europe. Folks from the US are all spoiled by the smooth rolling surfaces in airports, luggage ramps everywhere, available trolleys at their fingertips, and "people-movers". All of these are a rarity in Europe.

I always travel with a backpack, so I know how light it has to be for me to carry it. I am only 5'2" and I was always able to get my backpack up over my head to store on the luggage rack without any help.

So hopefully gshlaw will see your post and will plan to pack light.

JonJon

If you have reserved seats then finding them won't be nearly as difficult as was implied above. Every train has a number...KNOW what yours is just like you KNOW which flight number you are on when you are driving.
Get to the station AHEAD OF TIME just like you get to the airport ahead of time.
Find the platform the train is going to leave from. At the head of that platform you will find a chart with the trains listed AND diagramed car by car by train number.
Find your car number (it will be on your ticket) of the diagram and the corresponding lettered location on the platform where the car will be.
Go there.
Expect, as was mentioned above, that the car will be several steps ABOVE the level of the platform so be ready to heft luggage UPWARDS..works well when TWO people work TOGETHER to do so unless the DH or perhaps the DW is the "mule" in the family..hope not.
Enjoy the ride.
I'd honestly be glad to guide you through this in person and once you've done it it will seem easy..but unfortunately, I'll be in Switzerland schlepping luggage and finding train seats there.
Good luck and have a great trip.

nytraveler

Here are two suggestions for a better way:

Pack much less!

Drive instread of taking the train (this is only one of the many reasons we almost always drive - but depending on your itinerary it may not make sense.)

I think the problem is that train travel is so uncommon in the US that most people have never had to really deal with their own luggage before they get to the train in europe.

ira

Hi gs,

I'm unsure of you "direct" EVI train. There are IC trains which have compartments for 6 or 8 and a side corridor (these have luggage racks above the seats) and ES* trains that have a central corridor with seating two by two and one by one on each side. These have a luggage storage area at one end of the car and airline-type overhead racks above the seats.

mgfit

My advice...pack lite!!! It gets old navigating stairs in the train station and some hotels without elevators. When you pack your suitcase and get down to the final packing...I would review what you have in there and see if there is anything you can live without. Lighter is better when going on the train!!

suze

As clarified, you have to handle your own suitcases.

Besides the logistics of the train itself - there's most likely steps to navigate out of your hotel, a swaying ramp to board the vaporetto (boat), there are steps up to enter the train station, steps up to the train car. Then the choice of leaving luggage at a shared space at the ends of the car or hoisting them overhead above your seat.

I've done all this, sometimes solo, and it's just fine. Just another poster chiming in on the wisdom of packing light (I prefer a 22-24" with wheels max.).

PVB

We were first-time Italy train travelers last month. We took the train from Florence to Venice, so I cannot comment on the Venice station. I agree with JonJon, above, that the stations have "maps" of the train available, so it is easy to see where your car/seats are. The only two things that we found confusing were:
1) We were on an ES train. There was an ES platform #9 and another platform #9. Read the fine print!
2) We are used to airports, where departures are listed hours and hours in advance. In the train station, they were listed maybe 20-30 minutes in advance. Don't panic!
One note: Our train ride was on 2-29. They announced that starting March 1 all cars on all trains would be non-smoking.

gshlaw

Thanks so much to all of you --- especially Jon-Jon! I've been out of town on business, and read all of your responses today, the immediately checked by tickets that had also arrived while I was gone. We're on ES Train #9469, Coach 002 with reserved seats, and I now feel much more confident! Every trip I make I get a little better at lighter packing, and will take all of this advice to heart.

Mike, if you haven't read Jon-Jon's post, take a look. I was able to make my train reservations through Travelocity at a cheaper price than through the Italian rail website, got credit on U-Promise, and have tickets and seat reservations in hand ready to use.

jgita

Do all of you train people advise buying the tickets on line here in the US before going to Italia? How far in advance?
I looked at the trenitalia site and got stuck (too early?) but I will persist if necessary. We will be training from Venice to Milan in mid June, after giving back our car at the beginning of our Venice stay.
Thanks for your help.
j

yk

Hi j-

Yes, you're too early. YOu cannot buy trenitalia tickets on line more than 60days in advance.

I bought my tix in italy when I was there last. But that was in Nov.

jgita

Hi,

Sorry, I just noticed a whole new thread dealing with this issue about 10 posts down the line. Didn't mean to muddy up the works here.
j

ira

Hi gs,

>I was able to make my train reservations through Travelocity at a cheaper price than through the Italian rail website<

I priced the ES* ticket from Venice to Florence on Travelocity and on Trenitalia.

Travelocity takes you to Raileurope. The prices there were $49 and $35.

At Trenitalia they were 39.25 and 26.6E, which comes out to $47 and $32, with the euro = $1.22.

Are you sure that you have reserved seats? Until now, Raileurope has been issuing "open tickets" which require a supplement of about $12 for the seat assignment.

gshlaw

Ira:
We paid the extra for a reserved seat and have received both the tickets and the separate "Reservation" vouchers with assigned coach & specifically assigned seats. This was an additional $38 (for 2). All in all, I guess I paid about $20 US more than I might have had I waited 'til I got there, but I figure that's money well spent if it means another hour anywhere in Venice other than inside the train station. And I banked a few bucks for my niece's 529 acct., so we're happy.

Have a wonderful trip!

ira

Hi gs,

The important thing is that you are happy.

You might find the Florence and Venice parts of my trip report helpful:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34451044