Tiller

Saw a message here awhile ago how convenient
a side trip to Ravenna is in route to Florence from Venice catching morning train from Venice and spending day visiting basilicas and mosaics. My question is what to do with familys luggage? Would love to get advice from original poster of message or anyone who has dealt with this. Thanks so much!

flanneruk

Can't directly help you: there's no left luggage facility listed on the Trenitalia site for Ravenna station, though maybe this will spur someone else to suggest something

But have you checked the real feasibility of this plan? There's no direct train, and by the time you've hung round Bologna then got the put-put thing that stops at every level crossing, it's three hours from Venice to Ravenna, and another three on to Florence (again, via Bologna, where there is a left luggage facility, so you could leave your bags there)

IMHO Ravenna is one of the few places where it's impossible to get anything useful out of a rushed visit. The buildings' exteriors aren't very impressive, especially compared to Florence and Venice. The town's not at all atmospheric. The mosaics are all some way from each other, and need a fair bit of inspection.

Doing all this, getting from and to the station, and spending a good six hours on trains all within a day may require a fair bit of preplanning.

flanneruk

For the avoidance of doubt:

I meant to say "Ravenna building exteriors aren't very impressive unless you're a fan of Early Christian architecture". If you're a member of the club - alas, few are - it's fab. But if you are, you absolutely HAVE to give Ravenna a lot more than a couple of hours between trains

DejaVu

The exteriors aren't the point of the Ravenna buildings. Early Byzantine architecture emphasizes the interior over the exterior. The interiors are spectacular and well worth a visit. You can definitely see all the buildings in a day and spend sufficient time in each, plus the museum. Ravenna is very pedestrian friendly, and it's an easy walk around to almost all the buildings. The exception is S. Apollinare in Classe, which is not in Ravenna proper and thus requires a short bus ride.

BUT I don't think you'd be able to do it en route from Florence to Venice; I agree with flanneruk on that. I was staying in Bologna when I took my daytrip to Ravenna, and that worked very well.

smalti

Hi, Tiller!

I tried to post a reply this morning, but no dice.

I agree with flanneruk that a day trip to Ravenna by train sounds difficult, but I am loath to discourage anyone from visiting Ravenna. Honestly, if you were there only long enough to see San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (directly behind it), then you would still have a glorious experience, but what a shame it would be to go that far and see nothing more.

Would it be possible to insert a night in Ravenna in between Venice and Florence? Or a night in Bologna (as DejaVu mentions)? Failing that, could you take a day trip with a tour company (as we did) while staying in Venice?

If you do what you must to see Ravenna, I don't think you'll regret it!

Whatever you wind up doing, have a wonderful trip!

Tiller

Thanks so much for all the advice! Until last week had not even considered
trying to see Ravenna, and still not sure if it is workable. It does seem that overnighting there is only good solution if we go by train. Had considered renting a car to drive there from Venice to avoid lengthly trip by train but driving FROM
Ravenna to Florence seems way too scary. We were planning on driving only during our
week to 10 days visiting south of Siena and Chianti.

SusanEva

Hi Tiller,

I am also a huge Ravenna fan. Would agree that an overnight is probably the best, and least stressful. We did spend only one night in Ravenna on our first trip and felt it was enough to get a good "taste" of what we wanted to see. We returned for a longer visit this fall.

We drove - between Florence and Ravenna is easy. But perhaps it is the driving in Florence itself that is worrisome?

I should say we found Ravenna itself fairly difficult to negotiate with a car. And the city isn't classically beautiful in the same way the Umbrian and Tuscany towns are. It's charms are more subtle. But if you love history and mosaics, it's a true gem.

SusanEva

Tiller

Finally refound original message posted daytrip to Ravenna from Venice on the way to Florence, author:MOWMOW
dated 4/3/05. Would love to hear more details about this. You took morning train from Venice to Ravenna, visited the mosaics, took bus to Clase and had lunch there, returned to Ravenna to visit a few more places, caught the train to Florence in time for dinner meal. Your description of the day in Ravenna didn't appear to be rushed. Question: what time did you get into Ravenna? Where did you stow your luggage? What train did you take to Florence and were you twice in Bologna
to catch connecting trains to and from?
Thanks for any details!

DejaVu

FYI, I think I read on another thread that S. Apollinare in Classe is now closed for restoration. Can someone confirm for the OP?

Eloise

That's what I thought, too, but this page on the Web site of the city of Ravenna

http://www.turismo.ra.it/contenuti/i...t=3&lang=2

says nothing about its being closed, and it was last revised a few days ago, on 11/29/2005.

The portal page of the Web site says that the Neonian Baptistery and the Arian Baptistery will be closed for a few days at the end of November/ beginning of December, so if Sant'Apollinare in Classe were closed for a prolonged period of time, I think it would surely be mentioned.

SusanEva

Dear DejaVu and Eloise,

I was in Ravenna in early October, and we visited Classe. The Basilica was closed for repairs and the posted reopening is February 2006. The gift shop and restaurant are still open. (Which may account for why the Ravenna site still lists opening hours.) We were able to walk around the building, but no one was being admitted to the interior.

Best wishes, SusanEva

Eloise

Thanks, SusanEva, particularly in the name of the original poster, if s/he ever returns.

But it's unfortunate that one can't trust an official Web site. Oh well, maybe Classe needs a little tourist traffic...

SusanEva

Hi Tiller,

In case the person who posted in April doesn't see this, here is a web reference for a similar trip by train. Doesn't answer all your questions, but it might help.

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti...098ravenna.htm

Best wishes, SusanEva

smalti

Tiller--The 4/3/05 message you wanted was a response to a trip report that I wrote about Venice with a day trip to Ravenna:

http://www.fodors.com.forums/threads...p;tid=34594217

Our trip to Ravenna is on Day 2 of the report, with some discussion following, including the 4/3 post.

Happy travels!

smalti

Sorry! That should be:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34594217