Time of day for train travel - Italy
 

Hi everyone. I am in the midst of planning our two-year-late honeymoon to Italy. We’re going in mid to late October 2012 (plane tickets have been purchased arriving in Venice and departing Rome, but that’s about it). We’ll take a train between cities. Our tentative itinerary is this: Arrive in Venice airport on the morning of 14 Oct. Stay three, maybe four, nights. Arrive in Florence and stay 3-4 nights. Arrive in Rome and stay four to six nights before departing on the evening of 26 Oct.

At this point, I want to make hotel reservations but I’m getting stuck on dates/number of nights. Originally, I had been thinking a late afternoon or evening train trip would be best to make the most of our day and to arrive at our new destination and check in and go to sleep. However, now I’m thinking this will require us to bring all of our luggage with us from morning of our check out to when we board the train (when traveling between Venice and Florence and Florence to Rome). I’m not a fan of that idea. I’m hoping for some feedback on the following:

Would you travel by train during early mornings or late afternoon/evenings?
Do most hotels allow you to ‘check’ any bags with them if you arrive in the morning and your room isn't ready yet?
Any feedback on the number of days/nights in each place? Is this doable for wanting to see many of the popular sights in addition to having some relaxing time to people watch and shop?

Thanks so much in advance.

The only feedback I could offer: Milan has not much to offer for 3-4 nights (unless you're into fashion as a profession). I would suggest spending those days, or some of, in Venice.

Most hotels allow to:

1. Leave your bags after you check out
2. Leave your bags before you check in

Mamamia - oh, we're for sure spending our nights in Venice! Neither of us have much of an interest in visiting Milan.

Thursdaysd - thanks for the input! I'm going to end up checking with the hotels I'm looking into to make sure.

You are starting with a very good framework. Flying in Venice and out of Rome is about as good starting point as one can get. Congratulations (because many posters start with less desirable round-trip flight setups.)

Adjusting travel time between cities would require more in depth look at what you can do by leaving early vs. later. Look at difference scenarios. For example, if certain places in Venice, Florence are not accessible (to you) until the departure date, that might favor leaving later. If you are leaving Florence on museum closed day, it perhaps make sense to leave early if you have nothing else to fill the morning, etc.

All the hotels I have stayed let me leave luggage in storage if I arrived early and my room was not ready and let me leave them after check out. The only minus is if you leave luggage at hotel for late departure and you are ending the day near the station. You then have to make you way back to your hotel to retrieve your luggage. This is usually something you can manage by sequencing your visit.

Yes -- don't let the luggage issue worry you. Leave it at the hotel until which ever train/time you choose.

I personally don't think there is a one-size fits all answer. For a short/short-ish train ride, I generally like to travel after dinner. For a train ride of more than maybe 2 - 2.5 hours, I'd usually travel in the early AM.

Personally, I like to travel to a new city in the morning and arrive just in time for lunch. Chances are, arriving at this time means that your hotel room might actually be available. If not, the hotel will hold the bags, and I head out to lunch. I like to have the afternoon in the sunshine to begin to find my way around the new place.

Most hotels will let you leave bags with them both before you check in AND after you check out. Also the train stations in Venice, Florence, and Rome have baggage check rooms.

For me, my meals are an important part of my vacation, so I would not want to take an evening train that might affect my opportunity to have a nice dinner.

The train between Venice and Florence takes just more than 2 hours and between Florence and Rome is 90 minutes.

Without knowing your particular interests in each city, it's difficult to suggest the best balance of days in each place. I'l try, though this is pretty much what you have suggested:

Oct 14: arr Venice
Oct 15: Venice
Oct 16: Venice
Oct 17: train to Florence
Oct 18: Florence
Oct 19: Florence
Oct 20: Florence
Oct 21: train to Rome
Oct 22: Rome
Oct 23: Rome
Oct 24: Rome
Oct 25: Rome
Oct 26: Rome; depart evening

The only reason I gave Florence more nights is in anticipation of adding a day trip to the Tuscan countryside or a hill town. It could easily be moved to one of the other cities depending on your interests.

I'm an idiot. I read "Venice" and comprehend "Milan"... Sorry...

I think mamamia was commenting on the itinerary in a different thread . . .

Wow - thank you all for the helpful information! Greg, I will totally follow up on making plans in terms of what might be open/closed those days. Thank you for the reminder of this!

Overall, it really sounds like the luggage won't be an issue with the convenience of most hotels keeping it, or, alternatively, the luggage check at train stations! Thank you for this nugget of info, ellenem.

In terms of changing around our itinerary - I think we just need to do a bit more planning to get a better sense of how long what we do want to do will take...

Thanks again!

Any hotel will hold your bags for you either after you check out or before you can check in. There may be a small fee - or just a tip for the bellman.

I think you itinerary is fine - it will allow you to take at least on day trip into the tuscan hill towns from Florence by train, bus or tour. If I had to make one change I would move one day from Florence to Venice - since the day you arrive may be sort of a blur due to jet lag. And IMHO one of the best parts of Venice to visit is the Island of Torcello - where the Venetians took refuge when the barbarians poured over the alps in the 400s.

I congratulate you on not trying to stuff 9 places in your time - you should have enough time to actually get some feel for each of these places.

One thing that I usually consider that I don't think others mentioned (but I only skimmed, so I could have missed it) is how my transit time fits with closing hours.

I often find that I can take intercity transit during times that I wouldn't otherwise be seeing/doing things I want to see/do. For example, when in Italy, I often travel in the late afternoon or early evening, so that the time I spend in transit includes as much as possible of the time between museum closings and my preferred dinner time - as long as I can still be assured of having time to relax over dinner after my arrival time. When possible, I plan transit times to be sure that I have time to check in and freshen before going out for dinner. I should note that I prefer a very late dinner, so this option might not work for everyone.

was in Italy in May with the family. We did: 5 nights Venice, 3 nights Bologna, and 5 nights Rome. Took the train in-between, mid-day. Enough time for a short walk-around in the morning of the traveling day, and arrival of mid-afternoon, time to stroll around and have a look before dinner. Worked out well!

One advantage of Florence by train is that many, many hotels are within an easy walk of the railway station. Some of these are a lot nicer than others, but there are plenty to choose from. allowing you to maximize your visiting time while minimizing your travel time.

Check Venere.com and the inevitable Tripadvisor, though you don't need to book through either.

Personally, I like to spend a last night in a town then get up and out early to my new destination.

Thanks everyone for the very helpful information!

Would you travel by train during early mornings or late afternoon/evenings?>

doesn't matter much since on all inter-city fast trains which you will take seat reservations are mandatory and come when you buy the ticket - thus getting a seat is never a problem if that is what you are getting at - crowded trains and not being able to find a seat.

For lots of great stuff on Italian trains check out these fine sources IMO - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id12.html.

And there is rarely any problem getting on trains even if buying on the day of travel. But www.trenitalia.com has some super-duper special fares as low as 9 euros - these are basically only available online and sell out weeks early - they are train-specific however and cannot be changed.