Train from Rome to Venice - luggage?
 

We are going to take the train from Rome to Venice on January 1 in the morning. 5 total with luggage. We are purchasing 1st class tix, but have never been on trains in Italy (1st time). Can we keep our luggage with us, or do we have to put in luggage car? Is there a porter, should we periodically check on our luggage? All the trains even the fast ones, make stops and we are worried about theft, etc.
We will keep our carryons with us with any valuables (medicines, cameras, passports, etc.)
Thanks for any advice. Also which station in Rome to which station in Venice is best? Staying at the Hilton Molino Stucky.
Thanks

There are no luggage cars or porters.

Put your bags in the luggage racks in your carriage. Then ask yourself whether you would try stealing 40 lb suitcases likely to be full of dirty underwear, then running off into a strange city with them, when you could be out picking pockets or cloning credit cards.

Keep real valuables on your person. But don't indulge foolish paranoia (or self-aggrandisement) about the attraction of your smalls to full-time thieves.

There will be room to store the luggage at the end of the end of the carriage you are riding in; to ensure that get to the platform early and be one of the first to board. There will be room in the racks above your seat. In some instances there is room between seats. There is no luggage car.

You would more than likely travel from Rome Termini station.

No problem - in July we completed a 5 person (2 adults, 3 kids) train excursion from Venice to Florence to Sorrento to Rome. Plenty of space for your luggage in your car of the train.

No stopping n Florence??

Dave

Perfect, it's what I thought, but haven't been on a train since 1996...a LONG time

No, The_D_Dawg, unfortunately, no stopping in Florence. Only enough time for a short stay in Venice.

As stated, we will keep our valuables with us...the 40lbs of dirty underwear will be in the large suitcases :)

The train station you want in Venice is Venezia Santa Lucia. As previously stated, the train station that you'll use in Rome is Roma Termini.

We took the train from Rome to Venice, and then again from Venice to Florence. It was our first time on the trains...actually our first trip to Europe - and it made us more comfortable to book seats where we were close to the end of the train where the luggage storage area was. This way at each of the stops when people getting on and off the train were shuffling the luggage all around making room for THEIR luggage, we could keep an eye on OUR luggage. There was no where near room in the overhead for the suitcases we had.

If I could book seats like this again, I wouldn't hesitate to do so. I would do the same thing even in the US if I was taking luggage from say Philly to NYC, I wouldn't leave my luggage at one end of the train unattended as passengers got on and off. I would choose seats where I could see my luggage. But that's just my comfort level.

There is your problem; large suitcases. Italian trains load quickly and leave immediately. You only have an brief time to find your proper carriage, hoist your baggage and yourselves aboard, and the thing zips away. There are no porters, so each one of your party will need to be able to take care of hoisting their own bags. Quickly.

If at all possible, cut your luggage down to aircraft carry-on size that each person will be able to lift onto the overhead racks. Many of us on this Forum travel for weeks with only that amount of luggage. Packing lightly makes the trip so much more enjoyable.

Hand luggage can be put in racks, mid-size pieces of luggage often can find place between seats, but large size pieces of luggage are a pain for Frecciarossa train travel.