bakerstreet

I am planning an overly ambitious summer trip to Italy and am considering the following itinerary -- I KNOW it's a lot of traveling and hopping around and I know there are a lot of people who will want to tell me to slow down, cut out a couple of places, etc. That is one of the options I am considering, so you don't need to tell me that. I would very much appreciate advice on the following:

We fly into Rome in the evening. We'll spend the night in Rome and leave the next day for Villa d'Este. Is it possible/practical to spend the day seeing a couple of things in Rome, and taking a sleeper train to Milan that night, arriving in Milan in the morning, then taking a train to Cernobbio to reach the hotel? Is it comfortable to sleep on the train these days? (I haven't done it since college days, a long time ago.)

We'd spend 2 nights at Villa d'Este, then head to Venice for 3 nights, then Florence for 2 nights, then fly out of Pisa. This will require a lot of train travel. Does it make sense to buy a Eurailpass these days? Are there first-class trains that are nice and generally on time? I would appreciate hearing about train travel experiences from anyone who has recently traveled from Rome to Milan, Milan to the Lakes, Milan to Venice, Venice to Florence and Florence to Pisa.

I KNOW there is the possibility of train strikes and delays. Does anyone have a good idea of how often train strikes have historically occurred, and whether they tend to happen more in some months than others? Can someone familiar with Italian train travel give me any idea of the frequency and duration of delays?

I really am considering reducing the number of cities we visit so please don't advise me to do that.

Thanks for your help!

Dayle

Hi Baker,

I've had 3 trips (March, May, & Sept) for a total of 9 weeks to Italy. Combination of trains and cars. I've never had a strike during my travel. In Sept there was one scheduled during a day I was planning to day trip to Tivoli from Rome, but it was canceled and so didn't affect me.

I've also had all my trains, both local and ES be pretty much on time. The only one I can think of that was late was Naples - Paestum, by about 10 minutes.

There is a good web site referenced on the slowtrav.com site for scheduled transportation strikes. Look under their train travel section. It gives info for about 30 days in advance.

No experience with sleeper trains, as I am a light sleeper and it would be a nightmare for me. I think it would be very hard to try a sleeper train the night after your overseas flight.

It would help your trip a lot if you were able to fly into Milan to start with and you may be considering this option already. Other than that, the rest of your itinerary is quick, but not undoable.

Buon viaggio!

zoecat

Is there a reason your are flying into Rome and not Milan?

bakerstreet

That's a great question -- we're flying on frequent flyer miles and that's what was available. I was originally going to stay in Rome, but since I REALLY want to see the Lakes, am considering this route. I have been to Rome before and I will return one day for a family trip, but for this trip for just me and my husband I would like to see Lake Como and possibly stay at Villa d'Este.

ellenem

For the trip you plan, it really seems bothersome to fly into Rome to head to Lake Como. You could fly into any number of other airports that would put you much closer to Lake Como or Venice--Venice, Treviso, Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Milan Linate. Or if it must be Rome, I'd see if perhaps there was a cheap flight from Rome to one of these northern airports. Since you're prepared to pay for a sleeper, a flight might cost the same and save an incredible amount of time.

A pass may or may not work for you. Last year I did the same amount of traveling on ES (2nd class) and one long IC (1st class) and it was still cheaper to purchase tickets point to point.

Each time you change cities (aside from Rome to Como) it will take at least half a day between train times, checking in/out, transfers, so figure that into your time scheme.

I have been to Italy about 20 times and I would say I've run into strikes on 50% of my visits. Train strikes do not last for days--sometimes 12, sometimes 24 hourst, though I've had some that were just 4 hours. Last time in Rome, the strike had a 3-hour afternoon break for rush hour, when the buses and trains ran again to help everyone get home and then went on strike again till midnight. Another good site to watch for these is seekinitaly.com.

bakerstreet

50%! Yikes!
Thanks for the good advice.

suze

Not much to add, since the advise I would give, you have specifically told us all several times not to say!!

I can add that, yes, sleeper cars if you book a first class private compartment are reasonably comfortable. Depends on how light of a sleeper you are. Not sure how you traveled in college but would guess maybe in seats or couchettes? At least get a private 2 person room, maybe even one with a shower/toilet. Not sure exactly what options you have on that particular route.

suze

I'm no expert, but is it still called a "Eurail pass" when you are only in a single country.

suze

^^^

ellenem

size--no, I think individual countries and national train systems have their own passes that would offer more benefits if staying in the one country.

ellenem

sorry, I meant suze

suze

ellen, i'm sure you are correct. i hope some of this information proved helpful to Bakerstreet.

malbino

You could easily fly from Rome to Malpensa, pick up a rental car and be to Villa D'Este in no time. Alitalia offers inexpensive one-way fares within Italy. When renting a car online, you'll get better rates if you tell them you're from a country other than the United States. They never ask at the counter.

You'll love Villa D'Este. It's a treat to stay there. Be sure to eat in the restaurant. They have a great menu, and they'll make you anything you want, even if it's not on the menu. Ask for Eugene. He's great.