Travel in Italy
 

This is my first trip to Italy that I am planning. Does anyone know how I would travel from Rome to other cities with my luggage, without renting a car? TIA

How much luggage?

Hi SF,

Unless you have brought way too much luggage, you take the trains and buses.

www.trenitalia.com/en will give you train schedules and prices.

How much is too much luggage? Are 26 in suitcases ok for the trains?

26" is rather big for a train and can be quite heavy if packed full. You need to lift bags up a steep narrow stairway to get onto the train and then overhead at full arm's length to put onto the overhead rack. You will be much better off with a 22"

I will probably have 3 suitcases and a travel bag. I've never been there, so I'm really not sure what to expect. Thanks!!

Are you travelling alone? With 3 suitcases?

How long are you going for? We went for 3.5 weeks and between the 2 of us only had 2 medium suitcases.

Oh my goodness - 3 suitcases and a travel bag for just one person?

I am a CHRONIC overpacker and I managed with a 22" and medium sized backpack for one month.

You will have an impossible time on the trains with that much luggage if it is all indeed for you. I don't know if a bus might be better, as I have never ridden them myself. My rule in Italy though, is to never travel with more luggage than I can have my hands on at one time. It's much safer that way :-)

Just a suggestion, but you might want to look at some of the threads about packing lists to help you narrow down what to bring. It's easy to do laundry (I always have my hotel do it for me while I am out and about), and you can re-wear most clothes once at least.

Good Luck! :-)

Check out this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34467252

I am pretty sure "Snowflake" is pulling our leg. A question like that has to be a joke.

Hiring a chauffeur might be nice...he'd hulk the luggage about...

hmmmm...someone else travels like this...hmmmmm.. now who was that?

Wait a sec. Somebody who doesn't know that you can take trains in Italy but does already know how much luggage she'll have? Can this be for real?

Sorry, it will be 2 of us, a honeymoon. I guess I will have to travel lighter than expected.

You can bring a porter along on your trip to handle your 3 suitcases.

I can be your porter... as long as you pay for my entire trip (and I only travel First Class) ;)

Hold on ...
When are you planning on going?
Coz if you're going to sun for a week in the south, then ski in the north...maybe 3 cases would be necessary? I would probably fed-ex some of my things to one of my hotels tho...
IF and WHEN ...

For 2 of you you should need no more than 2 medium suitcases and a travel bag. At the most. Thats what we took on our honeymoon and vowed never to pack as much again. We are going again in Sept and are only bringing 1 suitcase and 2 travel bags.

Happy Honeymooning

We are going in November for 12 days; Rome, Florence & Venice (and other towns in between).

Hi Snowflake,

My previous post was about when I went "backpacking" for a month after college.

We JUST got back from our honeymoon in Italy for 12 days and we didn't pack quite as lightly as I did back then. We went to Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, and Venice.
We brought one 22" suitcase with wheels that I carried, and my husband carried a large backpack that we use when we go camping. We had quite a bit of room in the backpack for all the purchases we made and so we didn't have to ship anything home (very expensive and somewhat risky for your stuff).

Bring a couple of pairs of pants each, maybe one pair of shorts each, a skirt or dress for you, a light sweater for the evenings, short-sleeved tops, and cut waaaayyyy back on the pairs of shoes you bring ;-) We did laundry once during our 12 day stay so I think we only brought 6 tops each.
For your toiletries, buy the small sample size ones - it will save you a lot of room :-)

Make sure you look over the "Helpful Information: Italy" thread. It has almost everything you need to know about traveling in Italy:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34443340

Oh, I just saw the November. Change that to 3 or 4 sweaters each ;-)

TexasAggie: This is off the actual post subject but we are leaving for Italy in September and want to do the same trip you did, which includes Cinque Terre. How did you break down how many days you stayed in each city? Thanks.

Snowflake814 - good luck and from what I have been told by experiened travelers to Italy, 1 24"-26" suitcase each is realistic with a carry-on. You do not sound feeble and weak so I do not feel it would be difficult for you to lift a suitcase with the help of your husband. I am 50, a woman, weigh 125lbs. and lift a fully packed 26" suitcase alone because my husband cannot lift due to a bad back.