Wildfire

Before i forget let me post a brief trip report on my 4 day stay in Rome, starting Oct. 26

Question: does the Eurostar give refunds if they are late (as the AVE does in Spain?)

Nice comfortable ride on the Eurostar from Florence. Im surprised that being one of the major cities florence doesnt have more frequent connections. Anyway, I found the quality of the trains in italy quite good and comfortable, regardless of regional, intercity etc. Prices, even for the Eurostar, were exceptionally reasonable

Hotel- Arrival in Rome at Termini station, tried to be very careful about selecting a cab to Piazza del Populo. Cab ride to the Hotel Locarno took only a few minutes and cost 6 euro (in the early afternoon.)
I had reserved a single room at Hotel Locarno for 4 nights. I was under the impression (guidebooks and forums) that the Piazza del Populo was actually much farther away from everything than it proved to be. Location was actually pretty good. Reception was quite nice but sadly the hotel seemed to be in dire need of some renovation (I was in a room in the old building.). Transferred to a room in hotel del Corso, right on Via del Corso, surprisingly reasonable, nice and clean and much more comfortable.

During the time that i was in Rome preparations were being finalized for the signing of the european charter. The area around ancient rome was supposedly totally shut down due to security on the 28th and 29th. Theere was substantially increased security presence and on the final day they were even out prepared in riot gear. To their credit I will say the security forces were remarkably easy going, very polite and quite friendly.

The sights of Rome were in general as expected. I would emphasize the need for advance planning and reservations. First day took the hop on hop off bus tour to get oriented and began to explore rome. Some impressions:

-the fountains and piazzas- these were magnificent. the sculptures were just beautiful, particularly the Trevi fountain. Churches-i still cant believe how many churches there are in Rome (and italy). On some streets there seemed to be two in the same block. magnificent baroque decoration and fabulous paintings/sculpture.

-Ancient Rome- my only real regret is that i did not firm up a tour of Ancient Rome before i left. Though I was able to access most of the sites by carefully consulting secuity the information in the handouts and guidebooks was just not enough to really bring these sites to life.

-Vatican- this really was the high point of my visit to Rome. I found my way to the meeting point for the Through Eternity tour. Guide was Tatyana and she was really excellent! Brought the place to life. Tour lasted 5 hours. it was pretty amazing how detailed her knowledge was and how well put together the tour truly was. More time in Rome would certainly have been well spent on a second visit to the Vatican Museum.

A nice surprise was the Galleria Doria Pamphili. Entrance fee included an audioguide by a member of the pamphili family, gave it a nice point of view. I enjoyed the number and quality of the holdings. Would have loved to have seen Galeria Borghese.

The food was generally quite good and reasonably priced. I especially liked the saltimbocca as well as a dish called penne ala arrabiata. One experience, however, might be instructive to others. I had only ordered a plate of pasta as my main dish and the waiter apparently felt that another dish
would go well. the second plate was presented to me without my ordering it and i should have refused it straight away. Watch out for fast talking italian waiters.

On the practical end- Internet connection right off Piazza Barberini, very reasonable and quite accessible.
Local transportation- I did most everything in foot...except for one voyage on the subway, which cannot be recommended to anyone who is calustrophibic. I found no real need for cabs during my stay

Airport- shuttle to the airport only took 20 minutes or so. It seemed to me that the check in area was strangely designed in that it seemed to bottleneck everyone through a very small security area (which was very hot).

In all I enjoyed Rome. I will certainly return to see the Vatican Museum more fully. I found that my 4 night stay was sufficient to see all of the major attractions easily. On a future trip to Rome I will most likely inquire farther ahead to try to find lodging at a convent....reserve trip to ancient rome...

thanks all for your advance advice before the trip.

Eloise

Thank you for your interesting report.

The only part I do not understand is your statement that "I'm surprised that being one of the the major cities Florence does not have more frequent connections."

I have just counted six (6) Eurostars between 9:29 and 11:29 a.m. from Florence to Rome (excluding Intercity and Interregional trains).

How much more frequent would you expect train service to be?

ira

Hi wild,

Thanks for sharing.

<...does the Eurostar give refunds if they are late ..<

Yes. Check www.trenitalia.com/en

Wildfire

oops...in referring to train schedules i was thinking of getting to florence from Venice...forgive the error.

cigalechanta

thanks Wildfire and welcome back.

Eloise

Now I understand! But the problem does not lie in Florence but in Venice-. The "main" line is Rome-Florence-Milan; those are the cities that most people traveling on business would be going to.
(Come to think of it, Florence might just be lucky to be on the Rome-Milan line; it's not exactly a hotbed of business and industry.)

And since almost no one goes to Venice on business, the train service between Florence and Venice is probably calculated to satisfy the requirements of tourists only.

maitaitom

Locarno: " but sadly the hotel seemed to be in dire need of some renovation."

We stayed there in 2001. It was needing renovation then, too. I'm actually surprised that Karen Brown has kept it on her website since I have seen other reports like yours crop up in the past few years (makes me wonder how often they check up on these things).

It was also written up in one of the "Food" magazines last year as one of its favorite places to stay in Rome. Locarno did have a cool bar, however, and Jimmy the Bartender made a mean Mojito.

Wildfire

In fairness the hotel bar was quite good and the breakfast was the best i had in italy. Location was very good and prices were reasonable. A good renovation would help a great deal (and take off that hideous wallpaper in the rooms-like a designer with a pink fetish)