Vatican ? and Train ?
 

First, the Vatican website states you can reserve a guided tour by faxing them. I am not sure the turnaround and as my husband dropped the ball on faxing from his workplace, we will be leaving presumably before I get a reply. (We'll leaving Thursday). Has anyone reserved this way to know the turnaround? The site states they must fax the confirmation back, will they fax to a US fax number then? Our options I see are (1)to have them fax a reply to our hotel's fax number, or (2)fax to our US fax number which sends directly to our email address but then we have to find a printer. Eee-gads. With (1) I fear we may miss the fax.

Second, take a chance on an express train day of arrival w/o reservation or take a chance on the plane not being delayed/missing train.

Thanks for any advice, Stacy

Actually, I advise against using a Vatican guide. I did that once and never again- she spoke incomprehensible English in a low voice in a noisy place.
If you're not going to take a guided tour through one of the many tour agencies, then rent the audio guide at the Vatican, I've heard it's excellent.

I'm a little confused about the train part. Are you arriving in Rome? What time is the tour scheduled for?

Sometimes the fastest way might actually be in a taxi..yeah, I know it is pricey, but still....

Do you actually NEED a printed out confirmation to get on the tour or just knowledge of the confirmation?

Have you thought of calling them on the phone and confirming?

Why not tell us what train journey you're planning? Are you arriving in Roma by train, or leaving, and where are you going to or from?

The Metro has a stop right at the Vatican, but it---like almost every other Roman station and train, is absolutely stiflingly hot and <i>filthy</i>. Taxi, bus or walk.

I've decided the Vatican tour is too much a pain, given the hastiness. I hadn't seen a phone # on the site and it was explicit about wanting to fax a confirmation. Glad to hear other options sound better.

I am arriving in Rome and then going to Naples. My flight gets in a little after 10, then I assume baggage claim, Leonardo Express for about a half hour. There is a 1:45 and a 2:45 train to Naples. I will later take another train to Sorrento which I'll deal with at the time. I registered (I think) as a user on Trenitalia and I can change the reservation if I make one if I get to Termini by 12:45, which could happen. I am leaning towards reserving the 2:45 for conservatism.

Sorry for the confusion, the two questions weren't related, sleep deprivation taking its toll.

I've never made a reservation, just arrived at Termini &amp; used the self-service ticket machines to buy a ticket for the next convenient fast train. Very easy to use.