Venice to Assisi - could this be difficult?
 

I am starting to plan a trip for Oct. 2009. We planned to arrive into Venice and then go to Assisi. When I run the train schedules (n the German rail site) the times seem very akward. Even using dates in the near future, it seems the connections can be bad. I figured we would go Venice to Florence and then Florence to Assisi - are these not routes with frequesnt rail service?

Hi Sue,

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

Shows direct trains from Florence to Assisi.

For Venice to Assisi, you have to change in Florence or Arezzo.

((I))

Hey Ira--
Still debating whether or not I should rent a car or take the train from Rome to Florence, and then from Florence to Venice.
Do you have any suggestions.
Thanks!

Cars are useless and even a liability in those three cities IMO

Take the train if you will only be doing the cities - the drives, if done just to get between Rome and Florence and Florence and Venice the quickest are boring and rather expensive toll-wise autostrada drives.

Now if you had time to wind your way between Rome and Florence visiting some of the proverbial hill towns then you'd want a car.

But just to go to the cities no IMO - parking can be hard to find at times and very expensive

we always read here about folks who drove unknowingly into the off-limits to normal vehicles areas of Florence and are caught on cameras and later get a steep fine to pay.

The drive between Florence and Venice is blah again if just going straight thru and obviously a vehicle in Venice is a no go - have to pay a lot to park to it.

And theft from cars is also a problem if left in cities and even on autostrada rest areas apparently.

Trains in Italy are superb on those routes and cheap. www.trenitalia.com for schedules and fares and those discounted online only fares.

Thanks Ira - on the Trenitalia site it looks easy enough - on the German site there were big gaps in service. Seems like a workable transit.

Agreed Car from Rome to Florence adn Florence to Venice is totally unnecessary.

You will find just getting in to and out of a city through the highways may take hours...

Trains among those cites are vast and fast!

Incredibly many trains on Trenitalia.com have not been loaded yet for after early December - winter schedules are starting but if you see gaps it's because they ain't loaded - hourly service Venice to Florence or Arrezo (better to change here - closer to Assisi IMO) and hourly Florence/Arrezo to Assisi. Train station at Assisi is at the bottom of the huge hill Assisi crowns - buses shuttle up the hill to meet trains. You could go by bus from Arezzo to Assisi and arrive up in the town center on top i believe. (Or even bus from Florence) SITA buses - Google SITA buses Assisi.

Pal, do you know why trains schedules for later this month aren't loaded yet--and if/when they will be? We are trying to decide whether to train to Assisi (just doing an overnight from Rome end of December) or rent a car. I'd like to do whatever will be easiest and trenitalia's bringing me down once again.

On or around Dec. 12 every year European train systems adjust their schedules, so the 2009 timetables are just about to come online. Used to happen twice a year, but not anymore of course.

Be patient for a few days while things settle in - it is a huge task to reconcile the local, regional and national trains with all those that cross borders and involve more than one country's computer system.

It's a long way from Venice to Assisi. The quick trains require only one switch, in Florence, and those combinations will take you six hours or more.

A few times a day you can take another route (don't know why you would), with switches in Padova, Arezzo, and Terontola-Cortona, taking 7 hours or more.

As it happens, Ryanair flies to/from Treviso (secondary, more distant Venice airport than VCE) and also to/from Perugia, but right now I see no direct flights, so...

No i have no idea as to why they are not loaded, just that at least as of a few days ago they were not.

Incredible and this seems to happen every Dec and June - when winter and summer schedules commence

Whether it's incompetence or whether it's strategic - how many trains to run, etc. i do not know but it happens nearly every year. But you can be sure that trains will run just about the same as they do before winter schedules for planning purposes between Rome and Assisi - just that you cannot buy tickets currently - but that is rarely a problem even when you get there on this trajecture i believe.

Whoops, never mind, just checked again and I see more choices today.

Sorry for the hijack, suec.

Yes when they do come on they often come on in drabs and dribbles (sp/) - like one person is slowly adding them each day.

Thanks PalenQ-
I heard the same about driving in the cities.

I really would like to spend a couple of days visiting small towns between Rome and Florence. Then I can go straight to Venice by train.

I have one week in Rome, three nights in Florence, and four in Venice.

Dh says if we rent a car I get to drive--no problem, I'm a horrible navigator. Last year he had me navigate our way through northern Israel and the map was in Hebrew!!!

Anyway, thoughts on the itinerary?

October should be better driving than one August when i drove thru the hills - tedious driving on narrow twisting roads - lots of tourists - i actually found that driving between 12 and 3 - the siesta period for Italians was the best thing to do - had the roads practically to myself.

hi venezuela,

may I butt in?

where are you gonig to get your two days for this drive from?

less time in Rome? [possibly, you have a week there, so you could afford to spare one or two]

less time in Florence? - [hardly, you've only got three nights there].

cuttting down time in venice? [do you really want to do this?]

frankly in the time you've got -2 weeks] 3 stops is as many as you want. hiring a car for only 2 days is hardly worth it.

but I do like the idea of breaking your stay up with some variety. depending on your priorities, I would take two nights from Rome, add them to the nights you'd have spent in Florence, and pick an agritourismo [or at a stretch go for a hotel in a large village or town like Siena] and base yourself there,

OR

jettison Venice, and after Florence, hire the car and tour Tuscany.

many people "do" Rome, Florence, and Venice in the same trip, but how they remember what there saw where is a mystery to me.

regards, ann

PalenQ thanks for the insight.

Ann, Please-butt in any time,.,
I would give up two days in Rome and stay somewhere between there and Florence--
That is why I was wondering about the car. I would drive to Florence with a two day in-between for small towns.
We leave out of Venice and I really want to go again. The place is magical.
We leave january 7th so I really need to get my act together.

My default is Rome-Florence-Venice connecting by train.

Do you have a favorite restaurant?

Thanks!

Consider also a bus trip from Florence as a day trip to Siena, San Gimignano, etc. or other proverbial Tuscan hilltowns - buses from Florence to Siena for example go about three times an hour, take about an hour and cost about $5 - no hassling with parking, etc. And buses obviously go thru the same countryside as you would drive thru.

Thanks PalenQ-
Will consider. I really do want to visit San Gimignano.

San Gimignano is a wonderful spot after 5P or before 10A - eat at Vecchie Mura for nice Tuscan simple meal.

San Gimignano is also an easy day trip from Florence. Take the bus, switch in Poggibonsi and you are in San Gimignano in less than 2 hours. Same for Siena without the transfer.

For an overnight the Motorino Man likes staying in Siena, San Gimi and Volterra in that area. All worth a day. San Gimi is a little nuts on weekends and July and August due to it being a popular spot among locals and foreigners alike. But after they leave it is romantic and mystical while the mornings are also gorgeous.

Driving from Rome to Florence there are so many good options for a night or two. We also like Orvieto, Chiusi, Montalcino, Pienza all further south. After Rome the hill towns may provide a well-needed rest before you enter Florence...

Orvieto is also smack on the Rome-Florence train line (though the faster trains are not likely to stop there - but plenty of regional trains that are dirt cheap to florence from there

Orveito - one of the most unique and nicest towns in Italy IMO

you take a funicular from the train station at the bottom of the immense volanic pile Orvieto caps up to the incredible old town center. Subetrranean Orvieto is an attraction as well - lots of tunnels hewn out of the soft lava thru the years. Some fear the whole thing could collapse like a house of cards but experts discount that.

Orvieto could also be an easy day trip from Rome.