# Italy in January, 2017. Help, please



## zzcn69

We  are spending 1 week each in Florence, Venice, Cinque Terra using TS's. We will rent an apartment in Rome for another week. Any suggestions for apartment in Rome? My main question is about the trains. A while back, someone posted the link for the go to site for Italian trains. I have spent the last hour trying to find the link to no avail.  Help, please. We are thinking an Italian railpass is the way to go between cities, but it is expensive for a month and are wondering if we would be better off to buy individual tickets. Thanks for your help.


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## Ken555

http://www.trenitalia.com


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## alwysonvac

http://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm


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## Ken555

alwysonvac said:


> http://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm





This is a great site, but often seems to confuse people I speak to about the options. There's just too much dense info for some to understand it correctly.


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## Yolie912

zzcn69 said:


> We  are spending 1 week each in Florence, Venice, Cinque Terra using TS's. We will rent an apartment in Rome for another week. Any suggestions for apartment in Rome? My main question is about the trains. A while back, someone posted the link for the go to site for Italian trains. I have spent the last hour trying to find the link to no avail.  Help, please. We are thinking an Italian railpass is the way to go between cities, but it is expensive for a month and are wondering if we would be better off to buy individual tickets. Thanks for your help.



Can you let me know what ts you used for those places? I'm thinking of Italy as well. Thx


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## Jwerking

We are visiting Italy for the first time this Sept and Oct and just booked our train tickets.  There is also a private railroad in Italy that operates between major cities and the fares were cheaper than the state owned rail because of promotional fares - so check it too as an option - just google "Italo" and you will find it.  Cannot book tickets until 120 days out.


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## jehb2

Ken555 said:


> This is a great site, but often seems to confuse people I speak to about the options. There's just too much dense info for some to understand it correctly.



I found this site (seat61) to be incredibly helpful.  I used it last summer when I booked 8 sets of point to point tickets on foreign websites for my family of 4.

Milan-Tuscany (Pisa)
Tuscany-Rome
Edinburg-London
London-Paris
Paris-Amsterdam
Amsterdam-Bruges
Bruges-Paris
Paris-Milan

The total cost of our tickets for a family of 4 was much cheaper than a Eurail Pass for a single person.  Some of my tickets were cheaper than the additional fee you have to pay when using your Eurail Pass.  

When I had specific questiosn I just googled it and always found the answer.  But if you don't have the time or energy you can always go through a ticket agent such as www.loco2.com

I book my italy tickets on www.trenitalia.com.  Select the British flag if the website appears in a foreign language.


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## jehb2

zzcn69 said:


> We will rent an apartment in Rome for another week. Any suggestions for apartment in Rome?



We stayed at Apartment 19 in Rome.  It was completely awesome.  

https://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p300175


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## PStreet1

You might consider leasing a car; it's about 1/2 the cost of renting.  I think the breaking point for leasing being better than renting is 16 days, but I'm not sure.  The Italian highways are easy to drive.  No one in his right mind would drive in Rome, but you can turn it in before you head into the city.  In order to have parking for the car, we stayed on the Lido (took a car ferry to it)  http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/lido/.  That meant that every morning we had a quick ride to whatever island we were going to that day (about 15 minutes).  Much less expensive--or do you have a timeshare for Venice also?  If so, obviously, you're all set--but the car can be parked on the mainland.  

We rented an apartment that we loved for 9 days in Rome, and were especially excited because of our wonderful landlady and the neighborhood we were in.  PM me if you want additional information.


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## Laurie

You might have acqua alta in Venice in January. Bring waterproof (not water-resistant) boots, and enjoy!!


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## Talent312

Laurie said:


> You might have acqua alta in Venice in January. Bring waterproof (not water-resistant) boots, and enjoy!!



At least they put up walkways in St. Mark's Square. But know also that...
"The streets are flooded!" -- _Paraphrasing humorist Robert Benchley (~1938)._
.


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## zzcn69

*Thanks for your help*

A lot of good information and I really appreciate your help. For the person who inquired about how I booked my units, I did it through RCI. I found a studio in the heart of Florence sitting on line, and snapped it up. This was the nucleus of my trip. Next, I also found a unit on line for Cinque Terre. I put in a request for Venice and finally got it last week. Most of the resorts in Rome I saw were on the outskirts, so we are going to rent a unit there. January is the off season in Italy so that was probably a big help. I know it will probably be cold and wet at times, but the benefit to me is NO Crowds. I am now looking at trains. I was wondering if we can connect to the train from the airport? We will probably have a redeye flight from US and would like to connect to train to Florence promptly. I also would like your advice on what city we should fly into. I am going on the premise, we should fly in and out of the same city to save money. Our first week is Florence, then Cinque Terre, next Rome and finally Venice. Too bad I couldn't reverse Venice and Rome, but no way.  Anyway, appreciate your advice. Zee


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## Passepartout

Here's my hint for flying into Florence: Fly into Pisa. The train station is right at the airport, and goes direct to the downtown Firenze station, saving taxi or shuttle or anything, Central Florence is so compact, you should be able to walk to your apartment.

We also flew back to the US from Pisa, but connected in Milan Malprensa, which allowed time for a quick train ride into central Milan and a (timed) visit to see Michelangelo's Last Supper. You have to get tickets in advance to see that.

Jim


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## Laurie

Florence is also easy to fly into/ out of, because there's a cheap and frequent shuttle bus from the Firenze airport parking lot, going right to the downtown train station.

Edited to add: it's not always more expensive to fly in and out of different cities - open jaw can be about the same - check with airline sites.


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## Glynda

*Trains Italy*

We traveled for 14 days in Italy last October, moving every three days, via train. We visited Milan, the Lake Como area, Portofino, Cinque Terre, and Venice.  No timeshares.

We traveled with only carry-on luggage and could not have handled more.  The Milan station had elevators/escalators but small town stations are not necessarily so equipped.  Often we had to walk out from the station and carry our luggage down stairs, under tracks through tunnels and then up stairs to our track.  The step up into to the train itself was often high off the ground. I am 5'4" and had some difficulty boarding a few of the trains, especially trying to handle my own luggage.  That said, in Milan there were some boys hanging around the trains and one grabbed our luggage and handled it for us even though we protested. Then when my husband tipped him, he argued loudly with him that it was not enough.  They do not officially work for the railroad and there are others like them that hang around the ticket machines to help people for tips.  Be aware.  Sometimes it is worth paying them if you are uncertain of how to use the machines or need the help.  Other times they can be a nuisance.  But I'm glad to see them trying to earn a living!  They could be out doing worse!

We also found some of the trains packed, as we didn't pay the extra ticket price for reserved seating and usually didn't have a problem. One train though was filled with young teens.  I boarded with an elderly lady who was using a cane and not one of the young people got up to give her, or me, a seat.  We stood for half an hour until they got off before we could be seated.  There must have been at least 30 of them in our car.  Even in off-season, the trains to Cinque Terre, and moving from village to village, were standing room only.  January should be a different story as I doubt you will find much open in that area. At the end of October they were pretty much closing the area down. 

The majority of our trains were right on time and also wasted no time taking off again.  We had one exception and that was when traveling to Venice and we missed our connection in Milan due to our first local train being late (it had to keep pulling over to let the fast/express trains pass) and had to re-book our ticket and rush to catch the new connection.  It was a bit nerve wracking as the lines were long but we managed to make it.  

I was quite proud of us for managing this type of travel for the first time, and at our age, 67. We usually rent cars when we travel but parking was going to be a problem in the areas we were visiting.  I would travel by train again but pack even lighter!  

We made up for any hardship experienced earlier by taking the Belmond Simplon Orient Express overnight from Venice to London to spend six nights in England before returning home.  That was the experience of a lifetime in itself!


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## Pompey Family

Passepartout said:


> Here's my hint for flying into Florence: Fly into Pisa. The train station is right at the airport, and goes direct to the downtown Firenze station, saving taxi or shuttle or anything, Central Florence is so compact, you should be able to walk to your apartment.
> 
> We also flew back to the US from Pisa, but connected in Milan Malprensa, which allowed time for a quick train ride into central Milan and a (timed) visit to see Michelangelo's Last Supper. You have to get tickets in advance to see that.
> 
> Jim



I agree with flying to Pisa. We went to Florence in February, flying to Pisa from London was cheaper and once there we took the bus from directly outside the airport to Florence centre, it was €5 each. We took the train on the return journey however there was construction taking place and we had to take a small shuttle bus for the last part of the journey to the airport.


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## zora

Last summer we spent 3 + weeks in Italy: Hilton timeshare in Tuscany, a day tour of Firenze, Modena (to see the cars), Venice (home away.uk), Celebrity cruise (7 nights Venice to Venice) and Rome.  We flew from US to Roma and took a hopper to Pisa, rented a car while in Tuscany (gps is mandatory), and got around the different cities by train.  We booked through www.trenitalia.com but used info from seat 61.  The Hilton timeshare directed us to free tours (in English) of neighboring towns.  In Florence we hired Samuele aka Sam the Guide.  I got Samuele's name and number from another Tugger and he was great.  
In Roma there is no metro.  One of our guides told us that they have been trying to build a metro for decades.  Every time they start digging, they come across more antiquities and so have to stop while they excavate.  So if you stay out of Roma proper, ballpark time every morning to get into the city.  We stayed in the Piaza Navona neighborhood and loved it.  I found the apt in home away.uk (but not in the USA home away.com), 3/2 apt with a/c, laundry (washer dryer combo), an elevator that fit one person and one suitcase or 2 people, and a full kitchen.  A hole in the wall grocery store was about 2 blocks away.  We walked the city every day and after dinner caught a cab home.  The Roma tour I liked best was Pristine Sistine (Walks of Italy) which got us into the Vatican early/before the crowds.  Hope this helps.  
You'll have a wonderful time.  Suzanne.


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## Pompey Family

zora said:


> In Roma there is no metro.



????????

http://www.rome.info/metro/


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## Talent312

zora said:


> In Roma there is no metro.  One of our guides told us that they have been trying to build a metro for decades.



Your guide was mistaken.  The Rome metro opened in 1955. _[Source: Wikipedia]_






.


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## zora

Next time I'll know better.  But walking the city was great.  And we decided that there is no bad food in the city.


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## mav

Yes, the food is wonderful in Italy! Better to walk anyway, u can stuff yourself with all the great food and bakery items and walk it off!


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## Jwerking

Glynda said:


> We traveled with only carry-on luggage and could not have handled more.  The Milan station had elevators/escalators but small town stations are not necessarily so equipped.  Often we had to walk out from the station and carry our luggage down stairs, under tracks through tunnels and then up stairs to our track.  The step up into to the train itself was often high off the ground. I am 5'4" and had some difficulty boarding a few of the trains, especially trying to handle my own luggage.



We will be using trains for our first trip to Italy this fall and know we have to handle our own luggage.  There is no way I can pack in a 21 inch upright for a 6 wk trip - so it will be a 24/25 inch upright.  What size was your bag - if 21 inch, please provide your packing list?

Are there overhead racks that accomodate 24/25 inch bags or do they only fit in the luggage compartments in each car?  Any security issues with leaving them in the compartments?


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## Talent312

We had no issues leaving bags in the luggage area of the train cars during our three trips by train. However, you may want to use a lock.

In Avignon (FR), we saw one elderly lady wheeling around with a large suitcase with a small dog sticking its nose out the top.
.


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## canesfan

We did Rome - Cinque Terre - Florence - Venice all by train. Flew into Rome out of Venice. We were traveling in late June and had no problems with the trains. Cinque Terre trains were busy within the towns, but that was to be expected. Another trip we did Paris- Venice - Florence - Rome.  Again all trains, flew out of different airports at beginning and end. We did rent a car in Florence for that trip to go into the countryside. It was not easy getting in/out of Florence, so if you are not comfortable, I wouldn't recommend it.  
We traveled with one large suitcase each and left it in the luggage area. We had no problems. In the train stations keep your wits about you as there are people milling around looking for tourists to target. Keep your carry on close and money/passport secured.


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## myoakley

Passepartout said:


> Here's my hint for flying into Florence: Fly into Pisa. The train station is right at the airport, and goes direct to the downtown Firenze station, saving taxi or shuttle or anything, Central Florence is so compact, you should be able to walk to your apartment.
> 
> We also flew back to the US from Pisa, but connected in Milan Malprensa, which allowed time for a quick train ride into central Milan and a (timed) visit to see Michelangelo's Last Supper. You have to get tickets in advance to see that.
> 
> Jim



Forgive me, Jim, for a correction:  Leonardo da Vinci painted the "Last Supper".
I saw it many, many years ago.  How is the condition?  Have they done any restoration.


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## Laurie

canesfan said:


> Another trip we did Paris- Venice - Florence - Rome.  Again all trains, flew out of different airports at beginning and end. We did rent a car in Florence for that trip to go into the countryside. It was not easy getting in/out of Florence, so if you are not comfortable, I wouldn't recommend it.


It's not so bad if you take public transportation to Florence airport, rent a car from there and return it there. If you have time, it's very worth it to have a car for the countryside in Tuscany IMO.


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## isisdave

In Rome, near Vatican: VRBO 1021339, also a webpage (in Italian, but plenty to get the feel) at vaticanohouse.it   Say hi to Laura for us. Her English is pretty good, and lots better than our Italian. Right next to Cipro metro station.

We found trains pretty inexpensive. Buy online in advance (nonrefundable); you get an e-ticket which you just show from your phone on the train. Keep an eye on the website for suddenly announced strikes (sciopero).

Don't rent a car in any Italian city. For several people, driving inter-city might be cheaper, but the driver will have no fun and will see nothing except fairly terrifying traffic. In a city, it's just an expensive, frustrating nuisance.

The Rome metro is cheap and fast, but there are really only two (maybe three now) lines, and so some areas where buses are better. Watch out for pickpockets. They will actually announce (electronically)  on the metro when pickpockets have been sighted, and twice, locals announced in English "there are pickpockets in this car now," whereupon they left at the next stop. Often 2 or 3 kids, 10-13 years old, who stand in the doorway or create some commotion.

If you haven't seen https://www.rometoolkit.com/ you should read it. Lots of great info.

IMHO the best site in Rome, after the Vatican, is Ostia Antica. In January, there will be practically no one there.


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## jehb2

Jwerking said:


> We will be using trains for our first trip to Italy this fall and know we have to handle our own luggage.  There is no way I can pack in a 21 inch upright for a 6 wk trip - so it will be a 24/25 inch upright.



You would be very surprised.  We traveled for 5 weeks around Europe taking 8 trains between cities and 1 airplane.  We are a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 kids).  We had only one 21 inch carryon each.  You will be much happier if you travel light.  Start with the Rick Steves travel "packing" forum.  Study other sites about packing light.











Prior to our Europe trip we traveled to Hawaii almost every year since 1999.  I always took everything plus the kitchen sink.


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