Train travel in Italy - Advice?

Factual Questions
1

I’m making plans to travel to Italy early next month on business, to a small town in southern Italy, Cetraro (Calabria). To get there, I understand the best way to get there is by train to Paola, where I am supposed to be able to have the hotel send a car. I’ve checked out the Italia Rail website to find out times and costs, but have a few questions before I make my reservations that I am hoping can be found amongst the wisdom of the SDMB cognoscenti.

My flight arrives at 8:45 into Rome Fiumicino. The trains to Paola leave from Termini station. How long should I expect from arrival at the gate before I am actually at Termini? What’s the cost of the train from the airport to Termini?

There are several trains from Rome that stop in Paola, of varying types. There is the Eurostar and the IC Plus - besides speed, is there any reason to choose the Eurostar over the IC? The train trip is 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours, depending on the train. Is it worth the extra cost for a first class ticket for a trip of that length?

Both on my way to Paola and on the return trip, I may be able to leave a little earlier than I am currently planning, which would be nice. That would give me a few hours of sightseeing before I head home. If I have to make my arrangements now, though, I will have to give myself more time for flight delays, meetings running a bit long, and so on. How easy is it to change trains to an earlier (or later, if things don’t go well)? Is it better to have reservations or is it safe to simply get tickets when I get to the station?

Thanks for any insights…

2

I was in Rome in February last year. I arrived first thing in the morning, mid-week, and was through immigration and customs and outside the terminal in about 20 minutes. For an 0845 arrival, it will probably take longer than that.

The train from the airport into Termini (the Leonardo Express) takes about 25-30 minutes or so and cost me something like 12-15 euro each way, I think.

3

Lars Aruns is originally from Naples, if I remember correctly, so presumably will be able to give you some local advice if you send a private message.

4

Rome, but never mind, that makes me even more suitable to answer.

Your best bet to find prices and times is the official site or the Italian Railways: IT - Trenitalia

I mention it because I am not quite sure if the Italian Rail website the OP mentioned is the same. Don’t book from anybody else in case they charge you extra! You can also buy the tickets online and have them delivered (not sure if they deliver abroad), print them at home or pick them up in a station. I suggest you print them at home; it’s what I usually do.

The train should take about an hour, have a look here for a typical timetable: http://orario.trenitalia.com/b2c/TimeTable?stazin=fiumicino&stazout=roma+termini&datag=15&datam=07&dataa=2008&timsh=08&timsm=00&x=26&y=11&lang=en&nreq=5&channel=tcom

I’d pick the Eurostar over the IC because the Eurostar is more comfortable, and I reckon less prone to delays, as every extra stop the InterCity makes is an extra chance to get stuck behind a slow local train. And I also feel that it’s worth to pay extra for first class if you can afford it.

As for changing your booking, if they didn’t overhaul the rules you can change any time before your train actually leaves, provided there are seats in the train you want to change. I changed my train booking last year on my way back from Pisa to leave earlier, and had no problem. I think you can also “downgrade”, so to speak, to an IC, but I wouldn’t hope in a refund of the price difference, but still, you should check out the website.

If you go to Calabria and have extra time, my advice is to bring a big beach towel, sun shield and swimsuit and go to the beach! And take lots of pictures! The mountains are not far off if you fancy renting a car, and they are very beautiful.

Sigh. Now I wish I could go! :frowning:

EDIT: Just found this on the Trenitalia website: "If you buy online, you save 5% on these trains: Alta Velocità, Eurostar, Eurostar City and tBiz. " See http://www.trenitalia.com/en/promozioni_offerte/promozioni/sconti.html

5

You can thank Mussolini when the train arrives right on time!

6

That’s a very long train trip: IIRC you’re quite senior. Perhaps a private plane direct to a nearby airfield might be possible?

7

There are airports in Lamezia Terme and Reggio Calabria, and maybe a few more that I didn’t find on the Wikipedia. I notice the wiki page for the second claims there is a flight from Rome. Or if the OP can change his ticket reasonably easily, flying to London and then to Lamezia is also a possibility. He would still need to take a train from Lamezia to Cetraro.

The train trip should not be more stressful than a transatlantic flight (I suppose the OP is from the US), and there certainly is more space, especially on a Eurostar and especially in first class. I’d recommend them even more warmly if comfort is an issue.

8

Sorry, I meant direct from Rome to near Cetraro, not from America direct to Cetraro.

9

I’m not sure how to interpret “quite senior” - I’m not quite there by age, and definitely not there by organizational status! I definitely don’t rate a private plane (which to me suggests a nice business jet - oooh, I can dream, though).

I did look into connections to Lamezia and Reggio Calabria, but the costs were much more than by rail, and they’re both quite a ways to the hotel. I almost prefer the train anyway, especially in areas where I haven’t been. It’s a much better way to see the countryside than driving in an unfamiliar place or by flying over it all. I find it very relaxing, which is indeed nice after the long transatlantic flight.

Lars Aruns - thanks for the pointers. I won’t be able to spend much time enjoying myself, but we do have a few hours here and there for relaxation and a walk on the beach. I will take my camera, if I can only remember to take the battery (which I forgot when I went to Colorado for a few days last month - maybe **Quartz ** is onto something about my seniority :stuck_out_tongue: )

Thanks, everyone. This is very helpful. I’ll probably go ahead and make reservations for a somewhat later train with the hope that I might get through all the deplaning and immigration hoopla quickly and catch an earlier train. If not, then I’ve got a bit of time to catch a sight or two in Rome before I head out.

10

As I often do, for this kind of questions, I would advise to check the “europe” forum on www.fodors.com . There are a lot of knowledgeable people posting there, often able to answer to highly specific questions, in particular about train travel.

11

Being American and all, expect being waved through relatively quickly. Another word of advice about the train tickets, however: while it’s mandatory to book and reserve a seat on a Eurostar, I don’t think it’s worth the trouble to do the same for the Leonardo Express to Rome, as in any case they don’t reserve a seat. Just grab a ticket from a friendly newsagent, and jump on the first train to Rome!

12

I didn’t know about buying regional tickets at the newsagents until an Italian friend I was traveling with did it. It’s really convenient. I seem to recall the trip to Fiumicino taking about a half and hour, maybe more. I don’t remember the length of the trip back (and it wasn’t to Termini).

Don’t forget to get your ticket punched before getting on the train. You do this by sticking one end in the yellow boxes sprinkled throughout the station (usually there is one attached to a column near where you board a train). I forgot to do this more than once, luckily I didn’t get fined, but it’s nice not to have to explain yourself (both times I think the person checking the tickets realized I was a foreigner and let it pass.)

I traveled 2nd class and I thought it was pretty comfortable. It was my experience that any train that was traveling for more than a few hours was usually sufficiently comfortable for me. The Eurostar is nicer, but the IC is fine (though definitely more likely to be late and definitely less comfy).

I was always able to get tickets at the station, but I was there in winter when is wasn’t as busy I’d imagine. I’d probably buy the one from Termini to Paola ahead of time, but you should be fine from Fiumicino to Termini.

By the way, the trains don’t always run on time and didn’t during Mussolini’s time either. I don’t have a site, but I remember a quote from some American who lived in Italy during fascism who said that trains were regularly late.