I'm 56 and a reasonably well traveled person - over 15 trips to Europe, Caribbean, New Zealand. I've bummed around with a backpack for 4 months and traveled Europe by air, car and train since 1977. Now I am trying to arrange a 2 week trip from States to Cinque Terra, then to Pisa and Venice, find my way to Croatia to meet a chartered yacht. I want to fly into Genoa, get to Cinque Terre, walk it, stay in local hotels, then get to venice for a few days, get a train, ferry, or car from Venice to Croatia - split, for example...meet our skipper, sail, then fly home from either Split or DUbrovnik.
I can't find railfares from Venice to Split, I can't find airfares from States to GOA then from DUbrovnik back, I can't rent a car from Venice to Croatia. I mean, it was never this difficult. I've gone on Raileurope, Seat61.com, Orbitz, links to Croatian and Venetian ferries. I mean,, I can eventually figure out the hotels and all, but why is it almost impossible to do this now?
Posted by
Freedonia
16243 posts
Try using different websites: Try Kayak.com for flights, hotels, rent a car. There are no nonstop flights from the U.S. to Genoa. But there are plenty of connections. Try the Trenitalia website for Italian train travel. And remember, you can't book trains more than 90 days out. http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD When looking for airfares, go open jaw and use the "multi-city" selection.
Posted by
Atlanta, Georgia
565 posts
Advice for the first segment: I have to go to Genoa for work and I usually try and find a cheap flight to CDG and then find a commuter/budget flight to Genoa (usually AirFrance). Try and break it up and you may save some $. I also use www.mobissimo.com to get an idea of where the cheap flights are routed. Milan is another good base to use as a hub for Alitalia. I'm sure others here can fill in the latter segments. Update: Know a travel agent? I'm not a serial user of them but I have in the past when I have to dodge all over the globe. It's always been worth the extra $ to get the travel time down. It might be an asset in your case.
Posted by
OP
falmouth, Maine, United States
14 posts
umm, thank you all for the tips. I know you can't get to Dubrovnik by train; been there before. I'm frustrated that I can't book tickets now for rail. So I was opting to drive but I can't rent a car one way from Venice to Split. We'll probably find a travel agent and let htem to the heavy lifting. But I will use your tips, thank you all.
joe
Posted by
Seattle, usa
84 posts
Joseph Good evening, you may be finding to many options like I have. Its exhausting. I am 41 and still find too many options crazy. It would be the same in a gelato shop. Go to booking.com or venere.com for hotels. And read the reviews but not all of them, or you will be like me...never booking and then booking and still regreting it:)!!!! I read books like "dummies guides" I love them. And I have rick steve books to scan over. Then I ask the actual question here for make it more of a review. You do have a lot more going on. I plan to go to Italy for 2 weeks and just need to figure out the buses, vaparettos of Venice and trains that are regional, night and more. Gosh!
Good luck! you are normal:)
Posted by
St Paul, MN, USA
122 posts
We just came from Croatia and to the best of my knowledge, you can't take a train from Venice to Split. You can take a ferry from Venice to Istria but then you'll need to drive from there to Split. You should be able to fly out of Split or Dubrovnik but you may have to transfer in Zagreb.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19272 posts
I rather easily found fares from Venice to Split on RailEurope (yes, I do look at their website; I just would not buy tickets from them). I just had to split (no pun intended) up the trip into Venice to Ljubljana and Ljubljana to Split. According to RailEurope, there is no train service to Dubrovnik. The Bahn doesn't show any either. If you were arranging travel in 1977, you probably had to get schedules from Thomas Cook and you wouldn't have been able to get fares or make reservations. In 1988 I planned a trip all over Germany using Cook's schedules, but I had a rail pass so didn't have to know fares. Today, I find it so much easier to plan trips using the Internet. Are you just trying to find out rail fares, or are you trying to book tickets. Few rail websites will give you fares or book on any connection going outside the country, online. The Bahn is one of the exceptions. In the past I've found fares to the last stop in one country and from the first stop in the next country and put them together for a close estimate.
Posted by
Centennial, CO, US
2185 posts
Joseph, you could take a train from Venice down to Ancona or Bari, and then an ferry to Split or Dubrovnik. Check schedules on http://www.jadrolinija.hr/.
Posted by
Bend, OR, United States
1167 posts
There are a lot of flights into Milan and you can take the train from there to the CT.
Posted by
Grapevine, TX, USA
875 posts
You could probably take the train from Venice to Ljulbjana and then rent the car there to take to Croatia. It would certainly be cheaper than renting it in Italy. We planned a trip last year from Venice to Slovenia, etc. and found it to be very complicated logistically on several different fronts.
Good luck!