Advice needed for Itinerary

Hi Grace. I will comment only on the Dolomites portion. It is very late in the year to go there and the lifts will be closed. You can check this schedule but it seems the last lift closes for summer about 21 October.

We LOVE Ortisei and highly recommend it. I am just worried it may be cold and rainy in October and you will not be able to go up via lift. can you rearrange your itinerary and go to the Dolomites a week or two earlier?

We "do" the area by public transportation each summer. You can (for Ortisei) train to Bolzano and bus to Ortisei, then cable lifts to the various rifugi on either side of the valley.

Thanks, Laurel!
I am considering to take train from Roma to Milan, and reverse my itinerary.
I fly to Roma FCO by Aegean Airlines from Athens, arrival time 10am.
It is more convenient to take train from Roma Termini or Roma Tiburtina? Should I book the train depart at what time. Not sure how long will the custom clearance takes and the travel time from airport to train station?
Appreciate if anyone could advise me.

grace,

It would take some time to go over your Itinerary, but a few initial thoughts.....

• As Laurel mentioned, weather could be an issue at that time of year and some of the lifts may not be operating. With that in mind, is there any way you could reverse the order of your Itinerary, starting in the Dolomites and finishing in Greece?
• It will be more convenient to take trains from Roma Termini (IMO). That's the main station in Rome and has the greatest number of departures. You can travel from FCO to Roma Termini directly on the Leonardo Express (€14 PP, 35 minutes, DON'T forget to validate your ticket prior to boarding the train or you'll face a hefty fine which will be collected on the spot!).
• You can buy rail tickets when you arrive at FCO at the airport rail station, either from a staffed ticket office or an automated Kiosk. It's normally not a good idea to pre-purchase tickets for the "premium" trains such as the Freccia high speed which have compulsory reservations, as they will be for a specific train, date and departure time and can NOT be used on any other train. If the flight is delayed for any reason and you miss the train listed on your ticket, you'll have to buy a new ticket at full price (Base Fare). If you're caught without a valid reservation for the train you're riding on, again hefty fines collected on the spot! Not validating tickets for Regionale trains, Buses or Metro also results in fines.
• If you stay with your original plan and fly from Athens to Rome via Aegean, you won't have to deal with "Customs" as you're travelling within the Schengen Zone. You will have to go through Passport Control when you arrive in Athens, since it's your first point of entry into the E.U. Your Passport will be stamped, which will be the starting date of the 90-day Schengen limit. There are no border controls within the E.U. As you're coming from Singapore, I don't believe you need a "formal" Visa.

Good luck with your planing!

Ken, thank for your patience to read the lengthy post and kind advice.
Too bad, I have booked my air ticket from Singapore to Athens and Santorini to Rome.
Try very hard to twist the journey. Maybe just forgo the booked flight from Athen to Rome, and fly to Milan, for me to be in Dolomites in early Oct.

Grace,
You can still fly into Rome and go directly on to Bolzano and the Dolomites. The train trip from Rome to Bolzano is about 4 1/2 hours. Depending on the arrival time of your flight, you can stop in Bolzano for the night, or take a bus to Ortisei. Departures are at 8:15, 10:15 and 16:15.

grace,

I definitely agree with Laurel. It will be a bit more complicated but I'm sure there's a way to work out a solution to fit around the flights that you've already booked.

The travel time from Rome will depend on which train you're able to connect with. What time does your flight arrive in Rome? There are a few direct trains from Roma Termini to Bolzano with a travel time of 4H:33M, but it's more likely you'll be using one the trains that has a change, so travel time will be slightly longer. I agree that it would be a good idea to spend at least one night in Bolzano and then continue to whichever destination you've chosen in the Dolomites.

To answer one of your earlier questions, Switzerland IS more expensive than the other countries you're visiting. However a visit would still be worthwhile if you can manage it. The Berner Oberland region (outside of Interlaken) is a big favourite with many here.

I'd suggest staying in Varenna at least a couple of days (rather than Milan) as it makes a great "home base" for touring other towns on the lake such as Bellagio and Menaggio. It's a beautiful small town.

Grazie !
Thanks for your suggestion. and done some search based on your suggestion. Based on the limited understanding of the train route, I have hard time, and I can't really understand the bus schedule. More than one bus stops with the word "Ortisie" and the time in the timetable download is inconsistent with the live search result.
Could you please see if my understanding is correct

I may take the following over night train Roma to Bolzano.
Train: 764 Roma Termini (23:00) 28/9 - Bolzano Bozen (08:05 ) 29/9.

And, take bus 350 from Bolzano, Stazione to Ortisei, Piazza S. Antonio, departure time at 08:28; 09: 21 and so on, as find from the link below:
http://www.sii.bz.it/en/siitimetablesquery

Appreciate your patience and kindness very very much.