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First Time Help

Posted by (Swansea) on

Hi,
It's my first time traveling, ever! And I am hoping to go to Italy, for about two weeks, from mid October. I will be traveling with my Aunt. I don’t know a word of Italian, though I bought a phrasebook (barron's) and a travel guide (lonelyplanet). I am thinking of visiting (in this order): Venice1-2 days, Cinque Terre 2-3 days, Folrence2-3 days, Rome (possibly leave for last) 3-4 days, Island of Capri 1-2 days and the Amafali coast 2-3 days, I am thinking of starting from the north, to improve the chances of catching some good weather in the northen areas, espically veince and cinque terre. Is my proposed itinerary a good one especially visa vie the weather? Order of itinerary, and expected length of time in traveling between these areas?

Neither of us drive, so will probably be traveling by train. How will this affect our ability to enjoy areas such Cinque terre and more so the amfali coast? Also please advise me about the safety of traveling on trains, my aunt might be nervous about this. I also heard that in certain regions Italians are more difficult with people of color!?

Any further advice you can give for a first time traveler- hotel bookings, travel arrangements, packing/luggage – would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Posted by
8700 posts

The best detailed timetables for all of Europe are on the German Rail site, www.bahn.de. Click on "Internat. Guests" for English. After you get summmary timetables for a particular route, click on "Details for all" to see the connecting points.

You can get both timetables and fares at the Trenitalia site, www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html.

Pack light so you won't have trouble carrying your luggage on and off the train and hoisting it onto the rack above your seat. Anything larger than a carry-on bag will need to go in the storage area at the end of the carriage. Click on "Travel Tips" at the top of the page you're reading now and read the articles under the Packing Tips section.

It's not a bad idea to use a bicycle cable lock to secure your luggage to a rack or storage bin.

Posted by
479 posts

Don't worry about relying on trains. The European railway system is extensive. For the smaller hilltowns in Tuscany if a tourist wants to get somewhere that a train doesn't go then there is a bus that will get you there.
There is a train that goes between the towns in the CT from La Spezia. You shouldn't have a problem.
Above all, plan as much as you possibly can beforehand. Even plan the times that you want be more spontaneous. In October you probably don't need to worry about finding a hotel room unless a town has some kind of festival going on. Do your research so that you know schedules costs and locations of everything you want to see. Rick's Italy guidebook is great for this.
One helpful hint, my wife always creates a very thin but jam-packed binder with all of the information we need for a trip that can easily fit in a daypack. We print out everything so that it is disposable. When we're done in a city, we toss!

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