Freaking Confused

Sdepascl,

the cost of train is about 300 eruo's for both me and my wife.

What website are you using to check train schedules & prices?

I just checked trenitalia & you can purchase 'Super Economy' train tickets for €52 pp from Venice to Naples.
( I used October 15th as a tentative date)

Are you planning to visit Florence or Rome? If so, you could take train Venice => Florence => Rome => Naples and fly home from Naples so you don't have to backtrack.

You have come to the right place because we LOVE the planning.

To save time, yes, fly to Napoli from Venezia. No idea on price to do so as we are train freaks, but I know that is not everyone's cup-o-tea and time is valuable when you are on vacation.

From Napoli you can take a bus or train.bus combination to get to Ravello. Ravello is lovely, but gets quiet in late October. Don't miss Villa Cimbrone!

My wife would never do super economy its our 20 year anniversary need to do the right thing.
not sure about the trian site i only find super econemy. where is the business class? . the conciage at the westin in venice said they can book the ticket for a 10 dollar fee , I'm thinking thats a better way to go.
Still going to see about flying there..

There may still be Easy Jet tickets for $100 pp available. I don't know your travel date. There may luggage considerations and other fees with Easy Jet.

yes i saw that easy jet thing is it safe??? we are really planing on only bringing 1 suite case each 30 incher and a small carry on.. do they check the larger bags. if so how much?? cab ride to amalfi is like 120 ero's then after 4 days on the coast we need to get back to naples and then we go to rome .

this is the train site i tried www.trenitalia.itv

'Super Economy' train tickets are tickets that you can buy in advance for a discounted price.
You can choose to travel in 2nd class or 1st class with this type of ticket, however, these tickets come with restrictions;
they are unchangeable & nonrefundable so your travel dates must be firm.

Check here for more information about the types of tickets you can buy:http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en/Offers

This is the website you need to check train schedules & book your tickets in advance (if you choose to): http://www.trenitalia.com

Flight from Venice to Naples 1H10min. Easyjet...use their Flexi fare this includes your

checked luggage, seat and early boarding. Cost for October is $89-115.

Please keep in mind, it will still take time to reach the Venice airport. Easiest way is the

Alilaguna boat cost is 15euro

This service is probably the easiest to reach Positano, Amalfi and Ravello
http://www.amalfishuttle.com/transfer/naples-amalfi-ravello-transfer/

If you're staying in Sorrento, use this one...http://www.curreriviaggi.it/eng/shuttle.php

Hope this is of some help.

Super Economy is a type of ticket fare. You can get this fare in first or second class, though second class is usually fine. For this long of a trip I would buy the super economy first class/business class seats for 88 euros each. This trip will take about 5.5 hours with a change in Bologna. The train is a really nice way to travel through Italy. I would consider it a down day and a day to relax.

Donna

This site will explain more about Italian train travel:>
http://www.seat61.com/frecciarossa.htm#.Vfp6uulVuiY

Italo is also an option between Venezia S. Lucia and Napoli Centrale stations, and covers the distance in about 5 hours. These are nice trains with attractive pricing - I'm seeing 'low cost' tickets as low as 27 euro PP depending on day of the week - so I'd take a look at those too.

http://www.italotreno.it/?sc_lang=en

This page of the site (it's a little hard to find) explains the different tier classes of seating. I wouldn't have any problem traveling in the "Smart" category but you could certainly upgrade:

http://www.italotreno.it/en/the-train

My wife would never do super economy its our 20 year anniversary need to do the right thing.

The categories Super Economy, Economy, and Base have nothing to do with perceived fanciness, "doing the right thing", but have everything to do with saving money for advance planning in exchange for less flexibility.

If you bought airfare you'd want to save money, right? So you might buy the ticket a few months out instead of on the day and paying full price, wouldn't you? Same here.

You can get fancy and have two across plus one across instead of 4 across, but the 2nd class seats on these trains are better than business class on many airplanes. If you want to show off and have a couple of more inches (that's all it is) and be able to say that you are treating her then go First, or even higher. But it will cost, not get you much more (2nd class or Smart on .Italo trains even have leather seats and free wifi), and the whole train gets there the same time.

As Nigel said; if you buy tickets far enough ahead, you can super-economy tickets for first class.

You don't need a cab to the Amalfi coast - use Sorrentoshuttle.com, Positanoshuttle.com, or Amalfishuttle.com if you prefer not to use the train and the bus.

And consider taking a bit smaller suitcase than a 30 inch…..AND a carry on.

We travel for birthdays and special anniversaries and we don't need THAT many clothes….a 21 inch works for 3 months for us.

A 25" will make worlds of difference - even if you are trying to travel 1st class, you won't have porters everywhere.

Absolutely try to get down to a smaller size of bag, fewer clothes and a minimum of extras. You're going to be lifting and carrying those bags up/down stairs, in and out of trains, and hauling them across all sorts of challenging surfaces unless you are ALWAYS being picked up and delivered from door to door: not always a possibility.

Many RS member do several weeks with just a carry-on size. My husband and I have 24" bags, and I'd NEVER want to have to wrestle with anything larger than that in Europe.

yes i saw that easy jet thing is it safe???

Nowhere in your posts do you say what country you are coming from, so I have to make an assumption (in this case based on no data).

If you were coming from the USA would you consider Southwest safe? Both Easyjet and Southwest are short haul budget airlines. Both base their business models on quick turnarounds and full planes.

Southwest (at least in the days I flew them) used 727s, Easyjet is all Airbus now, often 320s.

They get you from a to b quickly and cheaply, and make a few extra money from extras like luggage, early boarding and some seat assignments.

I've never been on one that crashed, if that's what you mean by safe. Then again very few planes crash from any airline.

They don't tend to get hijacked, if that's what you mean. Then again very few other airlines do either.

If you don't mean either of the above, I don't know...

Go to the Trenitalia website or the ItaloTreno website linked above.

The standard class full ("base") fare from Venice to Naples is 101 euro pp.
If you buy sufficiently in advance you might get a SuperEconomy fare for the same class that will save you at least 40%. Be aware that SuperEconomy fares are non refundable and non changeable therefore you need to be reasonably certain about your travel plans.

The standard class (formerly 2nd class) is as comfortable as a business class on an airplane. So perfectly acceptable for a 20th anniversary. But if you want to travel in the posher business class the tickets are 33% more expensive.

In terms of time of travel, I'm not sure you save a lot by flying.

From Venice city center to the airport (on the mainland) is about one hour. While the train station is right there on the Grand Canal. You need to be at the airport about 90 min. prior to departure. The flight is 1.5 hours. Then there are the deplaning procedures, collecting the luggage at the carousel and taking a taxi to the station (20-30 min) if you take the train to Sorrento.
So in the end, from Venice city center to Naples train station is close to 5 hours by plane (when all of the above is added). The train is 5.5 hours, and if you take the 10:25 train departure from Venice it takes only 5h10min since there are no train changes to make. The train is also much more relaxing than traveling from/to airports, going through security, waiting at the gate, and flying like a sardine on Economy class. The cost is also similar. Flying might be cheaper, but you need to add the taxi fares to/from the airports, while with the train you are delivered right in the city center.

You hate planning but especially for your first trip to Italy, it's necessary, believe me. This forum is full of people that can anal-retentively plan everything in advance, but still leave flexibility and always have a Plan B besides. That's the other thing--Plan A doesn't always happen. That's Italy.

When we were in Italy in March, we loved the Frescia trains from Milan to Florence one day, and then to Rome to Naples to Salerno on the next leg. As stated above, 2nd class was more comfortable than business class air. We booked 90 days out and got dirt cheap prices. I would think you could still do well price-wise a month in advance.

But for you & wife, EasyJet or Ryan Air might work better for you.

Jay's right on, planning is mandatory.

We arrived on Thursday and Plan A was getting our bags on time. Plan B is that they hopefully get here by 18:30 today, Saturday. I trust that there won't be a Plan C as my wife is now on the sixth way to wear a scarf.

I'm enroute so this is not tried and true but might be helpful. We are traveling to Venice from Sorrento on Easy Jet out of Naples. We are using Sorrento Limos for pick up in Rome tomorrow and then Sorrento to Naples for our outbound flight. We considered the train from Naples to Venice but wanted to get there faster. I've used Easy Jet before. I'm prepared to pay baggage fees but that's the only issue. I think they are safe and fast

Good luck!

I have used Easyjet , Ryanair, Vueling, and Tuifly.. they are all just as "safe" as any other airline.. we aren't talking Aeroflot here..lol ..

Your suitcases will make you miserable. Hope your wife can lift and carry hers.. you will be busy with yours. On trains you have to store them yourselves.. keep an eye on them .