I have a 3 part Italian holiday planned for September/October, and would like some advice for my friend who will be leaving after part 1. We will be spending a couple of nights in Lucca, after which I will be driving with other friends (part 2) from Lucca to Camogli. Friend from part 1 of the trip will need to get back to Rome that day, for her flight home the following day (Sept 18). I originally thought that we could drop her at the train in either Lucca or Pisa, she would connect to a high speed train in Florence and that would be that, but then I read a post here about the train from La Spezia to Rome going down the coast, and thought that might be more interesting, since we are coming up to Lucca from Salerno via Florence. What advice do y'all have considering she will be traveling solo, with luggage (carry on + daypack) and will be staying near FCO that evening?
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
7489 posts
Use the Trenitalia website. There are many daily trains between Lucca and Rome. Just about all will require a change in either Florence SMN or Pisa. Just select the train that changes in Pisa if that is the way she wants to go. Be sure to use the Italian place names - Lucca, Firenze, Roma. I'm pretty sure all the trains end up at Roma Termini. Once there she can catch the Leonardo Express to FCO. No need to buy that last ticket in advance.
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
2125 posts
Either way is fine. If she wants to take the coastal train to Rome then from Lucca either Pisa or Viareggio are probably the closest places to Lucca to catch that train. If you are going to drive I vote for smaller Viareggio if the train you want stops there. Otherwise she can catch the direct train in Pisa and go straight to Rome from there.
Changing in Florence is not a big deal unless you have giant bags so Pisa or Lucca to Florence and then onto Rome is a fine option. All the tracks in Florence are laid out end to end so she'll need to exit the train - probably a low numbered track - and walk to end of the track and over to higher numbered track and then wait for the train if the connection isn't there. Because you have a change the total time is about the same even with the fast train from Florence to Rome is only 1.5 hours.
Unless her flight is very early staying in Rome itself is fine. The airport is about an 30 minutes away by train so she should probably stay convenient to the train station since that's her only goal. You can stay at the beach - the airport is outside the city towards the ocean - and look for a hotel that has an airport shuttle if she wants to do that. Look into Fiumicino if that interests here.
Lucca in September and October are great. There will multiple musical events in town every night so check the flyers around town and follow your ears.
Always recommend the Trenitalia app for checking schedules, tracking trains and buying tickets.
Have a great trip,
=Tod
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
17991 posts
I would take the faster route via Florence.
The coastal route is not that coastal. The railway runs mostly a mile or more to the interior and it is not so interesting. Your friend will be able to see the sea only for a very short time in a couple of spots: at Quercianella/Castiglioncello, near San Vincenzo and before Follonica (barely), and after Civitavecchia near Santa Marinella. Except for those few minutes, the rest of the trip will be through unremarkable flat coastal plains with no sea views.
If your friend still prefers that route, then, on the way to Camogli, you can detour to the Viareggio station.
Posted by
OP
Eden, Utah
77 posts
Thank you all for your wisdom and guidance. Given that we are coming up to Lucca through Florence (so she will be somewhat familiar with transferring at that station) and that the route down the coast is not all that "coastal" or scenic, we will walk her to the station in Lucca and send her on her way via Florence.