Luggage on Trains in Italy

You hold on to them. There is limited overhead storage on most trains. One bag each is the way to go on the trains. The smaller the bag, the better. I see people with large bags standing between trains for the whole ride....not something I want to do.

You hold on to them??? Well you can hold them if you wish. But if you'd like to travel without baggage in your lap then you can put them overhead, in between seats or in the luggage storage bin located at the end of each train carriage.

You are totally responsible for your luggage on the train. And you need to be able to handle it quickly and easily. Two pieces of luggage for the two of you should be fine. Each had handle one piece. A small carryon size bag will fit easily on the overhead racks above the seats. There are storage bins near the entrance to the car for larger pieces of luggage. Used by everyone. While there is a small risk of theft (mostly on the slower regional trains with frequent stops) it is not a major concern. We sometimes travel with a third rolling bag and we will often put all of our carryon bags in the bin and used a cable lock to secure the bags to each other. Then we just throw the day bag on the overhead rack. Sometimes, but not always seats will be back to back and the space between the seat backs (shaped like the letter A) will hold a carryon size bag.

And please do not do what I have seen a few times by rude American tourists -- pile all your luggage on the seat next to you and guard it like a mother hen.

@ Frank. Not to be too nationalistic, but I'd edit out "rude American" to just plain "rude". "Inconsiderate" might be a better word, but these people come in all nationalities, in my experience. At least on the Venice-Florence leg, it will be with a seat reservation, so you can't very well pile bags on a seat that belongs to someone else. Florence-Cinque Terra-Lake Como will involve at least some regional trains.

Thank you all for your input! I'll try my best to pack as light as possible and just take 2 carry-on size bags. I just needed to know if there was a place to put them by me, near, above or below my seat or storage. Thanks again!

Here's a short video showing a European train; wait until towards the end to see your luggage-storage choices. Also, here's another short video on packing light; I chose it to show people getting on and off of trains with various sizes of luggage (with varying levels of success). While your particular routes may have longer-than-usual transfer times (not a typical 2-5 minutes), you will be trying to get on a train while people are trying to get off, and vice-versa (esp. in Italy), so be ready to go when it's time. You may not have as much time as the people in these videos.

If you travel by train, especially on routes where you need to change trains several times (like Florence to Cinque Terre, where you need to change train 2 or more times), I recommend that you each have ONLY ONE piece of luggage and one small backpack (or purse). If that one piece of luggage is a carry on size (size 21) even better, but if for some reason you need a slightly larger piece of luggage, you can still manage. You can fit on the overhead rack a midsize suitcase (like a size 26) for sure, but I wouldn't recommend anything bigger than a 26 because you still have to lift it on board yourself (often 2 rather steep steps to climb on board) and then lift it on the overhead rack. Also if the suitcase is overweight (I think over 15 or 20kg) the airlines will charge you a stiff €75 baggage fee for international travel. One more thing. For international travel, airlines generally allow one free piece of checked baggage (up to 20kg only, over that pay the above fee). "The second piece of checked bag has to pay the baggage fee and it's not just 20 or 25 dollars. It's 100 dollars, therefore don't check in more than one bag.

Just to add to what Roberto just wrote, some of the smaller airlines seem to limit you to just one carry-on of certain (quite small) size and weight, WITHOUT any additional personal bag such as a daypack, tote bag, purse, etc. So, if you are traveling with a carry-on plus a personal bag, in order to take all that stuff with you, you pretty much need to check your carry-on. For the smaller airlines I have looked at or booked, it is much cheaper to pay for a checked bag when you buy your ticket than it is at the airport. They seem to really want to keep things simple at the airport, so they charge considerably more for services at the airport, like getting boarding passes, checking bags, etc.

I travel with a slightly larger than carry-on size (I guess 25 or 26") and I've never had trouble finding a place for it on an Italian train. I do take a cable lock and secure it to the luggage rack at the end of the car, just for my own peace of mind. It will usually fit in the space between back-to-back seats in the train, but it really is easier to leave it near the door. The only other thing to take into account is stairs. The Venice train station has a flight of stairs at the front, but on the side there's a ramp entrance. Florence is all ground level. But when you get to the CT, especially on the regional train, you will probably have to negotiate a flight of stairs to and from the train platform.

Sorry Sam, they were Americans. I tried very hard to limit my comments to my experiences. On one regional train people were standing and the couple was sitting in facing seats with their luggage piled in the seat facing them. We were sitting across the aisle from them. I said to them, " You should put your luggage on the floor as their are people standing." She snarled back, "We were here first !" Ok, be a jerk.

Those type of folks come from all parts of the world I am afraid!
Happy travels!