Planning a busy travel day and want to know what is the most efficient way to do this without feeling hurried. We will be returning a rental car to Orvieto, training to Rome and then flying to Catania in Sicily. A car will pick us up in Catania and take us to hotel in Syracusa. Hoping this won't be too exhausting, but think it's doable. I am assuming the best thing to do is to buy tickets for train and plane on websites prior to traveling. Would like to here from you experienced folks how to do this most efficiently, i.e. high speed train? airline suggestion, etc. Thanks!
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
There is no Freccia train service from Orvieto. You might book an InterCity, which are notorious for running late, or a Regionale Veloce. The train to Roma takes about 70 minutes, another 35 minutes from Roma Termini to FCO. This does not count waiting times. Flight from FCO to CAT is a little more than an hour, flying time. Get info on potential delays at FCO.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23284 posts
Zoe, hit it pretty well. Lots of changes in modes of travel. I don't know how you can avoid being an exhausting day. I don't think there is any point in buying train tickets on line. The savings is very small. Get your airline departure set and work backwards. I would not book an airline departure early than 1 or 2 pm.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
I know that travelers do return cars in Orvieto to avoid driving into the city of Rome, but that's not your destination. If you have picked up the car at Hertz in Orvieto (implied in an earlier thread), you need not return it to the same place. I would expect dropping the rental car at the airport to be easiest. Or are you done with the car a day or two earlier and staying overnight in Orvieto?
Posted by
OP
Portland OR
30 posts
Thanks for the suggestions. I won't bother with online train tickets months in advance :-) And, Laura, you are right. I did talk about picking the car up in Orvieto in an earlier post. Since we have driven in NYC I suppose we could probably drive directly from Cretaiole to FCO in Rome and likely save a lot of time. Thinking like somebody from USA where pick up and return to same location is the default for cheaper!
Posted by
OP
Portland OR
30 posts
I assume Skyscanner is the best place to look for flights from Rome to Catania. Hoping some of you kind folks will correct me if I am wrong. Thanks again---
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Alitalia has a good baggage allowance.
Posted by
Portland
3601 posts
Just to reassure you . . . we've returned a car to FCO a couple of times. It's not difficult. You don't go through the city, so it's not like driving in NYC. As I recall, everything is well sign-posted.
Posted by
OP
Portland OR
30 posts
I am liking the Italia baggage allowance suggestion, Zoe, and they have flight times that seem to be just about perfect. Roslyn, thanks for the vote of confidence on returning the car to FCO. Think I am about there with the details and just need to book car and Catania flight now. Thank you all for sharing your travel wisdom. You make this process nearly painless! :-)
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
A tip if you're booking the Rome to Catania flight on Alitalia: look at both their "International" website (which has an English language option) and their US one. The International version often shows lower prices, even when you factor in the fees (the US site is a domestic transaction and is charged in dollars, while the International site is a foreign transaction and is in euros).