Pre trip prep

Posted by batkins on 02/15/16 10:37 PM

Our 20 day trip to Italy is quickly approaching (April 11) and I'm still not sure whether to secure rail and tour tickets in advance. We purposely have built in time for rest and flexibility and will stay slightly on the outskirts to be away from crowds. Air and lodging are reserved. Itinerary is 4 nights Rome, 3 nights Riomaggiore Cinque Terre, 3 nights Venice, 3 nights Pescara, 5 nights Maiori, 1 night Rome Fiumicino and the plan is to rail between these cities. I have not yet found the train strike schedule in english...I assume trains will not be scheduled during a strike, though .. but this is Italy. I understand that strikes can be called at any time and cost of tickets could be lost I suppose. Sorry this is long .. should I buy train tickets now?

We also want to see the Vatican, Colloseum, and other main sites in Rome, and Venice, see Pompeii and will want to take some ferry trips as well from Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre, Is it recommended to secure tours ahead of time or wing it on the go?

Posted by yosemite1

Placentia, CA

02/15/16 10:45 PM

1079 posts

I found this site in English that lists strikes. Right now it does not list many. I can't vouch for the accuracy.

http://www.summerinitaly.com/planning/strike.asp

Posted by Zoe

Toledo, Ohio, US

02/15/16 11:33 PM

11613 posts

April is still early enough that you won't have summer crowds. You might be able to secure train tickets at a discount, if you wish to purchase ahead.

As for strikes, they are announced in advance, as you know, and usually do not affect early morning and evening trains. The Freccia trains (at least some of them) usually continue to run throughout the day.

Posted by Kathy

Minnesota 🎒

02/15/16 11:56 PM

16766 posts

If you want to avoid standing in ticket lines, pre-reserve tickets and/or tours at the Vatican museums:

http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

For the Colosseum in early April, go the Palatine or Forum ticket kiosks first thing in the morning. Your ticket bought at either includes all three sites, and will allow you to skip ticket - but not security - lines at the Colosseum where queues are longest. Or, you can pre-order your tickets (and/or reserve a tour of the arena) online. General admittance tickets are good for any day the sites are open until the end of this year. They're also good to two consecutive days if you can't fit all three sites into one: you can see the Colosseum one day, and the Palatine/Forum on the next. But as they're very close together, doing them all in one shot in advised.

http://www.coopculture.it/en/the-colosseum.cfm

Tours of Pompeii can be obtained from any number of vendors at the entrance. Talk to the individuals first to make sure their commend of English is reasonably fluent but they're generally reported to be good. We did Pompeii on our own with a guidebook and did fine with that as well.