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Rail travel luggage

I've never taken a train in Europe and I'll be taking a train from Florence to Rome. I've got a large piece of luggage. Can I check it in? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Posted by
11294 posts

No, there is no checked baggage on day trains in Europe. If you bring luggage, you lug it. You will have to carry it up a few steps to enter the train, so make sure it's not too heavy for you to do this.

There will be overhead racks for smaller bags, and racks either near the doors or in the middle of the car for larger bags. Pictures of what the train interiors look like are on The Man In Seat 61 website, which is a goldmine of information on trains in general. Here's his page on luggage on trains: http://www.seat61.com/luggage-on-european-trains.htm#.VTR7N5NzujA

and here's his page on trains in Italy: http://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm#.VTR7tpNzujA

Here's Rick's "how to ride the rails" video, which is a great short introduction: http://tinyurl.com/ac82c92

Here's a video from an Italian about trains in Italy: http://tinyurl.com/mvjjbyh

The most important thing to remember if you have big bags: don't wait until the train is in the station to retrieve them. About 5 minutes before you get to Rome, gather your bags and move toward the exit doors (you'll see others doing the same). You are then ready to exit when the train pulls in, so you don't miss the stop. Your train from Florence to Rome may end in Rome, in which case this precaution is unnecessary, or it may continue to Naples.

Posted by
1003 posts

How big is your suitcase and have you thought about possibly taking a smaller bag? Unlike air travel, you do not check your luggage on the train. Either you put it in the luggage rack above your seat or the rack at the end of the train car. Sometimes there may be some space behind your seat. If your bag is quite large and too heavy to lift above your seat, you may not have much choice but to put it in the rack at the end of the car. If traveling by train, I always bring a "pac-safe" cable lock along just for this purpose. You can then either loop it through your bag and the rack or loop several bags together. You can go to www.pacsafe.com and see what they have. I have both their "retractable" cable lock" and the "wrapsafe" adjustable cable lock, both of which I picked up at AAA or you can probably order from Pac-Safe too. A few minutes before your arrival in Rome, get your bag and be ready to get off. Hope this helps and have a great trip!

Posted by
32523 posts

Yes, Italian trains are all self serve. You tote what you brung.
If you have unwieldy luggage, be prepared for various "helpers" to approach you, sometimes quite persistently, after you get off the train in Rome. They are looking for money.

Far better to have luggage you can easily handle so that you find it easier and they bother other people.

The barriers that people have spoken about at Termini to keep the "helpers" at bay are extremely porous and only at a very few of the nearly 30 platforms at Termini - absolutely useless as far as I could tell in March.

Posted by
4406 posts

Travel15, exactly how large is your luggage? Are you already in Europe? If you need a lot of luggage (you're moving there, will be studying for a year, etc.) I would suggest bringing two smaller pieces; they are way easier to manage than one very large one. It's easier to pick up two 30lb bags than one 60lb bag.

Otherwise...go with less luggage. How long will you be traveling? Will you be alone? Are you taking many trains?

Posted by
4406 posts

An example of what I mean by 1 large vs 2 smaller bags is found at the very beginning of this clip from Rick's Travel Skills videos (the entire 3-part Travel Skills series can be found here ).

And Nigel politely understated the crowd reaction when you hold up the throngs trying to board the train while you try to drag a behemoth up and down those narrow steps :-( If your only train trip is from Florence to Rome, you'll have a bit more time to board; typically your transfer times may only be 2 minutes to unload and load passengers, and there can be a crush at the doors. FYI, the plan is to let people off the train (tram, subway, bus) first, then those boarding get on. It doesn't always happen this way ;-) but that's the plan.

And to pile on with the others, nope - no checking bags, no luggage carts, no porters...you bring it, you carry it.