A friend of mine, also retired military, are considering an Italian vacation. We would like to utilize housing on Military bases. Camp Darby and Naval base Napoli for certain. Never done this before and unsure of transport from bases to major sites. Anyone done this ? Thoughts and insights appreciated. I have traveled via trains many times in Germany and Austria etc...so some familiarity with such travel. Thanks
Posted by
Colorado Springs
3012 posts
As retirees you'll have low priority behind duty travelers but it's still worth a shot. The DOD Lodging website is a good reference, though we've usually had better luck calling the reservation number provided and speaking with a local agent to help sort things out.
Many (most) of the Army & Navy lodging options overseas are difficult to get depending on the time of year, and in some cases leisure travelers can only book a week or two in advance. Still worth giving it a try though.
Since you mention traveling in Italy I'll mention the Ederle Inn at the Army base in Vicenza - one of the nicest places we've stayed on our own travels and typically available except when there's an exercise going on. It's a joint American/Italian base ... I think there's an American airborne unit based there ... and is handy by rail to most of northern Italy. It's a full service base, ie exchange, commissary, rental car outlet, etc. They also run a free MedEvac bus a couple of times a week up to the AFB at Ramstein and back if you (or they) are trying to include Space-A air travel from the US.
There are some very helpful guides to Space-A travel for retirees available in any exchange. Can probably find them on line too.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7208 posts
Can’t speak to the two places you mentioned, but we stayed at the Navy Lodge in Sigonella a few years ago upon arrival and before departure. Otherwise, we stayed elsewhere, on the economy. At Sigonella there was a bus just outside the gate that we took into Catania where we could catch busses to other places. Also, lodging is on a space available basis. PCS and temporary duty personnel have priority so you may not be able to reserve ahead of time.
A year ago while staying In Bacharach we stopped at a base in Wiesbaden to do laundry and out of curiosity checked to see if we would have been able to stay there. It was full, so glad we didn’t count on staying there.
I’m sure you’re aware that as a retiree you’ll only be allowed to eat at the base restaurants and use the shopettes; not the commissary or exchange. While we were able to buy gas for our rental car on base, it cost more than if we were stationed there. That is due to status of forces agreements.