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Tips for Traveling Solo as a Woman in Italy?

Hello,

I am a seasoned traveler, but will be embarking on my first extended solo trip (three weeks in Italy) this April. I am a 30 year old woman with limited Italian (although I have been practicing every day for the last 9 months). I am packing light (small hiking pack with a day pack inside). Looking for tips/suggestions, so I can get the most out of my experience.

Especially interested in packing tips (light packer over here, so what items will I absolutely need?), solo activities, daily budget tips, or any other cautionary advice other solo travelers might have. Personally, I like traveling by myself, but this will be the longest trip I have completed on my own, so I am not entirely sure what to expect.

A little background info: My flights, lodging, and train tickets have been purchased already. I will be flying into Venice, traveling by train to Bologna (brief stop), Florence, Lucca, the Cinque Terre region, Pisa (brief stop), Seina, Orvieto, and Rome. Advice about train changes is especially welcome! I enjoy history, architecture, and hiking, and try to get off the beaten path (sometimes literally) as much as possible.

Thanks,
Sara

Posted by
48 posts

Hi Sara! This sounds like a fabulous trip. I spent three weeks in Italy last September (Sorrento, Venice, Cinque Terre and Rome) and the tips from this site were invaluable. I recommend the Rick Steve's guidebook on Italy for advice on trains, restaurants, weather, safety etc. I even bought one of his little folders and ripped the guidebook up, carrying in the folder the pages for that day! Dorky but useful. I am a horrible leisure packer (travel constantly for work and manage fine but get me on vacation and I'm dragging around my closet) but one thing I wish I'd done is bring sturdier walking shoes. The sheer amount of walking is staggering and I could've used a tie on shoe instead of Birks and Nikes only. For CT, I hauled trekking poles with me and used them quite a bit. However they are available and cheap all over so don't bother hauling them. I tried Ex Officio underwear and washed daily. I burned those bad boys when I got home but they did the trick. I followed the money belt tip and although it felt weird I'm glad I did. The athleisure trend isn't hot in Italy except in CT. I always felt a little under dressed at night in my sundresses and flats until I bought a fabulous leather jacket and then I was styling! All this is pretty basic and I'm sure other readers will have more substantial tips. Just relax, enjoy, be smart and protect yourself - and have the adventure of a lifetime

Posted by
1045 posts

Sounds to me like a wonderful trip and an amazing experience is in your future! I like your choice of places to visit. I think all of your interests will be nicely met. I didn't see though that you are spending time in Venice. Hope that's not true. Venice is not art you see, it is art you walk around in. There really isn't any place else like it!

Trains I find easy to deal with especially if I know where and when I want to go (yep, I'm a solo traveler too, and considerably older than you are). Bologna is a big station. It's well marked but you may have quite a walk from one train to the next. Lucca is easy - cross the street and go through the walls to that amazing medieval city. Siena's station is a bit of a hike into the center of town. I usually take the bus to/from Florence - it lets me off closer to the Campo. Rome is big, loud and easy to deal with! Taxi stands are right in front of the terminal and the lines move quickly. DO NOT accept a ride from someone who approaches you in the terminal - their meter may have been running for a very long time and you could get stuck with a very big bill. Yep, I did that. Duh!

Have a wonderful time!!!!

Posted by
18 posts

Thanks, Luann!

I have the RS Italy guide already and will probably tear it apart before I leave. I also printed all my lodging info and train tickets out and organized them in a folder! It helps a lot.

Your wardrobe tips are especially helpful. I want the clothing I pack to be functional, but I also want to look nice. Thanks especially for the underwear tip! This is crucial. I am sticking to greys and blacks with some colored accessories (scarves) that don't take up too much room. I was debating a money belt, but I think it might be a good idea, as I want somewhere safe to store the excess cash I will be bringing. I usually put it in the safe wherever I'm staying, but I always feel worried about this, so it might be best to carry it with me instead.

Thank you!
Sara

Posted by
18 posts

Hi, Robert!

Thanks for the tips. I am staying in Venice actually! I am flying in late at night and then spending two full days there. Hoping to side trip to some of the smaller islands while I am there. The taxi advice is also useful. I try to do public transit, or walk whenever possible, but this is really helpful to know. As for changing trains, I think I am most worried about making connections, especially when I am travelling into one city on a Regionale train and then switching to an InterCity train with only 15 minutes to spare. Given that the cost of train tickets is so low though, I suppose missing a train probably isn't the worst thing in the world.

Have you, or anyone else experienced a train strike though? And how do you know when a train strike is happening? I am trying to brace myself for this possibility and explore my alternatives if I need to get somewhere.

Thanks,
Sara

Posted by
1206 posts

Hi, Sara,
I have trained it all over northern and central Italy, over the last several years, either with another woman (sister, daughter, sis-in-law) or by myself (two weeks summer 2015). Here are some of the most useful things I've learned about trains in Italy. First, there is a big difference between the faster trains that require reservations, and the more local, "regionale," trains that do not take reservations. With the faster, (usually "frescia" on Trenitalia) trains, you must use the train for which you have the reservation - no changes allowed - and sit in your reserved seat. You do NOT have to validate that ticket. You just show it - or the reservation number - to the conductor when he/she comes through the train. The "regionale" tickets however are good for some number of days (weeks?) after purchase, and can be used on ANY regionale train that goes to your destination. Thus, if you are, say, going from Pisa through Florence to Siena, and you miss your planned connection in Florence, you can take any later regionale train on to Siena. When you START your journey, your regionale ticket MUST be validated in a green machine near the train platform, just before you go get on your train. (In a smaller station, these may be in a passageway underground, before you walk up the stairs to your platform. I'm thinking maybe Lucca?). You do not have to revalidate at your connection.
Now, here's the most useful note I can share: When you buy your ticket, quite likely from the kiosk in the train station (the Florence kiosks are great; you can load up on several week's worth of tickets, right there), the ticket that you receive ONLY has your departure and arrival stations on it, with ONLY departure and arrival times at those stations. It does NOT have your connection stations and times on it. SO: Have a piece of paper and pen in hand, as you are scrolling through train times at the kiosk, and WRITE DOWN the connection station, with ARRIVAL and DEPARTURE times at that station, and with the train number for your connecting train. These will NOT show up on the final screen before you hit "purchase," and will not be on any part of your ticket. (If you forget to do this, you can go back to a kiosk and start the process over again, to check where and when your connection is, etc. without going on to final purchase.) You may have a combination of "frescia" and "regionale" trains on one trip. Be sure to write down all connection info while you are purchasing the ticket, whether from a ticket agent, or from a kiosk.
Finally, 15" is usually plenty of time to make a connection, as long as the train is running on time. I have never yet missed a connection. In larger stations, once the train platform is shown on the big central computerized screen, then head quickly for your platform. It may be shown only 10" or less before departure.

Posted by
1028 posts

Good advice on connections, though that info is also available online if you have a device with you.

As far as strikes, there is a website that posts them a week or so in advance (I'll hunt down the link later). When it happened to me, I was able to understand the PA announcement when they said "sciopero" - show-pair-oh. Or just follow the crowd as they move to another platform where a train might be running. It helps to have some knowledge of the route so you know if that other train is heading in a direction that's useful to you for changing to a train heading more or less your way, or whether you should look for alternatives to trains. Generally, you will have time to think it through or ask for help. A nice young American student heard me speaking English with my family and asked if I had understood the announcement and if he could help. It's all manageable.

Posted by
11613 posts

Sara, sounds like you are well on your way.
I have been traveling solo in Italy for many years, started when I was 30.
You are the best judge of what you absolutely need - take enough changes of clothes for 7 days plus what you are wearing.

Solo activities: you can do anything you want! When you want! Don't be afraid to eat dinner alone, but I tend to eat at restaurants for lunch, where there are likely to be other people eating solo as well.

Budget tips: If your hotels serve breakfast, you only have two meals per day to worry about. If you like hiking, you can stop at a grocery store and buy prepared food to take with you for a picnic.
As mentioned, if you have 15 minutes between trains, you should be fine. Remember to validate tickets for regionale trains. Some stations have elevators but many have underground passageways, which take a little more time to navigate. Validation boxes are near the train tracks (at the foot of the stairs in stations with underground passageways).

Go to the TI office in the cities you visit for ideas on what to see. You seem to have about nine cities with a couple of brief stops; this doesn't give you a lot of time in each one, so the TI can help plan your days. Lonely Planet might be helpful, in addition to the RS guides.

Have a great time!

Posted by
1028 posts

More strike information (from Slow Travel):

"For train strikes: Here is Trenitalia's general statement in English about how essential train services operate during a strike. Trenitalia strikes pdf lists long-haul trains that are promised to run during all strikes. Two days before a strike, the Trenitalia site generally posts a list, prominently from its home page www.trenitalia.com , of trains confirmed or cancelled for that date. They also list trains for the different regions of regional trains that will run, generally one or two trains in each direction in the main commuting times. Here is the official Ministry of Transport site about all known strikes."

Posted by
16893 posts

You will be so engaged and excited with each new destination that I think it will barely occur to you to be lonely and the three weeks will fly by. If any issue takes some figuring out as you go, then just take it a step at a time, and don't be afraid to ask locals for advice. See also a couple of traveling solo articles at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning.

Posted by
47 posts

My husband and I experienced a train strike in Italy in the summer of 2010. The day of the strike we were trying to make our way from Vernazza to Siena via train. As others have mentioned the train strike was well advertised, there were many signs posted at the train station indicating the times and dates of the train strike.

For this particular strike (and I think for many other train strikes, although I might be wrong, hopefully someone else will chime in) the trains were still running for a set amount of time in the morning for Italians to get to work, and again in the evenings for them to return home. So even though there was a train strike, we were able to catch the first train out of Vernazza in the morning, and make it to Pisa before the trains quit running. We then hung out in Pisa for the day, and then when the trains started running again in the evening we continued on our journey, making it to Siena around 8 pm.

It made for a long day of travel, and the first train out of Pisa in the evening was packed, but it wasn't like we were completely stranded for the length of the entire strike. We had called ahead to our B & B to inform them that we would be arriving later than normal due to the train strike, and they completely understood.

Posted by
1045 posts

Don't count on complete accuracy in this response.
Train strikes? Yep, they happen but my 15 recent visits have taught me that most of the time they are announced well in advance and sometimes only last a few hours (hey, the Italians like a long lunch and nap). Check the web site for details of any upcoming strike and make whatever changes you need to your plans.

I do have a friend who missed a more leisurely trip to the Rome airport from Assisi. There was a short morning strike that she didn't know about. She got there with plenty of time for her flight, just a little frazzled. I still maintain she didn't want to leave Italy and paid somebody to stage a strike that day. I know how she feels!!!!

You're in for a great trip!

Posted by
15560 posts

Moneybelt - wear it with the pouch at the rear. It won't bulge as much and it's more comfortable - you won't notice it's there.

Trains - note both your arrival time and the name of the station just before yours, so you'll know when you're close. Know the final destination of the train you're taking. Sometimes, your intermediate destination will not be listed, but the final stop is.

There are two train stations in Pisa. Centrale is the one that has luggage storage.

Posted by
15560 posts

Forgot to add - money-savers. Water bottle. No, not a fancy one to bring with you, but pick up a small bottle of water and refill it from public fountains and taps. Italian water is very good and when it comes out of a fountain it is icy cold and refreshing. There are a few non-potable ones, they are clearly marked. Most supermarkets and mini-markets in tourist areas sell prepared salads, sandwiches, snacks and drinks that will save you money on lunches. It's also nice sometimes to have supper in your hotel room with your feet up that spend the time and money in a restaurant. Many prepare made-to-order sandwiches in the deli section. Walking tours are a good walk to start a visit in a city and mingle with other people.

Posted by
121 posts

I know I'm a little late to this thread, but wanted to suggest that if you have booked rooms in full service hotels and want to dine out in the evening, ask the front desk to make dinner reservations for you. I found during a two week solo stint in Italy last year that I got better tables and better service in restaurants that way.

Posted by
361 posts

Hi Sara, Check out Sarah Murdoch's Packing Light blog on this website under travel blog section. She has great tips for packing light for extended periods. Have a great trip to Italy. Sherry