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Traveling to Fagnano Castello, Calabria with older parents Gotta Make it EASY PEASY

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Hi Everyone and Ciao,

Next year my family and I (husband, parents( early 70s ) and my son (13) will be traveling to Italy for 16 days. We will be flying into Rome headed to Calabria. My grandparents were from Fagnano Castello and I know its remote area in the mountains. If it were just me and my husband, we'd roll our luggage to and from train stations, etc but my parents will be with us and I know that will be difficult for them. We want to go to fagnano castello for a day and stay in Calabria for 2 just to see the small town and see my grandmothers house. We then will start are trip in Sorrento for 4 nights, then head North to Florence/Tuscany for 5 nights and Rome for 3 then back home. Im not worried about anything once we get to Sorrento because I know we can get private drivers and taxis but does anyone know anything about Fagnano Castello and possibly any private drivers or guides in that area?

Thanks so much for anything you can throw my way.

Gina

Posted by
3127 posts

I'm so glad you asked this question. If my sister-in-law will travel with me next year on the South of Italy tour, after the tour I want to visit the village her grandparents are from.

Mongrassano looks to be just south of Fagnano Castello, both off of SP283. I had planned to ask the same logistics question in a few months when I firm up commitment from my SIL.

So far my research shows we can take the train from Naples where the South of Italy tour ends to Paola Calabria, then rent a car to drive to the small villages. Mongrassano is so small it doesn't have a hotel, so my plan would be to stay in San Marco Argentano, about 3 miles north of Mongrassano but south of SP283.

I used Road2Rio app and Google maps to map this out. I too am open to any and all ideas.

Sorry to hijack your post but the two villages look to be less than 10 miles apart. Have a great Italian visit.

Kathy

Posted by
16203 posts

From Rome it’s a 6 hour drive, which I don’t recommend you attempt on the day you land after a long transatlantic flight. Depending on your time of arrival, you might consider a high speed train from Rome to Salerno (train from Fiumicino Aeroporto to Salerno with change at Roma Termini station), just to save a few hours at the wheel on your journey. Fast trains don’t go south of Salerno. Even Christ stopped in Eboli (just south of Salerno), as a famous Italian novel says.
www.trenitalia.com for train schedules.
Stay in Salerno overnight. Most rental companies are near the Salerno train station. Then the next morning you venture south of Salerno by car. From Salerno to Fagnano is less than 3 hours by car. You may want to spend a couple of nights down there given the distance. Once you are done, you return north to where your accommodations are (Sorrento?). If you want to return the car in Sorrento, you can, since most car rental companies are in town. However, you mentioned going to Tuscany/Florence. Well, if you go to Florence a car is not needed, But if you plan to stay in some more rural parts of Tuscany, like in a smaller town or in a country villa, then a car is likely needed, so you might want to keep it. Up to you, depends on your plans.

Use www.autoeurope.com a consolidator for car rentals.
They work primarily with Europcar, Hertz, AvisBudget, the largest operators in Italy.

Posted by
4105 posts

Why not fly into Naples (NAP) and out of Rome. Multi city flights.

From NAP take a taxi to Napoli Centrale and train to Salerno as Roberto recommended.

At least half of the drive from Salerno to Fagnano Castello is on the Autostrada, the rest on good condition 2 lane roads.

We visited just north of where you are planning last year it's an absolutely beautiful area. You definitely need a car.

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