Village Italy tour in September

Donna,

Were you planning to fly inbound to VCE simply to meet the tour, or were you planning to stop there for a day or two as well?

You might also consider flights to Milan / MXP, as that's also an easy trip from there to Padua.

In any case, the transportation question is relatively easy. Your tour information package will provide "recommended" options, but regardless of which city you choose to fly to, travel by train to Padua is very easy.

I'll try and post more specific suggestions later.

Cheers!

Thanks to Ken and Steve for your quick responses. I haven't made airline reservations yet, but flying into and out of Milan might be my best bet. Your information gives me a good place to start. I'm a total novice - my first trip to Europe.

Donna,

What a fantastic way to experience your first trip to Europe - the Village Italy tour!!! I'm confident that it will be one of the most memorable adventures of your life! I'll be embarking on my fourth RS tour in about a month, and really looking forward to it.

As this is your first trip to Europe, you may find it helpful to have a look at either Europe Through The Back Door or the Italy Guidebook (don't buy the Italy book as it will be provided as part of your tour). The books will provide you with lots of useful information.

You might send a short E-mail to the RS tour department to see which airport they recommend for that particular tour. The travel time from Venezia Santa Lucia to Padova is only about 50 minutes, while from Milano Centrale it's about 2H:06M. However, you'd also have to allow for the time to get from the airport in Venice to the rail station. Overall, in terms of "ease of travel" for a first time to Europe, I'd still choose Milan.

At the end of the trip, your Guide will have all the arrangements sorted for transportation for each member of the group. It's likely some will be heading to other places in Europe, while some will be returning home. For train you'll likely be travelling from Orta-Miasino to Milano Centrale (trip is about two hours). You'll likely need a Taxi to get from your Hotel to the train station, but your Guide will have that all organized.

Cheers!

Earlier posts have info, the tour guides have assisted with homeward bound arrangements--a tour member from this past year replied, "train station in Orta is in walking distance from hotel--train 50 minutes to Novaro & change for train to Milan--another 50 minutes". We are staying in Milan, and do not have the time to the airport from Novaro. Malpensa Airport will be your Milan air port. If you decide to stay over in Milan, there is an airport shuttle from the central train station. You can take a bus or train unless you have a really early flight. They do not run early enough. On our West Coast return flight we have a 06:30 departure and we will stay at the First Hotel at Malpensa (based on info from this site). They have a resturant for dinner, and their air port shuttle starts at 04;30. They will also pick you up at the airport when you arrive from Milan and take you to the hotel. On past ETBD tours we have received from the office helpful info on getting from the air ports to the tours first hotel. We are going in a few days early to Venice Marco Polo Airport, & will train to Padua from Venice for the Sept 20th tour. Enjoy your tour.

Donna, how wonderful. I took this tour in spring 2008 and it is just incredible. I've taken 2 other tours since, but this one still stands out. I chose to fly into Venice and spend the week-end there and then take the train to Padova. The train connection was fast and easy from Venice-the train station there is relatively small. I flew home from Milan and as others have said, our tour guide arranged our transportation to the airport for us.

We also took the Village Italy tour as our first RS tour. Having taken 2 since then, Village Italy is still the favorite.

We flew into Venice a few days early to rest, recuperate, and partly because it was an excuse to go to Venice. For us this was a great decision. We took the train to Padova the day the tour met and we were relaxed and ready to go. We also wanted to make sure that if our flight had a glitch that we would still have time to get there for that first meeting.

If you are able to go in (even 2) days early, I would suggest Venice. It is a great place to get over jet lag before the tour. Even though you walk so much in Venice (at your own pace, not worrying or watching for traffic,)it helps you get into the new time zone. And there's no place in the world like Venice.
September is a geat time of year to be in Italy,
Have a great trip!
Mimi

Hi - Im about to go on this tour in 2 weeks... I am arriving a day early in Venice. Id suggest the same as the previous post. But the idea is the same as comingfrom Venice Airport. Jump on the train toward Padua. Ricks book has details and I checked the train web site (dieBahn.com and the Trenitalia web site). Then in Pauda - take the bus to the hotel area (if its the same as mine - it will be a few doors down from "Santo" St Anthonys cathedral. Try to get to Venice by noon or 1pm to make it to the hotel intro meeting at 5pm with plenty of time check in and have a drink at the bar before!

From Orta - I plan to take a group taxi to Milano Airport - the guide is supposed to help organize with anyone for AM departure - but the Hotel can do that too if the guide didnt. To make sure I have time to get there I chose an 11am flight but plan to get there by 9ish.

Today from Ricks April Letter--Also, a new minibus service links Venice’s Marco Polo and Treviso airports with the nearby city of Padua (www.airservicepadova.it).