train travel from florence to manarola

First, remember that on travel sites the gypsies, pickpockets, theft often gets over discussed to the point you begin to believe that your probability of theft is about 95%. If you have carry on bags often they can go on the overhead racks or perhaps in an area around your seat. Just depends on the train configuration. If you have larger or many bags then they will go into the bins near the entrances to the cars. There is concern that bags can be grabbed from this area when the train is in the station. Possibility but not a high probability. There has been one report in the last couple of years of a bag being taken. Personally think the probability is higher with Regional trains that make more stops and tend to be more crowded. We do use a light weight, retractable cable lock to secure our bags to each other so if one is grabbed then the other one will come along as a surprise. Also, when we put our luggage on the overhead rack I will hook on of the straps around a rib to prevent someone from quickly grabbing the bag. We have spent dozen if not a hundred hours or more on trains in Europe with absolutely no problems. We are just back from Rome and don't be like an American couple who piled all of their luggage on the seat next to them in a train that was standing room only. They got a lot of dirty looks from the locals as they crowded onto the train.

Thanks Frank for your comments, we will have only our carry on luggage and will be taking regional as well as the high speed trains.

Lonnie, your train trip from Florence to Manarola will most likely be on Regionale trains. Expect 1-2 train changes at Pisa and/or La Spezia Centrale. Regionale trains have overhead racks on each side of the carriage that hold fairly large luggage bags. There are places at the ends of the carriages to place luggage as well. It's best to have your luggage directly overhead from where you are sitting. Luggage can sometimes disappear from storage areas at the ends of the carriages. The key here is to pack light so that you don't try to lift a 60lb piece of luggage overhead. Your fear of Gypsies and pickpockets is fine but you just have to keep alert to your surroundings.

From Manarola to Rome, you will take a Regionale train to La Spezia Centrale where you can change to a fast train that goes direct to Rome with no further train changes. This routing goes along the West coast of Italy down to Civitavecchia where the train routes into Rome Termini. It's a bit faster and less expensive than returning to Florence to change trains to a high-speed train to Rome. We have more information on these runs if you need it.