Just a question . . . I'd like to send some things over before I go. Is it possible to send something general delivery to Assisi post office and pick it up when I get there? If not, would it be better to use UPS or Fed-Ex for this? Would they hold a package for me? Is this reliable? Has anyone tried it?

Thanks!

I am bending my mind as hard as I can, and I still cannot see this working. With an address things sometimes don't show up, and then there is customs (dogana) who like to have a peek and sometimes take things out. That applies equally to package firms. If you are receiving something that they want to be paid customs on, they want to know who and where you are to collect them.
OTH, if you send them to yourself at the address where you will be staying, it should work if you use international priority, but it is still difficult to predict how long it will take.
A package sent regular mail takes +- 3 months. Priority can take a week, or a month or... or the package might never show at all. Or part could e confiscated -- such as clothing.

Oh. Well that doesn't sound too promising. Hmm . . . Guess I'll just carry it all with me.

Not familiar with Italy post, but I'm sure you shoudl be able to send something poste restante - my mum once sent a christmas pudding post restante to a wee post office somewhere near Everest, where my cousin was travelling at the time, and that arrived no probs (and uneaten, more to the point!) - sure it should be possible to Italy too. Might all be tightened up security-wise recently, but as long as you label it and so on, I'd have thought it would be ok...maybe ask in your local post office?

good luck!

How long are you staying that you need to send clothing ahead?
A 19inch carry-on can suffice for 2weeks.

S Jones, I'm an Italophile and love all things Italian, but the Nepalese postal system (Everest is in Nepal, isn't it?), which presumably uses yaks, is probably more efficient than the Italian postal system.

I would urge Lila to heed the warnings of Decobabe, who lives in Italy and knows the postal system there.

Sorry but I must disagree with this post. I live here in Italy and use the post office for sending large, heavy packages of books ,envelopes, checks, letters of all types.

The postal system has improved remarkably in the past 40 years and now letters and packages arrive even overnight from l town to another. Several clients in USA have emailed to exclaim on how quickly packages have arrived to them- sent posta prioritaria.
The posta italiane is now an SpA, its been privatized and uses speedy delivery services such as FedEx or SDA for delivery. No yaks.

I'm staying for six months (or longer?)

Take it with you on the plane. you dont need to bring as much as you think. Remember, you can, and WILL buy things here. It will be cheaper and more reliable to take it with you. While all the packages I've sent from Italy to the US have arrived fine, I've had two go missing in the past few months that were sent to me here.

In my opinion its not worth the cost of mailing it when there is a possibility of never seeing it again. If you have heavy bags, you can use the money you save from mailing to get a taxi when you arrive, and it'll still probably be cheaper.

Lori

My mother sent us a Christmas package that contained some personal belongings as well as gifts - but nothing one would think worth questioning. We had to send several faxes to customs in Varese, call numerous times (mostly getting no one on the line) in order to eventually get our package. It was held in customs for 3 months and 2 weeks having arrived in time for Easter!

In the past, we've had no problem receiving something at an address (not the post office) in 2-3 weeks - BUT I would not risk it. Bring what you need, cut it in half (you'll find plenty of the same here) and pay a little extra at the airline check-in counter. Much better to pay a little extra rather than risk the possibility of your stuff not showing up...

We have sent many packages to Rome and Citta di Castello, air mail from Los Angeles. The packages typically arrive in less than a week.

However, it is costly if it is heavy.

It may be less expensive to pack, and check in, a good size box on the plane and pay the penalty for overweight.

This also depends on the airline. We flew British Airways our last trip and were able to take a surprising amount of weight.

Check your airline's restrictions for carry on and check in luggage, this may be a better option than mailing.

Debra - this makes the most sense to me. From everyone's posts, it sounds like I shouldn't attempt shipping. If I do have overage, I can just pack an add'l small suitcase and bring it with me. I have a big (overseas-type) suitcase, a laptop, backpack, and then if I need extra, I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm flying British. Trick is, just carrying it, but I'll get to the Termini, check in, and then take a train to Assisi or Orvieto, and be picked up there, so it should be too much carrying.

Molto grazie!
Lila

quote:

Originally posted by Lila:
Trick is, just carrying it, but I'll get to the Termini, check in, and then take a train to Assisi or Orvieto, and be picked up there, so it should be too much carrying.Lila

Lila, this might be a situation where it could be worthwhile to have a driver meet you and get you to the Termini station. Then you only have to lug you stuff to the train itself.

You could try someone like http://www.romashuttle.com/ that will cost 40 euro. The driver would meet you as you leave customs.

It's called "Fermo Posta". I used to use that for everything for several years, many years ago, since my fixed address kept changing. I don't know if it is still an active service; maybe someone who is in Italy now could stop by a post office and ask.

It's interesting, I recently have had to send some legal documents to Italy; I first tried FedEx, it took about 14 days to arrive. Then, twice in the past month I've just sent the documents by regular air mail, no special markings, 84 cents postage I believe, and both arrived in about 5 to 6 days. Go figure.

I agree that post in Italy is much improved, but I still have the experiences of having things confiscated, having even EU packages held up in dogana (a legal no-no since there is no customs on inside EU shipments and besides it was Amazon.uk) and being required to pay customs on gifts sent to me in all innocence.
I also get envelope sized things very fast sometimes, but also very slow sometimes.
Why don't you have an address you can send to? Almost any address would be better than no address.

Thank you Debra. I'll look into that . . . have you ever done this? Is it really 40 euro? I guess I can check. But, at this point, I may just lug my stuff on the train to termini . . . it'll be an adventure, right?

L

quote:

But, at this point, I may just lug my stuff on the train to termini . . . it'll be an adventure, right?

If you opt for that you could pick up a collapsable luggage carrier.
I got a really nice, heavy duty one at Target a few years ago for about $30. It folds up flat. It would probably fit inside your suitcase. After you retrieve your bags, take the carrier out, unfold it and put all of your bags on it. That way it will be much easier to roll 1 heavy item than to try to carry 3 or 4 lighter ones. (When I have had to resort to this I always pack a couple of bungee cords to secure the bags to the cart)