Hello all! I am embarking on my first trip to Italy, Europe, practically anywhere! I will be arriving at FCO and then need to get the train to Monopoli. I understand that I can take a train from FCO to the Termini station and then get on (preferably!)the right train to Bari then on to Monopoli. Since my bravery quotient will be depleted after getting on the plane in Chicago, the whole train thing really makes me nervous. Should I take some other sort of transportation from FCO to Termini? I am basically a wimp at this, so humor me, please!!
Thanks

Hi, and here we are, humoring you and aplauding your bravery : after all, we have all had our own first time trip.

If you click here, you will have access to a wide array of previous discussions on training from Fiumicino to Termini.

You can also use the Trenitalia web site www.trenitalia.it to plan your entire trip from Rome to Monopoli. Key in Stazione di partenza Roma Termini and in Stazione di arrivo Monopoli. You will be offered many options between direct trains to connecting in Bari, etc.

For times for the trains into Rome, use Fiumicino and Roma Termini, respectively.

Thank you! Now I just have to figure it out and cross my fingers!

Be brave Sunnylou! As Doru says, we've all had our first trip & survived to travel again & again & ....

Enjoy!

quote:

For times for the trains into Rome, use Fiumicino and Roma Termini, respectively.

NO!! If you just enter Fiumicino, that means the town of Fiumicino. The airport station is Fiumicino Aeroporto, but Roma Aeroporto works just as well.

Also, you don't need to search the segments as separate trips. You can search Roma Aeroporto-Monopoli and have the itinerary charted out, but note that it's a 6-8-hour trip with nothing between 8.05 and 12.35; this could be exhausting right after a transatlantic flight. Or, if you want to take a taxi or car service to Termini, no departures from there between 8.52 and 13.38.

Can you stay overnight in Rome first? I'm a pretty experienced traveller and can get by in Italian, but I have to say that after the long flight (admittedly longer than yours, since it's from San Francisco), I'm not in the mood to think. That's not to say that your plan is impossible, but you might want to make it easier on yourself if you can.

Thanks, all! Now I am totally unsure of what to do!! Maybe I should try to get a connecting flight to Monopoli?? I have to be there on or by the 19th. I arrive at FCO at around 7:30 a.m., so I thought that I could get the train that (I thought)leaves Termini at 13:38? ANd I thought the trip was around 6 hours and would get me in at 19:23?? This is just laughable for me to even think that I will be doing all this and trying to figure it out. Obviously, I seem to be reading things a little wrong on the Trenitala website... Hmm...getting a hotel in Rome for the night sounds like one more stress to me, I think. Anyone out there ready to talk me through this?
Thank you!
Sunnylou

If you choose not to spend the first night in Rome, there is a direct Eurostar train later in the day that may be easier. It leaves Rome Termini at 3:39 PM (15:38) and arrives in Monopoli at 8:42 PM (20:42). You could store your bags at the left luggage office at Termini and spend some time wandering around Rome, having a nice relaxing lunch, before heading off again.

Eurostar Train #9355:
Roma Termini departure: 15:38
Caserta 17:18 17:20
Benevento 17:57 17:59
Foggia 19:05 19:14
Barletta 19:44 19:46
Bari Centrale 20:15 20:19
Monopoli 20:42 --:--

I think that the closest airport to Monopoli is Bari. Yio may consider getting a connecting flight to Bari and spending the night there or catching a taxi to Monopoli directly from the airport. it's about 20 kilometers.

You can see airfares at Alitalia's Italian site www.alitalia.it , sometimes with lower fares than on the .com site. They show a total (taxes included) one-way of €76.57 for Rome-Bari. You can try the flight at 13.15, since 9.30 would be cutting it too close. A low-cost airline on the route is www.blu-express.com for €55 total, but their one flight is at 7 p.m. This is if I'm reading right that you'll be arriving May 18.

Thank you, again. The straight-through train sounds like a good option, but the flight to Bari is looking a little more attractive. Maybe I shouldn't try to tackle Termini this soon. Although, the thought of a nice relaxing train ride is attractive, I think that getting to Monopoli sooner will get me more relaxed and sooner! Thank you, Andrew, for the flight info; I will try to go ahead and book it.

See... my plans are changing all ready! I guess that I had better be prepared for that to happen frequently. We Americans are way too fastidious about these things, aren't we??

Thank you!

quote:

We Americans are way too fastidious about these things, aren't we??

Yes.

I don't know. I know quite a few Americans who are more go-with-the-flow (and I know some pretty compulsive Europeans). But, amazingly enough, those Americans not usually found on sites like this where people seek travel advice and make plans.

And some of us are both! I like to research all my options, then just let things happen once I'm there. As long as I'm armed with information and options, I generally don't feel the need to have specific plans.

I will pretty much be manic about this whole trip until I get to my destination. THEN I will, hopefully, kick back and go with the flow...
I think that I will try to get a flight to Bari and then when I leave Monopoli to go to Perugia on June 2 I will take the train. I am sure that getting on the train in Monopoli will be "baby steps" compared to Termini! Now to navigate the Aliltalia website....
Thanks for all your thoughts and comments. You haven't heard the last from me!