hello all! here's the scenario i could really use help with. my sister and 12 yr. old niece are arriving in rome at 7 am monday june 5, after 31 hrs.total travel/layover time. i am meeting them at the train station and our direct train to perugia leaves at 12:14 pm. obviously they'll be exhausted, so i wanted to plan the easiest and most relaxing way to spend the "layover" time. i thought leaving our luggage in storage at the train station and then taking a bus or metro to a nice shady piazza where we could buy some picnic items and just relax and watch the world go by would be our best bet. (maybe treat ourselves to a gelato--they need to watch their money) so my questions are: if they arrive at fiumicino at 7, what is a reasonable amount of time to negotiate customs, take the shuttle and arrive at termini? where is an easy location at the train station for us to look for each other? (they don't speak italian) are lockers the best option for storing luggage for several hours? (and do they accept any size luggage?)any recommendations for a great place to go to picnic and relax given our needs and time constraints? i know these are a lot of logistical questions, but any help you could give would be GREATLY appreciated! thanks so much.
I'm with Bambi; there are plenty of earlier trains. The change in Foligno is effortless: they're perfectly set up for it, it's their main correspondence, so usually you step off one train and immediately across the platform — i.e., a distance of all of 10 feet on the flat — onto the other one, which usually leaves soon after (and which waits for the train bringing you from Rome should it be running late).
From stepping off the plane to stepping off the train in Fossato di Vico (a remote place in northern Umbria, farther than Perugia), the last time I did it, was 4 hours 21 minutes, involving two changes rather than the maximum of one that you will have. Of this, my time from deplaning to the actual departure of my first train was 34 minutes.
It helps if you have only carry-on luggage, since you avoid baggage check, and just roll yourselves to the train station (about 100 yards). Why would you be carrying more than that, anyway? But even if burdened with excess luggage, you can expect to be on your train within the hour. Customs is, literally, a wave-thru; none of the horrific hoops you get on arriving in the United States for example.
Believe me, the nicest thing you can do for your sister and niece is not to haggle with luggage keepers, then go wandering around the unlovely area around the train station to kill time. By the time that direct train leaves Rome, if you do the other, you should already be at home in your apartment in Perugia.
Although I agree with Bambi & Bill about taking an earlier train, I'll deal with the question as asked.
A couple of weeks ago my flight, scheduled to land in Rome at 7:45 AM, came in at 8:00 (it was a Wednesday morning and the flight was full). We got off, cleared passport control, picked up our luggage, cleared customs and walked to the train station just in time for the 9:05 train, but I'd have to say this was a case where everything went perfectly. No lines at passport control and luggage came up quickly. Therefore, I'd say best case is they arrive at Termini at about 8:40, more likely just after 9 AM.
That leaves you with about three hours before your train. I dropped my big bag at the left luggage office overnight at the end of my trip ... there was quite a line, but it was a Saturday afternoon. It might not be as bad on a weekday morning. There is a sign warning you to allow 20 minutes for pickup. (It took about 15 minutes to get my luggage ... but much of that was because they couldn't find it and had to have me go down into the luggage hold and point it out to them.)
So let's say they make the 8:35 train, arriving in Termini at 9:10 or so. You find each other and get the bags checked by 9:30. You'll need to be back at the left luggage office by 11:45, so you have just over two hours to get where you are going, buy food, eat it, and get back. That's pretty tight, I wouldn't go far.
There's a lovely little park on Via del Quirinale, between Sant'Andrea al Quirinale and San Carlo alle Quatro Fontane. On foot it's about 15-20 minutes from the station and would be a quick cab ride.
ellen
Posts: 2997 | Location: mahwah, new jersey, usa | Registered: 10 December 2003
Hi, This is an excerpt from my blog/trip report describing my arrival in Rome. I thought I would have 4 hours from the time I arrived until my train at the termini station departed and was trying to figure out what to do in the meantime. Instead, I had 10 minutes to spare.
Once arriving in Rome (I believe my original arrival time was 7:55 am), it took about 5 minutes to get through the passport control area and then one hour to get my one check in bag. Everyone was worried at first that perhaps there was a strike. It was now about 10 past 9. The next train was due to arrive at 9:37. IN RITARDO...the train was LATE. No announcement, just more and more people arriving and looking impatient until the train finally arrived. It was then mass confusion as everyone insisted on pushing towards the doors to the train while simultaneously, all the people on the train tried their best to get off the train. We all finally managed to get on board and find seats with no one hurt (at least no one that I saw). The train was supposed to take 30 minutes to travel from the airport to the Termini in Roma. My lucky day! This train took over an hour! It stopped in the middle of nowhere 4 times. Each time, more and more people called or were called to discuss the train delay. When we finally arrived, again, mass confusion!! This time, it was clogged from the time we stepped onto the platform until we walked the length of the train and turned the corner to get to the rest of the trains. There was a HUGE crowd of people waiting at the end with train workers holding them back until we got past them. I originally had almost 4 hours between the time of arrival and the time my train left Rome for Spello. I now had 10 minutes to get on that train before it was scheduled to leave. I made it with 2 minutes to spare and then it ended being 10 minutes delayed!
I know this was a worse case scenario...but it does happen. My plans were just to hang out at the termini, do a little window shopping, get something to eat, perhaps venture out slightly, but not to check my bags as that can be a long wait to either check them or to get them back or even both.
Worst-case scenario (which I didn't so much as think of) is absolutely possible, and one more reason to (a) travel light; (b) not check your bags, neither on the plane nor in some train station; (c) not delay intentionally — you may get plenty enough delay as is; (d) grab the first train you can, each time; (e) be flexible; and (f) the least obvious, considering the above tale of woe or maybe in your case it will be a strike, who knows?: not to worry. You can't do anything about most of the parameters (other than not going out of your way to delay yourselves), so you might as well relax. And certainly, don't worry yourself out now ahead of time, before even setting foot in Italy; you'll have plenty of time to worry then if you "need" to — and the odds are, you won't at all: what a waste of good worrying!
Now on the return, i.e., if you are bound to a schedule to catch the plane back, that's a different matter; but here, all you need to do is to get "home" in Perugia as fast as you can so your family can get some rest. When exactly, or how, doesn't matter.
thank you so much to all of you for responding. i hadn't realized that the changing of trains would be that easy (or that one waited for the other.) i think maybe we should take the earliest possible train to perugia. however, the similar problem on the other end is that because we're staying in the hostel in perugia-- which doesn't open until 4:00-- we'll also be with baggage. however, perugia's much smaller and if we did leave our luggage at the train station, to spend the day without it, we wouldn't be under the same time constraints to get it later. does that sound reasonable? by the way, i have been so appreciative of the advice of fellow travelers on this site. after introducing my niece to the joys of meeting int'l young people in hostels (which is how her mother and i first experienced traveling in europe at 19) we'll be renting apts. for 2 weeks with family and friends at villa scapariello on the amalfi coast. we found it on this site through "summer in italy," and felt much more confident renting from them seeing the many glowing reports. i definitely plan to write a review on my return!
I have had serious delays at passport control, and even then have waited and waited for my luggage. It took over 2 hours one return trip (in off-season) for the luggage to hit the carousel and mine was the last bag to appear. I would love to travel with only carry-on, as I used to, but when returning I have lots of shopping with me. Anyway, I think that the best place for you to meet your relatives is for you to walk down to where the Leonardo Express comes in, or the corridor where they must exit, armed with the surety of what binario you all have to get to and when you must be there. That's hard on you, because you don't know which Express they will be on, unless they have a way of contacting you once on the train. I, too, have experienced the train stopping unexpectedly, but I found out why. It was hot, power browned out, electricity stopped reaching the train. Trains are a priority, so they had them going again faster than many other things. I'm sure sometimes it's the switches that get clogged due to late departures, etc. All things considered, it is a good system, but things do go awry for reasons that wouldn't occur to non-Italians.
Addressing your specific question: yes, in view of your constraints at the Perugia end, it's still best in my opinion to grab the first thing out of Rome that you can, for exactly the reason you give — you'll be in Perugia, and your luggage will be there, and so what if you're a bit late reclaiming it, after all it's not like you have to catch a train. Now relax and enjoy your trip.
The odds, by the way, are that you won't have to sit in this particular Perugia train station (there are several), but just in case you do:
I think you'll make an earlier train without trouble, but I'll add a bit of information with a question mark. According to this PDF in Italian, there's a train leaving Termini at 12.30, going direct to Perugia S. Anna station arriving at 3 p.m. The Trenitalia site shows a change at Terni, but according to what I linked (from the separate FCU railway site) I guess that there's a car that gets transferred between trains. S. Anna, an FCU-only station, is the most central one but probably doesn't have luggage storage. There are people who say that visitors should never go to the station shown in the timetables just as Perugia but known locally as Fontivegge: you should change at Ponte S. Giovanni and take the more picturesque climb to S. Anna. However, if you need to store luggage you probably need to go to Fontivegge.
I dare say that if I have a question about trains in Italy it must be pretty obscure, but I'm hoping that I can confirm that this is a direct train to Umbertide, because I'm thinking of taking this rather than the 4 p.m. SULGA bus. For once I'm hoping one can take a direct FCU train from south of Perugia to north without being asked to change at Ponte S. Giovanni as they usually do, although the climb to Perugia would slow the trip down.
bambi, we are staying at the via bon tempi location. it looked just beautiful on the website. are you familiar with it? i checked out the travel notes you wrote with your mum and they look fantastic! we'll definitely make use of them. a couple of remaining questions about perugia. andrew's response said he thinks there's luggage storage at the main station (fontevi...? sorry can't remember the exact name) do you know if that's true?
There is Dangnino's Bakery and Chocolate shop in a small mall in the Piazza off Termini. The food (antipasto salads and warm food) is great and the bakery goods ar great also. I can post a map and an address if you are interested.
Posts: 3754 | Location: St Paul, MN | Registered: 10 February 2006
The Via Bontempi location is great - right in the historical centre.
I checked the Trenitalia website and it says that there is indeed a luggage deposit at the Perugia station, although I have never used it personally.
Andrew, who says never to get off at Perugia Fontivegge? I would never EVER suggest changing trains at PSG just so you can get to Perugia Santa Anna. You'd have to buy FCU-valid tickets at PSG for a start, for all of a ten minute journey. Yes, it's more central but to get to the centre can be a penance - crossing Piazza Europa, a set of escalators and then the long flight of stairs up Sant'Ercolano. Not something I'd want to do with luggage!
From the Perugia (Fontivegge) station, it's an easy 10-20 minute bus ride (depends which route the bus takes) to the centre. Buy your ticket at the little kiosk outside the station and just get onto any bus directed to PIAZZA ITALIA and you'll be fine. They come frequently.
So, Katerina - you want to get off at a station that is called simply PERUGIA and then take the bus to PIAZZA ITALIA.
Just occurred to me, we're not thinking as straight as we could. In Perugia, there's no need to put your bags in a train station: you should be able to go to your hostel, and ask them to take your bags, then you come back later.
Actually, here's what a Hostelz.com reviewer had to say about the youth hostel...
quote:
The only unfortunate thing about the hostel is it's opening hours. It's only open from 7.30am-9.30am in the morning. And during this time you can not check in, although you can leave your bags. The receptionist seemed to be there up until 11.30am some mornings and you could ring the bell to leave your bags but the door was officially closed downstairs. In the evening reception runs from 4pm-12pm midnight. At this time you can check in, but it can take a long time. The staff are friendly but quite disorganised, and if it's busy they seem to get distracted with everyone's questions instead of getting people into a queue.
Oh and Andrew is right: no luggage check at Perugia S. Anna. Perugia Ponte S. Giovanni — but then, like I said, you probably will not get off there — no luggage check either but the station is busy enough that the stationmaster's office is always open and he will keep luggage if approached in the spirit of asking for a kind favor, which it is.
bambi, thanks for confirming that the fontivegge station has luggage storage.(i didn't know i could do that on the treni italia site.) we'll hope to take the 9:36 train via foligno and then to leave our luggage at the fontivegge station. the train arrives at noon and from what you posted,the hostel won't accept it that late (although i could try phoning from the station just to see if someone is there.) what do you and bill think about the best place to meet my my sister and niece at termini? an earlier post by decobabe said to look for them in the corridor exit from leonardo express. of course if they are held up for some reason, i could be waiting there with luggage for some time. (was wondering if an easy to find restaurant/coffee shop in the station would be better---any suggestions?) also, i noticed the 9:36 train to perugia is an "ES" and it says reservations are mandatory, but i can't really buy tickets for all of us ahead of time if i don't know when they're arriving. does one just make the reservation when buying the ticket--which i would just hurry off to do as soon as i meet them?
Andrew, who says never to get off at Perugia Fontivegge? I would never EVER suggest changing trains at PSG just so you can get to Perugia Santa Anna.
It was the Italian train expert (from Florence) on my previous travel discussion group. He was adamant that taking the bus to the centro from Fontivegge was not a proper entrance to Perugia. I had a daily commute from Umbertide to S. Anna as a teenager and didn't think of the rail climb as so scenic, and I agree that diverting to S. Anna with the FCU ticket is more trouble than it's worth.
Yes, reservations are mandatory for ES trains as they're direct and therefore usually faster. They also cost slightly more than tickets for Regional trains. Just buy your tickets when you're all at the station together.
Afraid I'm not much help with where to meet in the Termini station as I've only been there once in fifteen years! Are both parties travelling with mobile phones? You could always just find a spot that seems good to you and then just text to say where you are.
When you exit at Termini from the binai (tracks) there are a series of info machines and then a row of shops and cafes. Further in are other rows of shops and it could get very confusing. I cannot give you a name of a cafe to choose, as I haven't paid enough attention. There definitely is a McDs, which at least you would all recognize, and there is a self-service where I often buy water because it is sight distance to the binario for my Perugia train. The problem with all of them is that if you go inside to sit the tables are all tucked around and you cannot see who is in there. Could you spend hours in the McDs waiting for their train? I don't know... can you continue to consume what they sell there so no one takes exception to you? LOL
There are at least two McDonalds in Termini. The simplest thing for me has always been to meet at the beginning of one of the Tracks: I usually pick Track 10 since it's in the middle and the round number is easy to remember.
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