We will be going to Italy the last week in April. 1) Can you do a daytrip to Sienna from Rome? 2)If so, how long of a train ride will it be? 3)What other suggestions do you have for day trips from Rome...we will be travelling with a 10 and 13 year old.

5) We will be heading to the Amalfi Coast area..How many days should be spend there? Should we stay in Positano or Sorrento?

Thanks!

***corrected place name {Siena} spelling only***

[This message was edited by Colleen on 10 January 2004 at 06:18 PM.]

Florence from Rome is easy due to the Eurostar train, about 1 1/2 hours. The trains that stop in Siena are the slower ones.

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The problem with Rome to Siena (note spelling if trying to get accurate search results) is that you have to change trains in Chiusi so you are looking at around 3 hours in each direction. You can check schedules at http://www.trenitalia.it As for Positano or Sorrento, my pref is Sorrento, expecially with kids.

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If you need to take a day trip from Rome, pick something closer than Siena (or even Florence). You can have a very nice easy trip to Orvieto, about an hour from Rome by train. The town is very visitor friendly, the Duomo is spectacular, there is good shopping and the restaurants are excellent. Kids will enjoy the funicular from the station, the spiral staircase well, and perhaps the caves in Underground Orvieto.

But in my opinion, you would not run out of things to do in Rome--even if you were there for a month.

Jim Zurer
Great Travels Inc.
Washington DC 20015
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I agree with Jim...just hang in Rome until it's time to go to the Amalfi Coast. There is so much to do in Rome with kids you will not be bored!

I would also agree that Siena is just to far and too much of a hassle to do for a day trip. If you are looking to spend one night there that might be better. But, IMHO, I think it will still be too much of a hassle. I would opt for the following for day trips out of Rome:

Orvieto
Bracciano
Tivoli
Ostia Antica

Tony Polzer
Tour Operator
3 Millennia Tours - Tours of Rome
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So far we have stayed a total of 12 nights in Roma on several trips. We have not even begun to do all the big name things on our list. This next trip we are staying 4 more nights and we hope to get to Ostia Antica and the Via Appia Antica (can you guess that Bill T has ingfluenced us a bit on this plan???)

If you do need a day trip, I love visiting Firenze on day trips, but you will probably just go away wanting more!
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words of wisdom to live by from Stephen Sondheim's The Frogs
{The chorus is singing a prayer to Dionysus...}
Dionysius "A hymm to me, the god of wine..."
Xanthius (His slave) "I thought you were the god of drama?"
Dionysius "I am the god of wine and the god of drama. A little wine will get you thru a lot of drama"

You don't mention how long you are going to be in Italy. Is this your first trip? Do you have your plane tickets yet?

The only thing I would add to the advice you have received is - if you can fly into Florence, you can pick up a car and drive to the Siena area, spend the night and do the town the next day and then drive to Rome.

If you have a limited amount of time in Rome and this is your first trip, skip Siena and use all the time you have there to explore the city. You won't be disappointed!

Definately do the Ostia Antica! This is an excellent day trip from ROme and the kids will LOVE it! Plan to spend the whole day...there's lots to see. Also, Lake Bracciano & it's town is beautiful. We once flew into Fiumiccino, picked up the car at the airport and drove 1/2 hour to the Villa Clementina outside of the town of Bracciano and had the most wonderful time. The hotel is fantastic, pool, tennis court, rolling gardens and views of the lake. Small, charming and the staff attentive to every need. We would then take drives into the town for dinner or for a tour of the castle or just to stroll around in the evening. We'd take short drives to etruscan towns and ruins....it was a marvelous spot. Anyway, you can easily take the train into Bracciano from Rome and enjoy it that way without hassles or problems. The kids would like a tour of the castle, for sure!

Siena is too rich by far in things to see to be visited in a daytrip (i.e., six hours).

If you just want to get out of Rome, there is no shortage of wonderful stuff nearby: Tivoli, Ostia, Palestrina, Anzio, and -- I put in here because no one thinks of it, the Via Appia just outside the city. Further afield and easily accessible, yet not excessive: Civita Castellana, Viterbo, Rieti.

If on the other hand you really want to go to Siena, do take a minimum of two days.

Bill

Gazetteer of Italy

Presuming you have already made the sane decision to not have a car in Rome, , I would actually disagree with the idea of a side trip to Lago di Bracciano. We rented a villa near there for two weeks and took the train (plus metro, which is necessary) into Rome on four occasions over two weeks. It's a longer trip than you think, given wait time on platforms, many intermediate stops, and transfering to the metropolitana (subway) in a Roman suburb. We learned the lesson that to be in Rome, you want to stay in Rome, and our most successful outings from B. were to nearby Etruscan sites and up into northern Lazio (we had a car,) I know the inquiry was about trips Out of Rome, but the same logic applies. Rome is too exciting and varied to waste time on a train. See the things closer into the city this time. Bracciano is fun, but IMO, not a must.

What about Pienza instead of Orvieto? I am planning on renting a car from Rome for a day and drive to Pienza for a day trip in February. Am I insane?

>>drive to Pienza for a day trip in February. Am I insane?<<

Insane? No. But perhaps a bit ill advised. Unless there is something specific you can't miss in Pienza and environs, I am not sure why one would make a driving day trip in February. Two hours each way and not too much daylight.

If I were advising a client, I would suggest a drive through Lazio--north to Tuscania, Tarquinia, and Viterbo; south to the Alban Hills--Frascati, Grottaferrata, etc.; or east--Tivoli, Palestrina. You will have more time to explore these areas in a leisurely way.

Don't misunderstand; I love the Pienza area....I am just not sure that a day trip in the winter is the best way to experience it.

Jim Zurer
Great Travels Inc.
Washington DC 20015
My Slowtrav Classified Ad
http://www.great-travels.com
jim@great-travels.com