Exploring between cities transfer options

[Tina80]

Our cruise will arrive at Civitavecchia port and we would like to immediately go to Milan. I have a kid with me and we will probably have two pieces of luggage. Will it be wise/easy/efficient to book the bus and train ticket combo from Civitavecchia Porto to Milan which requires us to get on and off the bus and the first train then get to the second train in Rome, or you would suggest we take a shared/private transfer to Roma termini and just buy the ticket to Milan when we arrive? Thank you

[euro cruiser]

If you are capable of handling the luggage while keeping an eye on the child, you can save a lot of money with the train.  The car service option is easier, so it may be worth it to you to pay for convenience.

 

I would limit my train search to Frecce and IC trains for the Civitavecchia to Rome segment, avoiding regionals to Rome.  The Frecce and IC trains are seat assigned and capacity controlled and they offer room for luggage.  None of this is true of the regionals.  To add insult to injury, so to speak, the regionals stop at auxiliary tracks in Rome that are located three city blocks from the main track head where you would get the train to Milan.

 

Only Trenitalia offers service between Civitavecchia and Rome.  From Rome to Milan you can use either Trenitalia or Italotreno.  The only benefit of limiting your search to Trenitalia is the ease of buying the trip as one, with Trenitalia assuming the responsibility for building in enough time to get you from one train to the other and rebooking you at no extra cost if they fall short.

 

 

[euro cruiser]

Your best option, if you stick with Trenitalia, is probably the 9:16 Frecce from Civitavecchia.  This allows you 17 minutes to transfer at Termini to the 10:20 to Milan, arriving at 13:35 (1:35 PM).

 

If you open your search to include Italotreno for the Rome to Milan segment you have even more options.  The service provided by each line is comparable, so I would let timing and price drive the decision.

 

Both train lines offer one-stop (at Bologna) trains between Rome and Milan.

 

EN - Trenitalia

 

Italo, italian high-speed train | Book no service fee | italotreno.com

Edited August 21 by euro cruiser

[Tina80]

1 hour ago, euro cruiser said:

Your best option, if you stick with Trenitalia, is probably the 9:16 Frecce from Civitavecchia.  This allows you 17 minutes to transfer at Termini to the 10:20 to Milan, arriving at 13:35 (1:35 PM).

 

If you open your search to include Italotreno for the Rome to Milan segment you have even more options.  The service provided by each line is comparable, so I would let timing and price drive the decision.

 

Both train lines offer one-stop (at Bologna) trains between Rome and Milan.

 

EN - Trenitalia

 

Italo, italian high-speed train | Book no service fee | italotreno.com

Thanks much, If we get tickets on a train with assigned seats, where would be keeping our luggage? I have already purchased my tickets from Rome termini to Civi porto (train+bus) and selected my seats on the train 🙂

[Tina80]

2 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

Your best option, if you stick with Trenitalia, is probably the 9:16 Frecce from Civitavecchia.  This allows you 17 minutes to transfer at Termini to the 10:20 to Milan, arriving at 13:35 (1:35 PM).

 

If you open your search to include Italotreno for the Rome to Milan segment you have even more options.  The service provided by each line is comparable, so I would let timing and price drive the decision.

 

Both train lines offer one-stop (at Bologna) trains between Rome and Milan.

 

EN - Trenitalia

 

Italo, italian high-speed train | Book no service fee | italotreno.com

I went on Trenitalia website and picked the closest time to 9 AM, attaching a screenshot for your review, the first train from Civi to Roma termini does not allow selected seats. Then I filtered the results for Frecce and did not get any result for Oct 10. What I am doing wrong?

[Tina80]

The one scheduled for 10:20 does let me pick my seats though but that is over 7 hours

 

Edited August 21 by Tina80

[euro cruiser]

Use Civitavecchia as your starting point rather than Civitavecchia Porto.  Just pay the driver in cash for the bus, 6 euro per person.  You'll have been in Europe for enough time to gather the cash.

 

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, Tina80 said:

Thanks much, If we get tickets on a train with assigned seats, where would be keeping our luggage? I have already purchased my tickets from Rome termini to Civi porto (train+bus) and selected my seats on the train 🙂

The luggage answer depends on the actual hardware (train) as not all trains are the same.  As a general rule, there will be a rack over the seats where you can put small to medium size luggage (assuming you can lift it over your head).  On most trains there is also an area at the end of the cars (sometimes there is actually a rack) where you can leave larger pieces.  Keep in mind that luggage left at the end of a car is not secure and luggage thefts are not uncommon.  You need to keep an eye on your stuff, especially as you near and arrive at any station.   We like to use a luggage lock gadget, that is like a lightweight bicycle cable lock, to secure our luggage together and to part of the train (like a rack).  You can find luggage cable locks online and here is a link to a page on Amazon:

Amazon.com : luggage cable lock for train

 

Keep in mind that a family, traveling with young children, is like a big target for professional thieves/pickpockets.  These folks are good and take advantage of folks who are likely distracted.  Always take some basic precautions about protecting all your valuables (including purses and pockets) and you will be fine :).

 

Hank

[Tina80]

37 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

The luggage answer depends on the actual hardware (train) as not all trains are the same.  As a general rule, there will be a rack over the seats where you can put small to medium size luggage (assuming you can lift it over your head).  On most trains there is also an area at the end of the cars (sometimes there is actually a rack) where you can leave larger pieces.  Keep in mind that luggage left at the end of a car is not secure and luggage thefts are not uncommon.  You need to keep an eye on your stuff, especially as you near and arrive at any station.   We like to use a luggage lock gadget, that is like a lightweight bicycle cable lock, to secure our luggage together and to part of the train (like a rack).  You can find luggage cable locks online and here is a link to a page on Amazon:

Amazon.com : luggage cable lock for train

 

Keep in mind that a family, traveling with young children, is like a big target for professional thieves/pickpockets.  These folks are good and take advantage of folks who are likely distracted.  Always take some basic precautions about protecting all your valuables (including purses and pockets) and you will be fine :).

 

Hank

Hank, thank you so much for your great reply. I really appreciate it. Especially the link to the lock, I was about to ask if you happen to have a link as I was reading your comment. So if we take travel size luggage hopefully we can put it above us, thag is good to know. But if we leave the luggage at the end of the train, will we be able to see it from where we are sitting? Also, which one of those locks did you get?

[Tina80]

3 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

Use Civitavecchia as your starting point rather than Civitavecchia Porto.  Just pay the driver in cash for the bus, 6 euro per person.  You'll have been in Europe for enough time to gather the cash.

 

Perfect, thank you so much.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, Tina80 said:

Hank, thank you so much for your great reply. I really appreciate it. Especially the link to the lock, I was about to ask if you happen to have a link as I was reading your comment. So if we take travel size luggage hopefully we can put it above us, thag is good to know. But if we leave the luggage at the end of the train, will we be able to see it from where we are sitting? Also, which one of those locks did you get?

Whether you can see luggage, at the end of a car, depends on where you are sitting.  But these street thieves are very good.  When they target a bag, they will grab it when a train makes a stop and quickly disappear (with the bag).  I have never seen it happen but have heard the sad tale more than once.  My own philosophy is to simply take precautions against the normal stuff (protect luggage, do not ever put anything in a back pocket, take other precautions against pick-pockets, etc).  An old pro (a retired Secret Service Agent) once gave me very good advice which was, make yourself less of a target by taking simple precautions, most thieves look for the "easy mark" so let that be the other guy,   No guarantees, but it puts the odds more in your favor :).

 

Hank

[Tina80]

9 hours ago, Hlitner said:

Whether you can see luggage, at the end of a car, depends on where you are sitting.  But these street thieves are very good.  When they target a bag, they will grab it when a train makes a stop and quickly disappear (with the bag).  I have never seen it happen but have heard the sad tale more than once.  My own philosophy is to simply take precautions against the normal stuff (protect luggage, do not ever put anything in a back pocket, take other precautions against pick-pockets, etc).  An old pro (a retired Secret Service Agent) once gave me very good advice which was, make yourself less of a target by taking simple precautions, most thieves look for the "easy mark" so let that be the other guy,   No guarantees, but it puts the odds more in your favor :).

 

Hank

Very valuable tips, thanks much. It makes sense. I guess we will just try to pack in travel size bags so we can keep it close to us (or above us) 🙂