Need help with travel!

CAYAMama

New member
Hello! My husband and I are visiting Italy with our 4 kids this summer. I'm trying to plan out as much in advance as I can and would immensely appreciate any help all of you more seasoned travelers can provide. Here are the specific things I am getting stuck on:

1.) Firenze to Assisi (July 9): What is the best way to travel from Firenze to Assisi? By bus or by train? (We are aware that the train would require us having to take a bus from the train station up to Assisi.) If by bus, which company? If by train, which line? Should we buy these tickets in advance, or just when we are there in town?

2.) Assisi to Roma (July 10): I have only been able to find train schedules that leave Assisi before 8 a.m. We'd like to enjoy the morning in Assisi though. Are there any train lines that leave Assisi around 11 or 12:00? Or would it be best for us to take a coach/bus for this leg of our journey? Should we reserve these far in advance?

3.) Roma to Siena (July 14): From all the reviews I've read, it sounds like it would be best for us to take a coach/bus for this leg, as taking a train would require a train change, and with 6 of us would be a bit stressful. How far in advance should I book these tickets and with what company?

4.) Siena to Vernazza (July 15) : I can't seem to find any easy-to-interpret train routes & schedules for this. On trenitalia it shows 3 train changes, which is a little scary for me. Although I know for this leg there's no way around at least 1 change. Any suggestions on keeping the changes to a minimum?

5.) Vernazza to Pisa (July 17) : The train routes I've found want to take us up to Monterosso first. Is there a more direct way?

Thanks in advance!
 
Ciao Cayamama,

I am glad to offer assistance and suggestions... and my first one is to say that if you're relying on public transportation, then this itinerary has to be changed. You are doing a HUGE circle instead of taking each place linearly. Even if you had a car, I would suggest do Tuscany first, then Umbria, then Rome. Do smaller legs of travel to reduce travel time and to not backtrack.

First, is it this way because you arrive in Florence and depart from Pisa? Or are there other cities before and after? I realize you only posted parts you are having trouble on so definitely want to have the bigger picture of whether there is something before and after to help you better ;-)

I'd suggest:
- one base in Tuscany, Florence is a good one when you depend on public transportation.
- from Florence, one day trip to Siena, one to Vernazza. You can buy tickets here directly, no need to book ahead. Bus to Siena, train to Vernazza.
- from Florence, head to Assisi by train.
- then continue down to Rome (still train).
- assuming you do have to return to Pisa for departure, return by train from Rome directly to Pisa - if you can, spend half a day and see the Leaning Tower. If your flight leaves early, leave Rome the evening before.

Until you provide more info, these are my suggestions!
 
Need help with logistics. Hope it's not too late.

Thank you so much for responding to my post! I'm sorry I left out all the other information. I was trying to keep my post as short as possible.

We are travelling from Munich, Germany (staying with cousins) to Mestre. We are renting an apartment there for 2 nights. From Mestre we take the train to Firenze for 4 nights, also renting an apartment. Then we wanted to go to Roma, but we thought it would be wonderful to see Assisi, so we booked a hotel in Assisi for a night. We go on to Roma next, where we have an apartment for 4 nights. We wanted to show our kids the Cinque Terre, so we decided to just stay there for 2 nights. But to break up the trip from Roma to Vernazza we decided to stay over a night in Siena, where we have a hotel booked. From Vernazza we go to Pisa airport, where we fly to Paris for 6 days. In all, we are 14 nights in Italy.

I know this probably seems like a crazy itinerary, but making a loop sort of seemed to be a logical evolution in our planning. All our accommodations are booked, but I have just those 3 or 4 journeys (in my first post) that I am trying to work out. In hindsight, I may have gone about this backwards! Perhaps I should have planned the travel first and accommodations last. I was doing a lot of research and reading up, and at the time it didn't sound like getting from place to place would be much of a problem. Now I'm not so sure. Any input will be appreciated. Thanks in advance :)
 
Top