Roma to Serre di Rapolano 2022

Rebs0605

New member
Hi! I am excited to find your website. I did search the forums and saw the post from 2011 about getting to Serre di Rapolano from Rome by train. I just wanted to make sure in this day of so many changes that the train will be our best option. We are a large group of 9 leaving from Rome. I did already search for tickets to get an idea of pricing and have a question- I did not see first class or upgraded option or refundable option. Wondering if this is because it is regional train?

Thank you for any advice.

Rebekah DeLibro
 
Ciao Rebekah,

I had written out my reply but seems I lost it!

Welcome to our forum, hope you will find it useful as you plan your travels in Italy and Tuscany, in particular.

As for your specific question, yes, that route is regional trains. Slow, be prepared to make several stops. Because of that, there are no assigned seats and the whole train is "get on, get off, seat yourself wherever you find a spot". For that reason the train is all the same and no "first class" or different seats. So the tickets are sold without a date or time on it, valid for two months, to be used whenever you want (so no need for refunds). You can buy it directly at the train station the day you have to travel, without worrying about buying ahead of time. Easier because if you lose the train, you don't have to rebook or anything!
Just make sure once you're ready to get on, near the start of the track, to find the yellow machines on the columns for "printing" the date and time on the ticket itself. That validates the ticket for use on the train you actually get on - it is absolutely required! If you don't have it and get your ticket checked, then you will be fined for not having the date and time stamped on.
In any case, some trains might have cars marked as first class and others second class. But it really just depends on the train you catch.

I do think train is the best option, because you can buy tickets at the last minute and won't have to worry about booking or catching a specific train or renting a car, etc. It will leave you with maximum flexibility.
 
Buonasera, thank you so much. Yes,, we’ve traveled by train previously and know about the validation. We tell anyone we know who is going and taking the train to do this to save confusion. I was thinking we would need to get the tickets a few months in advance (we have done this before.) but you think it’s not necessary? We do have reservations along with a large group of friends at Castello delle Serre. I just didn’t want to run into any hiccups. We are hosting this week at the Castello for my birthday. So was hoping to get there with our group by at least 3pm. The check in time.
 
Your birthday party!? How FUN! What a great way to celebrate! Happy - early - Birthday! :D

No, I don't think it is necessary to buy the regional tickets ahead of time, there usually aren't discounts on buying those ahead of time, and since you don't have a seat reserved, they don't limit the amount of tickets sold per train. You just have to make sure you're at the train station in Rome early enough to get on when the train arrives and get on and get seats all together with your friends.

As far as what trains to get, the 11.11am train from Rome TIBURTINA station seems to the best of time as it gets you to Rapolano Terme at 2.37pm with only one train change in Chiusi-Chianciano Terme.

The next best one if you want to leave from Rome TERMINI station leaves later at 1.02pm but arrives in Rapolano at 3.55pm, after the time you indicated but I do see the Castello has check-in between 3 and 7pm. So this could work as well, as it also only has a train change in Chiusi and total travel time is actually about half an hour shorter that the one I mention above.

The main important thing to consider if you haven't already, is how are you going to get from the train station to the Castello? I checked Google Maps and it says it's about 2 miles away from the train station. Will the hotel arrange a car to pick you all up? That is what I'd look into now if you haven't already. If you need a private transfer, do get that sorted out ahead of time. The hotel website mentions being able to recommend someone local for this type of service so if you still need to do this, I'd recommend doing that next.
 
Lourdes, we are excited thank you but with all that is going on in the world right now, it’s a luxurious want. I can’t thank you enough for all this detailed info, so helpful! I have researched and did like those two options that have just one change. I feel like the regional trains didn’t have much in the way for luggage storage I’m sure we’ll figure it out. I’ve made it clear to pack lightly lol. Yes the Castello will be able to pick us up from the station. I have also contacted Alessandro to price wine tours-who’s info I found on this wonderful site as well. I can’t thank you enough. Grazie Mille!
 
I am glad to offer assistance! Glad to hear the hotel will pick you up!
In these times, we don't know what or how the world will look like in a month or two down the road, but it shouldn't have us living in fear. Planning ahead for good times keeps us sane and alive, so go ahead and enjoy the planning as well for your birthday!
Only thing I recommend is to always ask info on cancellation policies and whatnot as you book, especially if you put down money to make reservations, just in case you were to have need of them. Most people are pretty flexible at the moment, it's the only way to be from both ends to make sure we can move on forward in these times.

As far as luggage storage on trains: I would NEVER leave my suitcases away from where I am seated, not even on the first class wagons, but never on regional trains. If you don't have them constantly under your watchful eye, they can disappear! I prefer to keep any luggage close, there is some space in between the backs of some seats that go back to back and I stick luggage in there, particularly bigger ones. If you have some lighter bags, there are racks overhead to place those. Under your seat in another alternative, but only if I'm seated at the start of a wagon where there is no way they could be taken from the seat behind me. If needs must, then I place them right by my legs and use up my own legroom. Always keep luggage near so that you don't have any unpleasant experiences with theft, they do occur. Better to prepare for the worst and enjoy when they don't happen, right?

As for the wine tours, in addition to Alessandro, also contact Francesco from Wine&Drive. He can drive you on general tours across the area, but since he's a sommelier, he is especially great on wine tours. He can take you to really good boutique wineries and offer extra info! I did an interview you can read here: https://www.discovertuscany.com/tuscany-car-rental/tuscany-wine-and-drive.html
Also check out the rest of the site: in addition to this forum, the rest of the website has a lot of suggestions as to what to see and do in general across the region. Lots of ideas, you won't be able to do everything so will need to make decisions as to what you can do, especially if you don't have your own means of transport.
 
Yes I agree, we still need to plan and be hopeful. The Castello's cancellation policy is strict so in the case of something changing we have a voucher to use in the future. We used a travel agent to help us find a place suitable for our group, which I am glad we did for this trip. I will say I will probably not do this again. Lots of hidden rules and this particular one would not separate the excursions and with a large group as we have too many wanting to do different things so did not work for us. I did not read all the policies as I should have so that was on me.

We will be keeping our luggage close to us and try to get seats at the start if we can. We took trains from Roma to La Spezia and then on to Riomaggiore in 2019 and did well. I always aim to be prepared and that why I love finding blogs like Discover Tuscany. It is great to have this info at your fingertips.

I will look into Wine&Drive and the other forums as well. Grazie!
 
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