Florence Travel Forum

Hi,

i will be moving to Florence in June for sch. i wonder if i travel alone to Florence, with my luggages,

1. should i go by plane directly from Asia, stopover somewhere in Europe and fly Ryanair to Florence

or

fly to Rome and take the train to Florence. I am worrying about carrying the luggages on my own.

2. what is the free luggage weight limit of Ryan Air and how much per extra kilo does it charge?

it's my 1st time to Europe and I'll be spending some time there.

thxxx sooo much for any tips.

Ryanair allow 15kg hold baggage, but it is not free. You are allowed up to 3 bags (with a combined weight of 15kg), for which you must pay a fee (this is usual with budget airlines). At the moment the fee is 10GBP one-way for one bag, 20GBP for every other bag.

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?sect=bag&quest=checkedbaggageallowance

Excess charges are high (15GBP per kilo).

http://www.ryanair.com/site/EN/faqs.php?sect=CHARGES

If you are worried about carrying your luggage then I do seriously suggest you bring less.

Other budget airlines allow 20kg (although most will charge you a fee for hold baggage), so you might prefer to travel with another carrier.

www.whichbudget.com lists all European budget carriers and their routes.

Ryanair, by the way, fly to Pisa not Florence (as do most/all budget carriers). You will need to get a bus or train from pisa airport to florenec, a journey of around an hour.

www.ferroviedellostato.it will give you times, details and fares of Italian trains in English (English link top of the page).

I think you would probably be best flying directly to Rome, then taking the train to Florence (unless the difference in flight costs is really substantial).

You will have to get the train into Rome Termini railway station from the airport, and then get the onward train from there to Florence. Depending on timings you may have to/prefer to spend your first night in Rome itself.

"Excess charges are high (15GBP per kilo). "

With charges like these, you may find it cheaper to ship some of your stuff by UPS or other international carrier just before you leave Asia, so that it arrives in Florence at your new address after you have moved in. Surely, you won't need all of your clothing in the first few days ;-)

I know that it is not cheap to ship internationally, but consider that one extra bag weighing 10 kilos will costs 150GBP(!) plus the bag charge itself. Yikes!

Also, by shipping part of your stuff, you avoid having to carry it from the airport at Rome through Termini to Florence...you will be grateful for bringing with you ONLY as much luggage as you yourself can carry...

Bill

Because of the luggage charges and restrictions of Ryanair, I would suggest just flying directly to Rome and taking a train to Florence.

If I remember correctly, you can get a Eurostar train, and the journey will take anywhere from an hour and half to four hours (depending on how many stops that particular train is scheduled to make). Just make sure you pay attention to the schedule to pick the fastest train. The train ticket is relatively inexpensive, and you will see some beautiful scenery on your way.

Also, depending on where you are staying in Florence, you probably want to make sure you arrive at the Santa Maria Novella station. That is the main train station in the center of town.

The last piece of advice (as others have said)... try to bring as little luggage as possible. Regardless of how you end up getting there, you are not going to want to carry around a bunch of luggage. Also, keep in mind that many of the hotels do not have lifts, so you will most likely be walking up a lot of stairs.

Happy travels!

Lisa

I understand that, as you are attending 'school' in florence you may wish to bring more clothes etc.

But you really do need to consider how you are going to move around on your journey. You will have to cope with your luggage alone on the Rome-Florence train journey, and both stations and trains have steps.

Reduce the amount you bring as much as possible and, as Bill suggested, look into the possibilities for sending or shipping extra clothiong as and when you need it. You will have to send it back home the same way, of course.

Dear All

thxxxxx so much for the kinda advice and tips.

yes, i'll be going to school in Firenze. I will be staying at hostel in the first week (which i still haven't booked yet) and trying to find a small apartment near sch as i suppose downtown is quite expensive.

i guess i'll probably take the flight to Rome and take the train as my luggage will probably overweight and it seems quite expensive to pay just for the overweight.

since i don't have an address or a more stable place to stay yet, i m not sure it's a good idea to ship some of the stuffs. i'll probably bring less winter clothes and ask my family to mail them later or something.

anyway, thank you very much again for the input. i may ask more questions later : )

cheers
Em

Yes, that is what I meant really.......get your family to send winter clothes etc once you are settled (but remember you will have to send them back!).

www.hostelworld.com and www.hostelbookers.com are good sites to find hostels.

Do book early: you won't be the only student who intends to live in a hostel at first, and Florence is tourist-popular all year round. June is the beginning of the high season.

Best to find somewhere and book right now.

If you are worried about carrying your luggage, book your flight all the way through to Florence and take a taxi from the airport to the hostel. You will have to change planes somewhere--Rome, Milan, etc.--but you wont have to lug all that baggage around and worry about it.

To get to the train station in Rome from the airport you will have to take a taxi which will be expensive or take the airport train. That's easy when you only have one bag and a carry on, but with more it's difficult. Believe me I have done it many times in my younger day (ages 50 to 54 when I was studying in Florence and the South of France) and it is extremely stressful. It's not worth your peace of mind.

You will love Florence and once you are settled in, you can begin your travels on the weekends or holidays. You will find lots of classmates with whom you can go to the many wonderful towns and cities in Italy as well as other parts of Europe. It will be a very exciting and memorable time for you, a period in your life that you will never forget. A harrowing experience with luggage, etc. should not be part of that memory.

I am afraid I must disagree about the train from Rome Fimicino airport.

I suspect the Leonardo Express train was not available when you visited. It is comfortable, speedy and efficient..not in the least bit stressful......and, most importantly, cheaper than a taxi. Given the amount of baggage with which one is likely to arrive from a flight, it is a perfectly feasible travel option.

As a middle-aged female I have had no problems whatsoever getting myself to and from Italian airports using the train (not just the Leonardo Express). The cost of 11 euro stands up very well indeed when compared with the taxi cost into Rome of (I think) around 40 euros.

Hi, J LEICS, I assume you were addressing your last post to me. I agree the train from the airport is very comfortable--don't know if it was the express, but a train nevertheless. When I took it without luggage to pick up my sister five years ago which was the last time I stayed in Rome, it was a delightful trip. It is also a nice ride to Florence on the train if you don't mistakenly take the one that stops in every village between Rome and Florence, which I did once. The point I was making is that if you have a lot of luggage, managing it, getting it to and from, off and on, and up and down stairs, is really tough. There are no red caps or porters as there are in the U.S. and you will be lucky to find some one to help you with it. I did that for years, up until two years ago when I gave myself permission to stop doing it. When I travel, I go for a minimum of three months and stay as long as six. I imagine this is what Em wi,ll do. For me, at least, it's too expensive to buy clothes, toiletries etc., once I get there so I do take enough to last me the length of time that I am staying.

Understand your point entirely...just wanted to note that, particularly if money is tight (as it probably will be for a student) the train is perfectly safe, comfortable and feasible. There is ample time at each end to get bags on and off (assuming you don't arrive just as the train is leaving) as it is not a 'through' train.