Solo trip to Italy- help!

[woodpeckerz]

After 20+ years with DH who is a reluctant traveller I've just booked flights to Italy for a solo holiday to go and see all the art galleries, sights and visit Pompeii. It'll be my first solo trip for 30 odd years so I'm feeling a bit daunted. I'm also doing it on a low budget.

I arrive into Pisa airport at 22.30 what is the best way to get into the city centre?

I also will be spending a few days in Florence, Rome and then Pompeii. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? I'll be doing some guru walks and possibly a tour of Pompeii.

From Pisa airport take the S1 Pisa mover bus (bus stop is opposite the arrivals hall) or you can walk in less than 20 mins. Wouldn't bother at that time of night though and be careful crossing roads. They zip around on those bloody mopeds.

Buy tickets using trainline like you would here to travel around. Or just at the station, the man in seat 61 has good advice for train travel. Be sure to validate the ticket on the platform at the machines before you get on or face a fine.

Take food and drink on with you and use the loo. Some trains were more like tube style. Get a monzo card for spending. The app will send you notifications as the payments go through and convert the currency. You can spend freely and withdraw £200 in any month at a cash point without fees.

People will tell you Pisa is rubbish but I love it, it's a nice starting base for solo travel.

I bought a book (sorry I can’t remember the name) with different length walk suggestions for Rome. Each one said what to look
out for and a brief history of the significant sights.

I found a half day to Pompeii worked well and I did enjoy having a guide. I liked Pisa and Sorrenro.

Italy is far and away my favorite destination for solo travel.

For practicalities just pick up the latest lonely planet guide, it'll tell you everything you need to know.

I'd pre book trains to keep it easy between cities.

Also, maybe a slightly unusual tip, but the Italians are so beautifully dressed I'd take nice clothes. Not heels, obvs, but smart clothes that you feel relaxed but confident in. You don't want to feel like you stick out too far by being scruffy.

You'll absolutely love it.

Trenitalia is available also in English and you can get most train tickets in advance from the app. It also tells you when trains are late, and compensation messages come through automatically.

Would take a taxi at that time of night and it should not cost more than 12 euros.

Trenitalia is usually efficient, and you can book in advance.
For Rome, the key sights (Forum & Colosseum, Vatican Museums, Borghese Gallery) need to be booked online at least 4 weeks in advance - Rome is v busy this year.

OP I've done similar to your intended trip, also on my own and it was hectic in places, but overall very easy after the first day getting my bearings.

Taxi to from airport to hotel is the best way, it's a shortish journey.

How long are you planning to travel for? Going during school terms is much cheaper and easier to get around - if you can.

Just a flavour of what I did -

Pisa one night
Lucca two nights (fabulous place and not to be missed.)
Florence two nights. It was heaving, and although it was great to see, I was a bit overwhelmed by the crowds and the queues and that was in February during school term!

Bologna two nights. Fabulous, great quirky vibe and the FOOD! Came home from the airport there.

I used trains all the way, some pre booked, some bought at the station. Trenitalia as mentioned is a good app.

I know my itinerary doesn't include Pompeii or Rome, that is my next adventure. But I think I'll do Herculaneum and Ostia Antica, the road less travelled as they say!

Sounds amazing, have a ball.

Sounds wonderful OP I hope you have an amazing time and think of how awesome you will feel after knowing you did it solo it's my dream to do what you've planned.

Sorry to piggyback but those of you who have mentioned Trenitalia ... we are staying in Sorrento (Sant Agnelo) next month and planning to use the train to visit Pompei, Vesuvius and hopefully Naples.

Are we best getting this app now to look at times/fares or just rock up at station on the day and pay then?

Thank you all so much for the responses. I am terrified but I've lost so many friends and family members over the last few years I feel as if it's now or never. @HomeB thanks for the tips, I had no idea about validating train tickets. @WonderDays I was thinking of a tour. I've got 3 days staying at Herculaneum so I'll be able to have a look around there as well. @Ihavekids I'm travelling with a backpack but trying to get a put together look! @Hbh17 that's a good tip but sadly I may have left it too late. @keyboardkat I'm going v for 12 days. Which did not seem very long when I booked the flights but now seems very very long! Many thanks for all your good wishes. I will report back!

I am jealous, OP! Italy is by far my favourite place to go solo travelling too. Second what a PP says about your favourite nice clothes. I once (briefly) dated an Italian guy mostly because he could dress well 😂
Enjoy the amazing food, the interesting museums and sights and all the friendly attention you'll get from the waiters :)

The Trainline is your friend for train travel, same app as here. Prebook any major tourist attractions if you can as it avoids the queues (or reduces). Watch out for pickpockets in Rome especially. When eating be aware of additional service charges which can mount up in tourist hotspots (walking a few streets away saves you £££)

I am seriously envious OP! Unfortunately I lack the confidence to go solo, DH isn’t interested in sorting out anything so I might look at a tour of some kind.

Also, load up your kindle with books. You can pass an afternoon just sitting, reading, watching the world go by. If you want to watch anything then download films and programmes into your Netflix/iPlayer/prime app whilst at home on WiFi. Then you can watch without internet.

Pompeii is amazing. Get a tour - we did one and it was facinating. Bring plenty of water and a hat.
Finding our guide was a little chaotic but it worked out. We used Airbnb experiences.
In pompei if you have the time it is worth walking into town (20 minutes walk) and go to the Church or the Rosary. They have a tower - it’s a couple of Euros to go up and you have a panoramic view over entire Pompeii. Really good.

Good for you . I would love to go and do it all again as my STBX took the shine off it for me . We took the train from Pisa airport straight to Florence City centre. From that station you can pretty much go everywhere, including Venice if you want to add that in . Just make sure you booked train slot in advance. Also pre booking the most popular sites like the Duomo will safe you queuing for ages. Have a wonderful time.

Have you booked the tourist things you want to do in Roma? You do need to book those in advance or pay top dollar with the ticket touts

I can give you a recommendation for a good restaurant in Rome but you do need to sue from about 6pm to get seated at 7 pm for a very lovely meal at Enzo. If you get first sitting your fine but after that it can be a wait for a table.

Take an umbrella for Pompeii as there is no shade.

There are a few Facebook groups for solo woman travelling, tips and tricks added and questions asked

There are several Facebook groups for solo female travellers. Join one, set aside an evening with your tablet and a cold drink, read all the posts and be inspired.

There is no need whatsoever to be terrified. Plan carefully and you will have an amazing time.

My best tip is to pack VERY light, you don’t need many outfits , you know it’s going to be hot. The lighter your bag, the easier it is for you to travel around alone .

When I was in Naples about five years ago I bought a ticket which covered multiple attractions around the bay of Naples, and included travel between them on the circumversuviana (sp?) train - this one I think https://www.naplespass.eu/. There were different options available. We had the three day pass and went to Pompeii, Herculaneum, Naples Museum, and a couple of smaller sites just outside of Naples.

Take plenty of water out with you - it can be really expensive at the sites. Some places in Italy have (or had) free water fountains offering a choice of still, slightly sparkling or really fizzy water - great to refill! In other places you pay a nominal fee of a few cents.

There are some really good free tours of Italy online (my mother is addicted). If you enjoy it you are encouraged to tip the guide. From the comments, quite a lot of people use them to get background information before they go on holiday, and we have definitely made notes for our next trip. I’ll try to remember the site she uses, but I went to an excellent tour of Ostia (near Rome).

It will be a fabulous trip!

I've done quite a lot of solo travelling in Italy and I would double -recommend booking your main train tickets in advance via Trainline - you can then download to your phone and also take printed copies with you. There are some very speedy and lovely trains between all the main cities, which are reserved seats only. And would also agree that booking in advance for main tourist attractions will save masses of time. Naples is a bit rough, but worth it in order to get to Pompeii, and the Archeological Museum there has all the contents of Pompeii and Hurculaneum, so well worth a few hours.