Park and Ride near Rome/train station near Rome?

[notamumyetbutoneday]

This is probably wishful thinking...but does anyone know if Rome operates any kind of park and ride system?

We are staying at Norcenni Girasole in Figline Valdarno next month and would like to go to Rome for the day. We are hiring a car so it seems a bit of a waste to get the train all the way from Figline when we could drive most of the way.

Has anyone driven to Rome from the north of italy and if so how did you find it please?

TIA

No park and ride system as such, no. Perhaps park at Fiumicino airport and then take the train from there? Or park next to one of the underground stations in the suburbs (e.g. stazione anagnina) and take public transport.

If I were you, I'd take the train to Roma Termini - far less faff, and all buses go via there so it's very easy to get anywhere. You will find that unless you take one of the high speed ones trains are cheaper than in the UK. Check on Trenitalia.it

I would take the train - drivers in Rome are nutters and will scare the life out of you, trains in Italy are good value and air conditioned, let the train take the strain as they say!

Agree with MadameCastafiore re: nutters. And I am an Italian driver myself.

Ha ha - Minerva, can I pick your brains - we are off to our usual Tuscan retreat next summer and want somewhere to stay for a week on the way down from the UK - has to either have a nice (V V Clean) pool or be near a secluded beach and have enough space for at least 4. Would prefer self catering and not to be anywhere super busy - any ideas?

Hard one this one, I have to say. What route will you be taking? IS it July-Aug?

Secluded beach is out - they just do not exist in the Northern med... unless you go there in January!

Would you consider a mountain cottage perhaps? Somewhere in Piedmont or Val d'Aosta, or even Switzerland for that matter would work then.

A cottage on the Isola d'Elba.

The other option would be an agriturismo (they are everywhere in Northern Italy, although I would pick one in the wine/truffle areas of Piedmont - see belos for an example of what I mean). There must be some which have self-catering facilities!

www.agriturismo.it//tenutalaromana/enindex.asp

Ha ha - yes to the beach - Rimini for a day last year bleugh - was like Blackpool with nice weather!

Will be at the end of August - we stay in a place near Monteviachi (sp?) which is great for the kids, another agritourismo but a very special one - we are driving down there with friends (DH is the well travelled geography freak - all I know is we will prbably be going through France and Switzerland!! )

Will checkout your link in the morning - have just eaten too much pasta and drank a bottle of wine and feel a bit woozy!

You may be able to help me too - I have promised DH that I will be conversational in Italian by next August - I think he has had enough of me doing baffled fish impressions next to him every summer (he is a geeky geography and language guy - I am the dumb, high maintenance one in the family!!)

Anyway will check tomorrow and hopefully be able to converse with you at some point int he next year!

Goodnight XXX

Rimini? That is definitely not for the fainthearted!

If you are coming from France or Switzerland then I would say Piedmont is your best bet - particularly if you like chocolate and wine. Val D'Aosta would work if you came from France - but only if you like Alpine scenery a lot!!! I am quite impressed you are driving all the way: I never had the guts (or the time) to do it!!!

Happy to help on the conversation front - as long as you do not mind North-Eastern Italian accents...

agree, don't drive in Rome! I'd get the train to Termini from your nearest station. The trains are pretty reasonable price wise here. Or maybe drive to somewhere like Viterbo or Orvieto where there are regular, cheap local trains going to Rome.

We stayed at Norcenni Girasole several times, it is fab. It is a fair distance from there to Rome for a day trip, almost 3 hours.

Are you desperate to get to Rome? There is so much to see around the campsite. Florence, Pisa, Sienna, Montepulciano, Greve, Arezzo...

Oh, and the one time that we drove in Rome we got totally lost getting out of the city and spent an hour going around in circles. It was such a nightmare.

Thank you so much for your replies, only just come back to this. Mme Lindt as you say, it is a fair distance from Norcenni to Rome which is why we are thinking about it carefully as there does seem to eb so much to do around the site, and we are only there 9 days unfortunately.

I think we may end up leaving it for this time, adn its an excuse to come back to Italy another time and 'do' Rome properly.