Although I have travelled in Italy by train in the past, it's been a few years. I recall that the trains have steps, and I am no longer able to lift luggage up and down the steps. What work-arounds do you suggest? I'm not sure that driving is a good solution, since the luggage will still have to be lifted into and out of the car. Thanks for your recommendations.
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Planning train travel in 2027
- Thread starter Karen P
- Start date
getting old stinks! This might be helpful but not in many stations. Sorry if i assumed this is age related and it isn’t. https://www.italiarail.com/baggage
Ian Sutton
1000+ Posts
Many of the big stations have lots of steps, but also lifts. There are assistance details on the Trenitalia site. Some smaller stations still have that remarkable feature of a flat crossing over the tracks.
As for the trains, the steps are shallower than in the past I believe.
IME other passengers will be helpful (away from the tourist tainted hotspots), if only due to the classic Italian logic that the train isn't moving until the passengers are on board, so best to help that happen.
The car does give you the option of being smarter with luggage, e.g. pack day bags and if need be have a big case in the boot/trunk that you can pick what you want from, with it never leaving the car.
In somewhere like Tuscany, coaches are a good option, and the driver typically loads / unloads cases.
I hope you find something that works for you
As for the trains, the steps are shallower than in the past I believe.
IME other passengers will be helpful (away from the tourist tainted hotspots), if only due to the classic Italian logic that the train isn't moving until the passengers are on board, so best to help that happen.
The car does give you the option of being smarter with luggage, e.g. pack day bags and if need be have a big case in the boot/trunk that you can pick what you want from, with it never leaving the car.
In somewhere like Tuscany, coaches are a good option, and the driver typically loads / unloads cases.
I hope you find something that works for you
It is, plus recent surgeries. I can lift stuff (but not carry it up the steps), but I pay for it later, and it's not worth it.
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People have been kind in the past. I was hoping (a wee small hope) that the Italian rail system would have figured out that making travelers lift luggage up a set of stairs into and out of a train is simply nonsense. How about a rolling ramp system? The last time I was on a long distance train in Italy, there were steps (only 1 or 2) INSIDE the train. Go figure.
Thank you all, but what I have concluded, unless someone comes up with better suggestions, is that what I need is a car service. Living out of the trunk (the "boot") of a car isn't going to work. It also occurred to me that there are stairs at train stations where you arrive at the wrong platform and have to cross under the tracks.
In the larger train stations there is porter service which transports you to your carriage in a golf cart. I think there is an option for it when you book your ticket.
Do you know which stations you will be using? There surely is sufficient knowledge on this site to address obstacles or resources for each station.
Do you know which stations you will be using? There surely is sufficient knowledge on this site to address obstacles or resources for each station.
Ian Sutton
1000+ Posts
Thinking laterally, is there a single location that you could have as your base? Get a taxi there, and a taxi back to the airport, and the taxi driver thus does the lifting of the suitcase.
Then every day in the holiday is either exploring that location, or day-tripping with a light day pack. The suitcase stays at base camp!
I'll throw one option in, with logistical insight, but maybe there's a place that really appeals to you, to stay there, but also to explore around it.
- Torino is my favourite city in Italy, but it also has in Stazione Porta Nuova, a train station without those steer underpass stairs - it's flat all the way onto the platform. Its older trams have steps as shown
but the newer ones and the buses don't (or typically just a single step), and the limited Metro has lifts and no steps onto the train. Lots to see and do around the area, and if you want a cheaper option than a taxi, the airport coach goes from outside arrivals, and drops off at key points in the city. Places like Alba, Asti, Novara are good day trip options on the train, and there are other places that make good day trips on the outskirts of the city.
As for the trains, the modern freccia trains aren't bad for steps
The older inter-city split level trains were more problematic IIRC
whilst the urban / suburban regionale trains could be a mix, but often seemed to have flat entrances like this
Thanks. Will give it a look. So far, 2027 plan is for a 6-7 day tour to which I will add a week, so it's during that week that I will need to move around. No firm plans yet, but grateful for your suggestions. I am not actually ancient, but trying to be realistic about what I can and cannot do given my daily pain level. Experience tells me that the more I lift heavy things during the day, the less sleep I get at night. Perhaps the number of trains with steps has changed as the rolling stock is replaced, but I have a very clear memory of a train to Florence from Rome with multiple steps. I assume that the train lines and rolling stock were all created at different times and are slightly incompatible, and to a certain degree is incurable. NYC subways have no stairs into the cars, but the commuter lines may (Metro North!).
Ian Sutton
1000+ Posts
Those under the tracks steps are indeed steep and plenty of them. The double-decker trains were the worst from memory, with steps up or down from the arrival corridor. They were relegated to slower / cheaper inter-city (IC) services in the 00s/10s, but it looks like they may have been retired now going by online pics.
it looks like it will be better, but Italy was slow to catch up with accessibility, and the older buildings us tourists often like are certainly a challenge to convert. Some have lifts, but Italian lifts can be small and very slow.
My husband and I returned a few days ago from a lengthy trip in Italy. We traveled by rental car but also used trains from Rome to Pisa and La Spezia to Borgo Val di Taro. A few train stations were undergoing the addition of elevators - no kidding! It all depends and I wonder how one could get updated information.
Between the two of us, we were able to handle one mid sized bag into and out of the car's trunk. Airport buses alleviate baggage lifting with platforms at mid calf level.
Carol
elizbuth
10+ Posts
We’re in Venise now and have traveled by train to Milan, Verona, Florence, and Venise. Most of the stations had lifts or were a final destination (Florence and Venise) with no tracks to cross. I’m using a cane on the trip, and every time I was struggling with a suitcase someone offered to carry it for me. I have been constantly impressed by how nice and helpful the Italians have been - seats and help offered even when I wasn’t having a problem. Have a grand trip