Italy Transport International
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Siena Mobilita
by dangaroo Siena Mobilita is the public transport run in Siena and the Siena part in Tuscany, whilst Siena is a relatively tiny place and only the really unfit or perhaps less able or disabled would need to use public transport to get from the train station to the city itself, it comes in handy for little trips to nearby places such as the tourist ... pulling tower town - San Gimignano. We made use of the bus service to San Gimignano, I thought that the price was quite dear for the rather small journey, especially when compared to the reasonable price of trains in the country. The buses were clean and fairly modern and the passengers were mostly tourists, there didn't seem to be too many locals using the service. Between Siena and San Gimignano, there was a change at Poggibonsi. The first leg was more frequented by locals than the one to San Gimignano as it seems a lot of foreigners do the first part by train as the bus station in Poggibonsi is outside of the train station. From Siena to Poggibonsi and onwards to San Gimignano and then back to Poggibonsi, we took 3 buses and all of them were meticulously on time. The majority of the connectios leave you with 30 minutes to spare in Poggibonsi. For anyone looking to defraud the system it looked quite possible to sneak on the back of the bus on the way back since plenty of people ploughed on to the door and no one checked tickets - it may not always be like that though! Read the complete review |
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Trenitalia
by dangaroo Trenitalia is a much cheaper way of getting around in Italy than bus and there are plenty of connections around the country, tickets particularly on the "Regionale" trains are very reasonable - at something like 6 euros/100km. The trains are also very comfortable and at first sight even the cheaper trains are a blessing of ... comfort if you are used to using cheap trains in Central or Eastern Europe. There's quite a lot of room for luggage, normally plenty of seats available and the temperatures are usually just about right (apart from the time the window was stuck open and it was pouring in with rain), the staff at the station tend to be multi-lingual and relatively cheerful. My experience with both the expensive and cheap trains is that they can be late, the thing that lets them down. There were also numerous connections cancelled (albeit trains which make regular journeys) at the last minute and the tracks were changed at the last minute too, whilst neither of these things are overly bothering, the delay of an Inter City train between Firenze and Bologna cost us big time due to the fact we were trying to get to a connecting flight. Delays of up to and over 60 minutes are not uncommon and I would not plan any connections that were too strenuous if I were you or you may just be let down. Apart from their problems with time-keeping the services they offer are more than enjoyable and good value. At each train station, there is a little validating machine. Stick your ticket in there before entering the train, wiggle it left and right to ensure that it gets stamped as sticking it in the middle doesn't always do the job. Do this just before you board the train because if there is a delay and it effects you, you can take the ticket back to the ticket office and get a replacement ticket (I was told they could refund but seemingly couldn't) Read the complete review |
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Costa Cruises
by solamarie This review also appears on ciao under the same name. I am going to try and keep this factual! After all no one wants to read how I flew to Nice, went through 89 tunnels in a luxury coach, played and swam and had fun on a huge ship, then drove to Turin amongst the wooded hills gazing out of the window at acre upon acre of ... autumnal trees, amazed at the colours, rust, copper, burnished gold and all colours red, now do they? So, factual it is. Costa Cruises the company. An Italian company consisting of 11 cruise ships, it is one of the most modern cruise companies and their ships aren't that many years old. The Costa Atlantica, which we sailed on was first launched in 2000 and their earliest ship the Costa Marina was launched in 1990. The Costa company is part of the Carnival Corporation and is a member of the prestigious world leader of cruise lines. That is enough of the company, if anyone is interested in reading more I have included the web page below. http://www.costacruises.co.uk/B2C/GB/Corporate/The+company/thecompany.htm Our first site of the ship. As we arrived in the port of Savona some people on the coach were craning their necks and looking out of the window. "There she is" I heard one woman say so I craned my neck and looked hard. 'Oh' I thought ' I missed it, it must be behind that huge building' Wrong, it was that huge building, I really couldn't come to terms with the size of the ship and it was really impossible to see it as a whole ship, we just saw bits of it and they all looked like a huge building. Check in. Check in was quick and easy, the embarkation lounge was comfortable with plenty of seating. We were really lucky and due to having a wheelchair (for mum) didn't have to wait very long before we were marching onto the ship trying to keep up with the guy who had taken the wheelchair and threaded his way through all the other people. In no time at all we were being shown our cabins. The cabins. Several choices here, inside, outside with window, with balcony and a suite. We had a balcony and mum was in the next door cabin so adjoining balconies as well. Large, plenty of room for a double bed, sofa and table, enough storage space for the two of us. Mums clothes looked a little lost in hers. During the cruise we saw the inside of the inner cabins and the suites as well. Suites are larger but the non balcony cabins didn't seem to be any smaller. Exploring. We went up and down and round and round, and after a couple of days we could go where we wanted the first time. It took a while and there wasn't wonderful direction but although a large ship it didn't really take long to go from one end to the other. In the centre of the ship is the Atrium, this is beautiful, there are three glass lifts that go the full ten floors and the first time you whiz up or down the ten floors it is quite an experience seeing out. On the first floor there is a semi circular bar, customer services and the tour shop where you can book your tours of the countries you visit. Next floor up is the photo shop, and along one side well displayed are the photos that the official photographer takes during the cruise. We bought the one of us boarding because it is a nice memory and one of my mum in her life jacket because it was a good pic. Otherwise we didn't bother, to my mind they are overpriced but the quality is good. Spending money. Within the first 24 hours we registered our credit card because there is no money on board. We were presented with a card each with out names on one side and a picture of the shop on the other which we handed in each time we bought something. This is generally how finances are organised on most cruise ships and is a very easy way of doing it, not having to carry your wallet everywhere you go. During the cruise you can go and ask for a balance if you like to know how much you are spending, otherwise you get your receipt on the last night of the cruise and the money is debited from your card within 24 hours. Shops. Via Della Spiga. The shopping centre of the ship. There is a fair selection of perfumes, cosmetics, clothes, things you might have forgotten to pack (like toothbrush), cigarettes and booze. You can't buy booze and take it to your cabin to drink, only buy it to take home on the last day. There are no English cigarettes either, but American and Italian brands. The clothes were very expensive, even with the 50% off sale on the last day a polo shirt would have set you back about £20. There are some sweets, chocolate is expensive and there weren't a great selection either, so I guess more for taking home for gifts rather than eating in your cabin. Café Florian. This is an exact replica of the famous café of the same name which I believe is in Venice and was built in the 1700's. Ginger and Fred Lido. There are three pools and four Jacuzzis. A pool for families, a general pool and a pool for adults only. Each pool has a Jacuzzi next to it so you can have a swim, jump in the Jacuzzi or vice versa. The water in each pool was freezing in the mornings but warmed up nicely in the afternoons. Club Atlantica Gym. This is a whole out of this world experience! Built in a semi circle with windows all round so whether it is a gentle stroll on a treadmill or a hard workout on an exercise bike that you enjoy you can look out of a window at the sea or land while you work out. It is on three levels and the views are really stunning. In the centre is another Jacuzzi for a relax after your work out. Adjoining the gym are separate male and female changing rooms, showers, steam room and sauna. There is a beauty parlour at the entrance of the gym and it was a little disconcerting the first time having to go through this to get to the gym but we got used to it. Here you can have your hair cut or whatever you want done to it, you can have seaweed wraps and a number of other body or facial treatments and you can buy the well known Elemis range of beauty products. Library and internet. There is a library and internet café in the same room. The books are in glass doored cupboards which someone opens twice daily for an hour, a shame really I thought because if you happen to be asleep after lunch you could well miss out on getting a book. The selection of books in English was quite wide and enough choice for most readers. The internet costs 50cents per minute, I didn't use it but can see that it could be useful for someone wanting to check their emails or send messages home while away. Tiziano restaurant. This is huge, on two floors, so you can enter from the second or the third deck. Seating arrangements are good, you get your table number and your sitting time and that is free for you for the whole cruise for dinner. Breakfast and lunch are open sittings. Tables are laid up with different colours different nights, the waiters wore different coloured waistcoats on different nights too. There is also the Boticelli Buffet, for breakfast and lunch, a Pizza place and the Ginger and Fred lido buffets which have breakfast and lunch. You can get tea and coffee and ice and water 24 hours per day and pizza for most of that time. What was a little disappointing was if you want a meal in the evening you went to the restaurant or ate pizza. On two nights there was an alternative buffet in the Boticelli restaurant, but that was all. At midnight. Each night in a different place there was a midnight surprise, these were different and themed and the food was beautifully presented, but it was either too late for us to want to eat or too crowded to get near. The food. Hard to be objective here. Apparently the Italians cook with loads of salt, or in seawater, I am not sure which. Breakfast was good. There was lots of different choices, eggs, bacon, hash browns, cold meats, rolls and preserves, sweet rolls, sausages, oh the list can go on and on. There was also a healthy choice of sugar free items which would be good for anyone who likes sugar free cakes and biscuits or just wants fruit. (Prunes, tinned peaches, apples, plums, pineapple and grapefruit) There was also an omelette station where they would cook a fresh omelette while you waited and fill it with a huge variety of fillings. These came fresh cooked and hot and tasty. Lunch was brilliant. Once again huge choice, from fish and chips, burgers, pizza, salad, meat dishes, not many veg, plenty of olives and cheese and crisps. Usually at least two different pastas and vegetarian pies which were nice. Dinner was a mixed affair for me. The veg was very salty, the soups were also salty, the meat wasn't cooked as I would (but then that is different rather than a criticism) Each night started with either a small starter, several different ones, went on to a soup course, then pasta dish, main course, salad, cheese and nuts and dried fruit (worth waiting for) and finished up with a sweet. I can't comment on the sweet although both my husband and mum enjoyed theirs. The courses were larger than I have had on other cruises so we either left some or felt too full. Enough about food! And that is enough about the ship and it's facilities really. If I wrote everything in detail there would be no surprise for anyone booking for next year. So, lets go to my opinion…..Oh no, the tours first…. On land tours. In each place we stopped there were a variety of tours to be booked the day before that you could go on. We didn't so I can't say from personal experience but will outline some of them and what others said. Naples - Pompeii. Worth going but not suitable for people in wheelchairs or had mobility problems, a couple of hours walking over uneven ground. Sicily - Etna - Wish I had been able to go on this one, the people we spoke to said it was wonderful, the scenery beautiful and dramatic and worth going to see. Alexandria - Pyramids, Nile, Camel ride - these were all 12 or 14 hours long, people we spoke to said they spent too much time in the coaches and too little time seeing these things, also that they would have liked to have got closer to the pyramids but they were worth seeing. Cyprus - tours around the prettiest parts of this island. A good tour and not too long. Lymassol - Turkey - Lovely place (we went on shore and walked for ages) a place we might want to return to, lovely tour, very scenic, very beautiful. Santorini - Very pretty island. Katakolon - Greece - Olympia - Well worth seeing the ruins for the place the first ever Olympic games were played. Steeped in history. I would have enjoyed this tour. We went ashore in Naples, Sicily, Cyprus, Turkey and Katakoln. Each was different and worth seeing. Overall opinion. My mum said she thought it was all wonderful. The ship was beautiful and spectacular, the food was good, we didn't go to the theatre apart from one afternoon when we were just wandering around and it is a lovely theatre. We watched rehearsals and there was real atmosphere, the performers seeming to be enjoying themselves. The cabin was perfect, the balcony an added bonus. In fact she really enjoyed it all! My husband thought it wasn't quite as good as two other cruises we have been on. He found the fact that so many of the people aboard were Italian and didn't speak English a bit frustrating. But he did enjoy himself and was most impressed with the ship which is the largest we have been on. Me! It was lovely, I just love the Italian atmosphere, the glamour of the different rooms. The cabin was great, much more spacious than the other two we have been on. The service was pretty good, in the restaurant or in the shops and bars. I just enjoy cruising. The food could have been better, otherwise it was comparable to the others w have been on. There was entertainment during each day, but we couldn't join in with some of it due to not speaking Italian. If we had taken the grandchildren there were kids clubs to keep them occupied, a huge water slide for the older ones and Dantes disco in the evening which was aimed at teenagers. The names of the decks are all taken from films directed by Federico Fellini a famous Italian director and there are huge pictures of different screen shots of the films scattered around the ship. A beautiful ship which I am glad to have spent 11 days aboard. So, we returned home at the end of our holiday, a little more relaxed and refreshed, a little heavier, and with some lovely memories. A couple more facts: There were just over 2,600 holidaymakers aboard while we were there and never once did it feel crowded. You can't buy booze and drink it in your cabin, you have to pay bar prices which were equilivant to English bar prices, bit steep we thought, if you have anything out of the mini bar in your cabin it is the same price as the bar prices. The chocolate on board was horrifically expensive, almost two Euros for a Bounty, needless to say we didn't eat many. Thanks for reading. Sue xx Read the complete review |
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4 reviews Transport International / Trenitalia is the primary operator of trains within Italy. Trenitalia is owned by Ferrovie dello Stato, itself owned by the Italian Government. It was created in 2000 following the EU directive on the deregulation of rail transport. Ferrovie dello Stato became an holding company which cont... |
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2 reviews Transport International / Mediterranean cruises. |
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| Italy Transport International Recommendations 1 2 back | ||
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