Leaving Your Trip in TERONTOLA

This page offers help (concrete or informational) on leaving your trip. Topics include...

1. Where you Leave Your Trip (see immediately below)
2. Our “Access Packages,” designed to help you to do so.
3. Suggestions on how to time your ongoing travel, whether you are having us arrange it, or doing it yourself.
4. Service information regarding train travel from your trip end location.
5. Suggested post-trip visits, especially when these are not geographically obvious, but are rendered economical and convenient by direct rail connections.
6. Hopefully helpful hints for those setting up their own travel from the trip.

If you wish to arrange some or all of your travel through us, please tell us what by means of this response questionnaire, designed to collect all the information we need to be able to book your travel.


1. WHERE and WHEN Do You Leave Your Trip?

Your trip disbands on Saturday afternoon, after a full day of riding, in Terontola, a railway junction on the main line from Florence to Rome.

If you wish to arrange your own ongoing travel (in other words, you do not want to set up any ongoing travel arrangements through us), a couple of hints regarding ongoing travel are offered at the bottom of this page. Otherwise...


2. Our ACCESS PACKAGES
as of January 19, 2008

The closest intercontinental airport is Rome. Florence is even closer, but air service from Florence is limited.

Our “Access Package” includes an open rail ticket to either Rome, or to nearby Florence, and a hotel night in either.
Our London “Access Package” includes an overnight train to London, via Paris (this train is also available Sunday night, after a Florence stop).

Base (Starting) Access Package Price: 89 €.
If you are a North American traveller, the $ price (US or Canadian) on your price chart applies until 35 days prior to trip departure. Otherwise euro prices are transcribed to your invoice in its currency, converted at the exchange rate of the day on which the package is requested (rounded to the nearest whole dollar or pound). Current “mid-market” rates can be consulted from the site we use for conversion. We use the mid-market rate on the day of conversion, and add 2% to cover currency broker exchange commissions (our conversion rates are thus as good as, or better than, any you could obtain, including via your credit card, unless you are a professional currency trader).

Availability is normally guaranteed until 35 days prior to trip start (payment received by us). Within 35 days, availability must be confirmed, and costs may be higher. Some extra-cost options also have higher prices if ordered w/in 35 days.

Included:

• A Saturday evening train to either Rome or Florence, using modifiable tickets which permit you to ride the biking day on any schedule you please without stress.
• A hotel night in either, based on shared occupancy. Typically, most of your past weeks’ travelling companions will be travelling to one or the other.
  Rome and Florence are expensive cities. Despite what we think of as high prices, our hotels here are not luxurious, by any means. They are superbly located (central in Florence, convenient to transport in the much bigger Rome), adequately clean, and not too dowdy. And (perhaps a sign of their relative value) they are always full, way in advance, have draconian cancellation conditions, and aren’t in any way easy to work with. Bottom line: if you want to find your own place in either, please, be our guest. This is not work we are looking for. Or, if you want the beautiful room in the converted monastery with a view on a flowered courtyard, and aren’t too close to 300€, let us know. We have some ideas.... Book our package if you already know and trust us, or if you really don’t care about hotels that much. But book it way in advance....
• Breakfast, if you have time / get up for it.
  

Options Offered at an Extra Cost (subject to availability)
Prices are in addition to the “Base” Access Package Price. For a general discussion of train upgrades, see here. Topics include the relative comfort of first versus second class, and different types of accommodation available on overnight trains.

• If you go to Florence, and wish onward tickets to Rome or Milan on Sunday (or later) they are available for 45€ 2nd cl., 65€ 1st class. This price includes the “Eurostar Italia” (express train) reservation charge.
  These tickets are not modifiable or refundable. See below for extra cost flexible tickets.
• First class train tickets (in lieu of 2nd class): 9€ (an inexpensive luxury).
• Additional hotel nights in Florence or Rome: prices vary with the hotel, but are in the range of 60€ / person double or twin, 90€ single.
  Shared occupancy rate is only guaranteed to singles on the post-trip Saturday night (and only until 35 days prior to the trip), but if you are interested in sharing with someone from your trip on other nights, tell us that. We will pair you if anyone else requests some or all of the same dates. There is no booking charge for additional nights in the same hotel as the “package night,” if they can be had. But it is often unavailable, since we only block rooms in advance for the package. In this case, we will either look for an alternate, or let you handle the booking, as you please. If you have us do it, our usual booking charge will apply, and we will try to book your entire stay in the alternate hotel.

Alternate Arrangements, in lieu of our usual packages (subject to availability)
Prices are complete (in other words, they are not in addition to the "Base" Access Package Price)

• Train from Terontola to Florence or Rome without hotel. 19€ 2nd class, 29€ 1st class.
• Saturday tickets to Milan or Venice. Prices include “Eurostar Italia” reservations for express service north of Florence. 69€ 2nd class, 99€ 1st class.
  These tickets are not modifiable or refundable. See below for extra cost flexible tickets.
  Hotel in your arrival city is available if desired (we do not, however, offer to arrange one-night bookings in Venice for Saturday night).
• Flexible tickets to Milan or Venice, or from Florence to Rome after a night in Florence: +18€ 2nd class, 27€ 1st class.
  To all other points: +29€ 2nd class, 39€ 1st class.
  Modifiable at any Italian railway station, on a space-available basis, without charge (or through us for 10€). Refundable less 20%. Note that Sunday evening trains from Florence to both Rome and Milan generally sell out, so this flexibility is limited if that is when you are trying to travel (in an emergency, local trains ply the same routes, and can be ridden without an advance reservation).
• Saturday overnight tickets to London: 229€ if you also requested tickets from London to your trip, 299€ if not (in 1st cl., add 279€ or 339€). Couchette included, upgrades available.
  Discount rates (80€ less in any class) are often available.
• Overnight trains also available to Munich, Vienna, Switzerland, Paris, Sicily.... Discount prices usually available (20% off of published tarifs).
• Saturday overnight train to Venice: 135€ per person in a double sleeper cabin, 199€ in a private single cabin.
  This is a strange idea, since you can reach Venice late Saturday evening, if you wish. But you might consider it if you want to spend a day (and only a day) in Venice. Venice lodging is miserable or expensive, sometimes both, and one-night bookings on a Saturday night are generally only available in shady or fabulously expensive places (and not through us, at any price). Taking the sleeper train, and arriving early Sunday morning saves the hotel night. The alternative night on the train is short: you board circa midnight and have to detrain in Venice at 6a. But you can then leave your luggage at the station, spend the day exploring, and continue to, say, Milan for the night (or leave Venice via another night train).

3. TIMING Your Trip

The riding day is beautiful, and most enjoyable if you give the full day to it: we suggest you not rush. You can spend your night in either Rome or Florence (with us, or making your own arrangements). Do not try to book ongoing Saturday travel beyond those points by other than overnight train, however: doing so will effectively cut your trip short by a day.


4. Service Information
Schedules are approximate – exact timetables can be consulted at http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fares_schedules/index.htm.
Best trains are mentioned. Others are slower or have multiple connections.

• To Florence. Travel time is 90 minutes, trains run hourly.
• To Rome. Travel time is 2 hours, service is every 2 hours.
• To Milan. Travel time is 5 hours, and service is hourly, with a connection in Florence. The last Saturday night train is at 7:30p. The first Sunday morning train from Florence is 7a, ar 10a. Reservations are required on the connecting train beyond Florence. Unless you tell us otherwise, we book you on the last train, departing at Florence 9p and arriving either Milan or Venice at midnight, since you are certain to be able to catch this one, no matter at what time you complete the (full) riding day. It carries a dining car, and our usual Milan hotel is a short walk from the station. If you reach Florence earlier, and have asked for modifiable tickets, you may change your reservation for an earlier train if available, or, at worst, have dinner in Florence.
• To Venice. Rail service is every 2 hours, and trip time is 5 hours with a connection in Florence. Reservations are required on the connecting train beyond Florence.
  Unless you tell us otherwise, we book you on the last train, departing Terontola at 7p (Florence at 9p) and arriving Venice at midnight, since you are certain to be able to catch this one, no matter at what time you complete the (full) riding day. It carries a restaurant car, so you can have a pleasant dinner on board. If you reach Florence earlier, you may change your reservation for an earlier train if available, or, at worst, have dinner in Florence instead of on the train.
• To Paris or London. Overnight, depart 8p, arrive Paris 8a, London at noon.
• To Geneva or Zurich. Overnight, or 8 hours on a Sunday daylight train from Florence.

5. Suggested POST-TRIP VISITS

Well, Venice.... Or, the Alps are close by, and would provide a nice change of pace after your time in Italy... How about some skiing in Zermatt? The glacier slopes will already be open.


6. Hints on TRAVELLING INDEPENDENTLY After the Trip
Guests subscribing to an “Access Package” need not read this section.

See also “Timing Your Trip” and “Service Information,” above, as either of these may additionally help.

We gladly provide travel consulting (schedule or routing information, hotel suggestions or bookings) concerning post-trip individual travel. In particular, we have invested a great deal to become railway experts. Our service fees are reasonable: a 20 euro charge for all but the most complex projects – or the most simple (for instance, only a 10 euro charge applies if the service is limited to the preparation of a routine rail ticket). You will generally find them well-justified by the time they will save you in research, standing on line, overpaying for your tickets, or all three.

But, for some, this type of research is fun. So, here are some hints, intended to start off hardened “do-it-yourselfers.”

Trains. Schedules for all routes can be consulted on this web site:
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fares_schedules/index.htm

Terontola is a local station on the Rome - Florence main line. Ongoing trains depart north from Florence, south from Rome. Tickets to those points can be bought locally.

Planes. Florence has a small airport with intra-European service, though Rome's is far bigger. Pisa, which tends to be served by more discount carriers, is reachable from Florence (90 mins via direct train straight to the airport, hourly service from 6:45a, dedicated buses timed to connect to Ryanair flights).


If you wish to arrange some or all of your travel through us, please tell us what by means of this response questionnaire, designed to collect all the information we need to be able to book your travel.