Rome 2. October 2022. First day, travel from UK to Naples and arrival in Rome

After my basic preparation I was ready to travel. The airline had decided to bring my flight forwards by 2 hours due to an air traffic controller strike in Italy so that it could land early (and presumably other flights were too). It was a 1am start for my drive from Bournemouth (South of England) to London Gatwick airport [9] (which is not near London) for my flight to Naples and then onto Rome by train. I’d checked online there were trains to Rome (Roma) from Naples (Napoli) and there were train companies available, all seemed very possible and Plan B was to stay in Naples and travel to Rome the next day. I calculated I could take a taxi from Naples airport (Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli) to Naples train station (Napoli Centrale) and buy a train ticket to travel to Rome (Roma Termini)

The taxi was eventful, the driver suggested I use his services from Naples and drive to Rome as there were train strikes as well as air traffic control strikes. That’s a 222 mile journey, 2 hours 20 minutes, a price of €400 was offered, which I declined. He dropped his price to €300 as I kept insisting on being taken to the train station! We were going the right way and he dropped me at the back of the station. I wasn’t impressed and found my way in.

I had practiced my very basic Italian and had my phone screen ready with my journey info once I had walked into the station. The ticket kiosk was obvious and in the middle of the concourse. Fortunately, the attendant spoke very good English and I quickly had my premium single ticket for €58 and directions to the train. I then headed to the platform and boarded my waiting train. This went incredibly well, and I highly recommend taking the train – quite a shock for a UK citizen! They were frequent, clean, spacious, and comfortable – and fast.

Amazingly, I had an Espresso outside Napoli airport at 09:07 and my next one at my hotel in Rome at 11:21… that’s 2h 14m coffee to coffee! I took photos for my kids which is how I’m precise on the times. So, I had finished my espresso, picked up a taxi outside the airport, argued about driving to Rome, purchased my train ticket, found and boarded my train, located my reserved seat, travelled to Roma (222 miles), walked to my hotel [7] with my luggage and ordered, served and sat with my second Espresso. I found that incredible! (For context, I live near Bournemouth, 100 miles from London Waterloo station, an unreliable, frequently delayed and disrupted, 2h direct train journey).

So here I was sipping my Espresso and hoping the rest of my trip would go as smoothly… I had arrived in Rome!

I finished my coffee and had plenty of time before check-in so walked from my hotel to the Trevi Fountain (Fontana di Trevi). My first tourist sight. It was as busy as expected but worth the walk. It had been a 2am start so that evening I went to the nearby restaurant, Centro [8] and had a very delicious Italian dinner with Italian wine, I always try to choose as local as possible whenever I can. It had been a long day and was getting late so I headed back to the hotel.

So, had I learnt anything? Yes, the most impressive thing was that Italian trains are excellent and I haven’t stopped telling people. Also, flights change and taxi drivers need to be questioned – who knew!

Thanks for reading.

~

Notes & References:

[7] Hotel, Golden Tulip Rome Piram, Via Giovanni Amendola, 7, 00185 Roma RM, Italy

[8] Restaurant, Centro, Via Cavour, 61, 00184 Roma RM, Italy

[9] London Gatwick airport (LGW), is 28 miles from central London, a 1h30m drive

Rome 1. October 2022. Planning my trip to Rome via Naples

I made my first, and so far, only, visit to Rome in October 2022. It followed a tough year for me and my family so it was a welcome break and something I had on my list for several years. I had originally planned to go in March 2020 but the Covid pandemic came along so that trip didn’t happen and everything was put on hold. Since going I have promised to return as the city is fantastic from a historical, culinary, and cultural perspective. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit many cities and Rome is now in my top 3. Maybe I was lucky, but the climate was excellent and so were the people I met. I hope this will be of interest and my experiences will possibly help you to plan your own trip.

I’m a flexible solo traveller so I didn’t give a lot of thought to how I got there, and I wanted a decent hotel to stay in a central position. I don’t usually book anything except a room as I plan to get my meals out, either cafes, restaurants or street food. I wanted to visit the famous ancient sites, enjoy the food and wine in the bars and restaurants. Sounds simple enough!

Before I went I did a little research on Rome for inspiration and came across a TV Series with Stanley Tucci, Searching for Italy [1]. I have to be honest, at the time I didn’t know who he was. However, I thought the programme was fantastic and subsequently found out more about him – so there’s more to come on Stanley’s influence in future blog posts.

As a fan of ancient history, I enjoyed listening to The Ancients podcasts [5] and The History of Rome [6]. My intention was to also visit 19th & 20th Century sites relating to Mussolini and others but that was going to be a stretch on this week-long break. A brilliant podcast on Rome is An Audio Guide to Ancient Rome [3] and website with maps [4] by Daron Green. Excellent to download and listen to before a visit and during my stay, I’d listen before, on the journey and when I was there.

My itinerary was to fly to Naples on Day 1, take a taxi from the airport to the train station and travel to Rome by train. Day 2 to 6 were whole sightseeing days, Day 7 travel to Naples and explore, and, finally, Day 8 travel home, hopefully, exhausted.

On my sightseeing list were the famous Roman sights; The Forum, The Colosseum, The Pantheon, The Vatican, Trevi Fountain plus locations from the Stanley Tucci series [1].

So what did I learn? Stanley Tucci and his passion for Italian food, great sourced, well prepared and cooked food – and the joy of cooking, was very influential. Plus the locations he visited in Rome, which in turn added to the ancient locations I’d learnt about from my podcasts.

More on Rome in future posts.

Thanks for reading.

~

Notes & References:

[1] TV Series, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (BBC & CNN). Season 1, Episode 2 on Rome. The link is to the more useful Wikipedia page, also found on CNN & BBC websites

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Tucci:_Searching_for_Italy

[3] Podcast, An Audio Guide to Ancient Rome by Daron Green. Excellent to download and listen to before a visit and during. The link is to an Apple podcast but it is widely available

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/an-audio-guide-to-ancient-rome/id1532659084

[4] Website, The companion site to the podcast series ‘An Audio Guide to Ancient Rome’. A great source of info

http://www.rome-podcast.com,

[5] Podcast Show, The Ancients from History Hit, there are many podcasts on Rome and wider Roman history

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-ancients/id1520403988

[6] Podcast Show, The History of Rome by Mike Duncan, over 180 episodes. Excellent to download and listen to whilst travelling to Italy, before a sightseeing walk and also during

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-history-of-rome/id261654474