DAY 8: FLORENCE

16th July 2019

Travel day No.3

Bled Jezero -> Jesenice Jesenice -> Villach Villach -> Venezia Mestre Venezia Mestre -> Florence

This was the first journey we made that involved several tight connections, and it was almost inevitable that we’d miss some of them. Trains can become delayed for all sorts of reasons – system failures, problems with the track, the weather – and particularly when you are travelling into different countries and using different country’s railway services, it can become very tricky.

Tip #1: Train reservations are compulsory on Italian trains (Ventimiglia) and you won’t be able to get on without one.

When travelling on the Interrail pass, make sure you have both the pass (with the journey filled in) and the reservation to hand. The ticket inspector will most likely be more interested in the reservation than the pass, so don’t forget it!

Tip #2: If you miss your connection on a reserved train, don’t panic.

As our train from Villach to Venezia Mestre was delayed, we missed our connection to Florence. However, there’s no need to panic about not having a reservation for the next train (meaning you can’t get on it) as this is a regular occurrence, and most railway services allow you to transfer to a later train. Just head into the station and find the Customer Service stand/office and explain what happened. Make sure you show the ticket from the train that had been delayed and the reservation for the train that you had missed.

However: it’s really important to know that they will only give you a reservation on the next train if you missed the connection through no fault of your own. If you had overslept and missed the train, then that’s your fault and you will not get a replacement reservation.

Tip #3: Try not to get annoyed by other passengers

If it’s been a long day of travelling – particularly with the added stress of missing a train – the last thing you want is for the other passengers to be rowdy. On our trains, we had several screaming children and one Italian woman who decided she wanted to watch her TV program at full volume, with no headphones. Though this can be really frustrating, try to just ignore it. The journey will be over soon.

Tip #4: Use the Tourist Info Office – they’re there to help you!

When we reached Florence, around 6pm, we had absolutely no idea where we needed to catch the bus, so asked in the tourist office. Not only did they give us a good map of the city but we could also buy a bus ticket there, saving us time.

Florence Accommodation

Our Airbnb in Florence, was around the Santo Spirito area, which, although required a bus ride with our bags, was a very local district and far away from the tourists. Fabio’s apartment was beautifully decorated in a traditional Tuscan style, with paintings on the walls, a little balcony and the blessed air-con unit (which was definitely needed, considering even in late evening, it was still around 30’C). Though Fabio didn’t meet us in person, he was available to talk to and was very helpful when we had a power cut (when we’d just started cooking dinner!)