European Railroad Discussion > Visiting Roma, Firenze, and Venezia next week...

Any urban railfan guidance / warnings? Is Trenitalia photographer friendly?

Thanks in advance!

Hey JPB -

Lucky you!

In 2001, I lived in Venezia, and found that I could easily and freely move about Santa Lucia station. Took many photos. And from there I traveled to Calalzo (great, half-day trip into the Dolomites from Venezia), Padova, Firenze, Siena, Milano, Roma, and Santa Margarita di Ligura (Portofina), Atria, and many smaller stations. Felt free to photograph at will and watch, provided I did not go into non-public areas nor interfere with operations.

Most days I would drop by Santa Lucia in Venezia to see how things were going (it always seemed that the train from Siracusa was running about as badly as the train from Syracuse to New York!) Great trains to watch, and with the exception of the Eurostar (not to be confused with the Chunnel trains) for which tickets were checked, walking the platforms was never a problem. Be sure to check out the SBB equipment coming from Switzerland, and the OBB from Austria.

From Firenze to Roma, you can take the Eurostar for speed, or the old, conventional line for sights, or even go by way of Siena and more changes along the way for lots more scenery.

And I recommend a ride on one of the great FIAT self-propelled cars used on secondary, local lines . . . like a Budd RDC but with Italian flair.

Want to drive yourself crazy? If you haven't gotten it already, buy (it won't cost that much) an FS timetable at a newstand or bookseller (not at the station windows) . . it will probably be a big, thick volume promising reading for years AND a CD for searches on your computer.


Enjoy!

Buon Viaggio
RevRandy

I don't know if your schedule will permit the following. If it does, and you want to experience something nostalgic and wonderful, try this for a day:
•Take a train to Bozen/Bolzano (north of Verona set in the foothills of the Dolomite Alps.
•Exit the station and walk to the right about a quarter of a mile to the "Rittnerbahn" cable car base station. (You can't miss it.)
•Buy a round trip ticket on the Rittnerbahn to Klobenstein and back.
•Get on the cable car (spectacular views) and ride to the top of the mountain at Oberbozen.
•Transfer to a meter gauge interurban using 100 year old wooden interurban cars and ride to Klobbenstein (about 5 miles).
•Walk along the right-of-way on your return to take photos of the cars and the spectacular Dolomite Alps.
•You can board the car at an intermediate station if you tire of walking and return to Oberbozen.
•Take the cable car back down to Bolzen/Bolzano.
Bozen/Bolzano is also the southern point of the Brennerbahn - a major north-south route via Innsbruck, Austria between Germany and Italy. There is heavy freight and passenger traffic. Photography from the platforms at the Bozen/Bolzano station is not a problem. Trains are hauled by a good assortment of modern and powerful electric units. In case you are wondering about the german names, the region is known as the Sud Tirol (southern Tirol) and was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of World war I when it became part of Italy. Both german and italian languages are used in this region. Have a wonderful and safe trip.
The Birdman

I was there for the month of April and no issues taking pix. Beforewarned if you have to go #2 at a train station is a hole in the floor. For Venice the first station outon the mainland has most of the action as its a big transfer point. Some friefht south of the main Venice station.
Bologna is a great spot to photo from to
Firenze, Nice shots form the platform ends. A nice train ride is leave Firenze out to Pisa then return via Luca.
To or from Firenze to Roma go via Seina. A very scenic line
Orvieto just North of Roma has a great Incline railroad connection the town to the RR station.
No issues standing on Roma platform either. 1 block out the left side you can photo the trams.