Florence After the REM

If you are planning to come to the REM in Turin at the end of January 2012 then please book soon (instructions here), as tickets are selling fast. There are only a small number of 3-night tickets, so if you plan to come from the Thursday then yo need to book extra fast.

We have discussed visiting the beautiful city of Florence after the REM. I have been looking into travel from Turin to Florence, accommodation in Florence, and flights to and from Italy.

Travel to Florence
We have two options for travelling from Turin to Florence: train or hire car.

I have found a website that will allow us to book train tickets online and save money by booking in advance. They have not published their timetables for January yet, but I will be informed via email when they do. From looking at their prices for November/December I can estimate that the one-way ticket from Turin to Florence will cost about £60 per person. It may be slightly cheaper if we book early. The journey is about 2h 50m and we will not have to change; which will be great with our luggage.

If we hire a car it could come out cheaper as we could use it for both the trip from Turin to Florence and Florence to the airport in Bologna. There is on street and carpark parking near the hostel in Florence.

We do not need to need to book trains of hire cars yet so we can decide this at a later date.

Accommodation in Florence
I have looked at lots of hostels and cheap hotels in Florence, and have discounted many due to expense, noise, bad reviews and distance from the city centre and attractions. I have found one hostel that seems to fit our needs very well. It has a choice of dormitories up to 9 beds (ensuite) or private rooms of between 2 and 5 beds (also ensuite). We will be able to mix and match depending on numbers, with a girls and boys room if that's what people want :)
Please take a look at it here Archi Rossi Hostel. I would expect us to stay three or four nights (depending on if we spen our last night in Bologna or not) at approximately £17-£21 per night per person. This includes breakfast. You can see everything that is included, pictures, reviews and a map by clicking the link.

Dates
We are travelling out on Thursday 26th January and will want about two full days in Florence along with either another day in Florence or a day in Bologna, so we will fly back on Thursday 2nd February. This means 6 week days away; 8 days in total.

Flights
As British Airways fly directly to Turin, do not charge for baggage, offer free refreshments on-board, and give you a seat reservation, we think they are much better value than Easyjet. A BA flight from Gatwick to Milan will cost £59. An Easyjet flight from Gatwick to Milan will cost £30.99 plus $16 and over an hour and a half on the train, and £11 for baggage, and no refreshments.
For the return trip it seems that only one airline flies from Florence to London, called Meridiana. They seem to be quite expensive (€115 one way) though and have not published a timetable for the end of Jan/beginning of Feb yet. I think our best option is to get the train to Bologna, a 40 minute trip costing about £30 and flying back from there with BA for approx £45 (€52). The other option is to use the hire car, if we decide to get one in Turin.

Flight details
Gatwick - Turin: British Airways BA2578, dep. 1450, arr. 1735
Bologna - Gatwick: British Airways BA2563, dep. 1745, arr. 1850

Total ESTIMATED costs
Flights: £104
Trains: £90 (possibly less if we rent a car)
Accommodation: £60
REM: €110 or €170 + any extras

Total: £254 (+£95 or £147 for the REM)
This total does not include food (except breakfast), attractions in Florence, attractions/food in Turin, travel to/from Gatwick, etc, and is an estimation.

Arrangements
I would suggest that everyone books their flights separately. We can choose seats when we check in online or at the airport. I am happy to book the accommodation and pay the 10% booking fee, but everyone will need to commit to paying me the balance before we go in January. When I have the details for the trains I will research care hire and we can make a decision.

Transport to/from Gatwick
We can arrange this nearer the time, but I would suggest car sharing or the train.

If you have any feedback or suggestions please do email, text or speak to me. You can, of course, go to the REM and fly back from Turin on the Sunday. This will cost you €82+ on BA or you can travel to Milan and fly with Easyjet.

THINGS TO DO
1. Let me know that you want to come to the REM by signing up on Meetup (or email/text me if you are not a member of Woking Rotaract on Meetup).
2. Register and buy your REM package (see details at the end of this email) if you haven't already.
3. Let me know that you want to come to Florence by emailing or texting me (contact details below).
4. Book you flights from Gatwick to Turin and Bologna to Gatwick (flight details above).
 5. Book time off form work! :)

All the best,
Jacqui

[masked]
07930 586075