On returning to Rome by train from Ercolano, we stayed at Camping Roma in Aurelia. I know what you are thinking. But no, we are not staying in tents or sleeping in the open under the stars.

Camping Roma is the name of place we stayed. Camping Roma offers a variety of accommodation such as tents, bungalows or self-contained chalets. If you are expecting pure luxury, Camping Roma is not your cup of tea. To us, we enjoyed staying at Camping Roma as we can cook our own food, do our own laundry as well as shop at Panorama Aurelia, a Hypermarket which is across the road.

From observations from our 2014 stay at Camping Roma, we noted that Roma Aurelia station is within walking distance from Camping Roma. So we decided to take a regional train from Ercolano to Roma Termini. There are various routes from Roma Termini station to Camping Roma.

At Termini station, purchase a Regional train ticket for 1Euro. Validate the ticket at the validation machine then head for platform 25 for FL5 regional train when the train attendants open the gates. Unlike trains using platform 1 to 24, there is quite a fair bit of walking to platform 25. So best to carry light or keep one hand free to drag your luggage.

“Not all that helped you are good people. Sometimes there are no free lunches” – I travel with my elderly parents. This happened right at Termini station and at platform 25. We were rushing to board the train and a local suddenly helped my dad to pull his luggage and carried it onto the train. My father thanked him. But he stretched out his hand and demanded that my father pays him. My father refused and he threatened to take my father’s luggage off the train. I pulled the luggage off the man’s hand and the attendant scolded him in Italian to get off the train. Be wary of your surroundings and do not judge a book by its cover.