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Sleeping in train stations

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pnut05


Joined: Jun 04
Points: 4
Posts: 1


Posted: 2004-06-17 07:39:00   

Hi, does anyone here have any experiences in sleeping in train stations of paris, marsellie, nice and pisa?


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willow

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Joined: Dec 03
Points: 1258
Posts: 12


Posted: 2004-06-17 20:34:00   

Good on'ya mate! :-) Bold question.

Unfortunately, that seems to be one of the few places I haven't slept in a train station or on the street. Although I don't have any specific advice, here is some general advice for choosing a free place to sleep:



You can pay a small fee to leave your pack in a locker at the station and just take what you need with you.



I have noticed though that no one generally seems to bother people sleeping in bank machine enclosures. Nice shelter in the winter, summer I think it would be stifling.



Train stations- just try and see if anyone makes you move. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't -and in the same station.



Safety is always a thing, Paris for example might not be as safe a sleep as say, Nice or Marseilles. See how you feel about the station. Italy's smaller stations often have soldiers that don't appreciate you sleeping there, but if you say you are waiting on a train sometimes they leave you alone. (sometimes they don't). You can even ask permission in a small station, or make for a nearby field or vineyard after dark.



If you are by the sea, you can almost always climb a little ways down cliff or beach and find a good out of the way spot to sleep.



Often there are parks near stations where you can find some place to tuck in. I knew an Aussie girl who curled up under a bush in Hyde Park in London and spent the night! (Hyde Park is dangerous at night).



Don't discount sleeping on subways or metros as well. This may be limited to during the day, but in the summertime they are nice and airconditioned and often the trains just go from one end of the line to the other and back again over and over...plenty of time for some shuteye.



Goodluck and cheap travels!



---
"Seek to live. Remembrance is for the old." -Paulo Coelho


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inzaghi

posting by GLOBOsapiens.net moderator

Joined: Jun 02
Points: 3862
Posts: 87


Posted: 2004-06-28 15:28:00   

I would not worry sleeping in Italian train stations - many tourists and locals do that simply because train schedules especially off the central lines usually are bad enough to warrant overnight waits (for the first early morning train). Also, in Italy it is not uncommon to find waiting rooms at stations (sala d'attesa) although some of them (like the ones in Roma Centrale) close at midnight. That is understandable since big stations usually have schedules which do not warrant sleepovers and the waiting rooms would have been packed with less desirable personalities. If you plan to sleep over somewhere, stay near the groups of Italian youths/students for safety. Sleep on your bacjpacks and wrap your arms around every bag/sack/carrier you have to avoid having any one of them pulled away from you as you doze.

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Lover of just five things - travelling, photography, thick crust pizzas, the xy-chromosomes, the Italians and the Dutch. Well, I can't count, so?


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