Italian train schedules and fares

[MARC Rider]

OK, so I;'m thinking of taking avacation to Italy, renting an apartment in Florence and taking day trips (aside from checking out Florence). I know I'll want to go to Rome and Venice, so I checked out Trenitalia, which seems to be the equivalent of the Amtrak home page.

http://www.trenitali...00080a3e90aRCRD

While I can book trains, it seems that all they let me book is the High speed "Frecciarosa" and "Frecciobianca." It's pretty amazine service, 1 1/2 hours Rome-Florence and 1 1/2 hours Florence to Venice, but the fares seems to be 50-70 Euros. When I played around a bit, I found one booking for what they call "Intercity," a 3-hour ride between Rome and Florence, but it only costs 17 Euros. Obviously, I'd prefer the 17 Euro fares given that the whole family will be along.

In addition, the fares seems very complex, with all sorts of deals and discounts that I don't completely understand. Let's say I go for a week or two, we might want to make 2-4 day trips by train to Venice, Rome, maybe Pisa or the coast. What's the best way to plan this? Do you need to book head to save money? Is there some sort of rail pass that would make sense?

 

[acelafan]

OK, so I;'m thinking of taking avacation to Italy, renting an apartment in Florence and taking day trips (aside from checking out Florence). I know I'll want to go to Rome and Venice, so I checked out Trenitalia, which seems to be the equivalent of the Amtrak home page.

http://www.trenitali...00080a3e90aRCRD

While I can book trains, it seems that all they let me book is the High speed "Frecciarosa" and "Frecciobianca." It's pretty amazine service, 1 1/2 hours Rome-Florence and 1 1/2 hours Florence to Venice, but the fares seems to be 50-70 Euros. When I played around a bit, I found one booking for what they call "Intercity," a 3-hour ride between Rome and Florence, but it only costs 17 Euros. Obviously, I'd prefer the 17 Euro fares given that the whole family will be along.

In addition, the fares seems very complex, with all sorts of deals and discounts that I don't completely understand. Let's say I go for a week or two, we might want to make 2-4 day trips by train to Venice, Rome, maybe Pisa or the coast. What's the best way to plan this? Do you need to book head to save money? Is there some sort of rail pass that would make sense?

I can't really help you with the trip-planning details, but I can give you a quick trip report. We rode Frecciarossa between Rome and Florence and it was amazingly fast and smooth...wow. Lots of tunnels - long tunnels. I think the fare was 55 Euro each way so it's not cheap. The 17 Euro for the "Regional" trains looks about right for the equipment...those old green trains are really tired, and according to a few folks we spoke with, are very slow & uncomfortable. But a rail fan might find it interesting to take a slow ride across the Italian countryside and through small towns. Not to mention if you are toting along the whole family.

If I recall correctly, the fares didn't change much even if you take a last-minute train. I think there were hourly trains between Florence and Rome and I am sure there are many per day to the other cities you mentioned. But given you have a lot of passengers, the less expensive regionals may be the way to go. Have fun!

 

[Steve4031]

Have you considered rail passes? If at all possible, take a ride over the swiss alps. The best would be to do a circle from Milan to Tirano to Chur to Zurich and back to Milan. google eurail passes. You will find a website.

 

[Aaron]

When I was planning a trip to Rome last year, I found a site that had a pretty good primer on Italian trains: http://www.roninrome.com/transportation/riding-the-trains-in-italy

 

[acelafan]

Another good world-wide train travel planning page is http://www.seat61.com/index.html

 

[caravanman]

Hi,

Just had a weeks budget holiday in Sorrento, Italy. We took the train from Sorrento to Pompeii and that fare was just a couple of euro's I seem to recall. The line was called something like "CircumVesuvius" and runs from Naples to Sorrento.

Good luck with your Euro adventures!

Ed

 

[Ispolkom]

Train travel in Italy is great. There are all sorts of different rolling stock, and tickets are cheap.

I traveled for a couple of weeks in Italy last fall. I took half a dozen different trains and booked all travel on fast trains ahead of time through trenitalia.com, which has a useable English-language interface. Avoid www.raileurope.com, as they only sell full-fare tickets.

Ticket prices are dynamic, much more like airlines than Amtrak. You can save significantly on travel on fast trains if you are able to plan and book your travel in advance. What you want to look for is MINI prices. An example: the standard price for a second class frecciarossa ticket Rome-Florence is 45 euros. With a Mini fare, that can drop to 19 euros. You can book travel up to 3 months out. I personally did not find any rail pass that made sense for me, but if you are more spontaneous, you might save money that way. The problem, if I recall correctly, is that you have to pay a supplement and make a reservation to travel on any of the fast trains, and if I were going to make a reservation, I'd just as soon buy my ticket then.

I found that travel on any of the three kinds of fast train was pretty much equally enjoyable. Regional trains could be old and crowded or new and quite pleasant. I never took the Intercity trains, because I could get a fast train ticket in advance for the cost of an Intercity one.

One last bit of advice. If you are traveling to Venice, be sure to book your trip to Venezia-St. Lucia, and not Venezia-Mestre. The former is in Venice. The latter is on the mainland, several miles from where you want to be.

Enjoy your trip. Italy is wonderful. PM if you have any questions.