Advanced Booking Advice for April 2026

So funny, we will also be in Orvieto from April 11 to 13!
I don't think anything should be sold out yet. It is not a holiday and 2 years ago in April we never found any trains that were sold out, even last minute. I'm assuming that the simplest way will be train back to Rome and then you can catch the train to Orvieto. I'm seeing a lot of options on the ItaliaRail site for that day.

Yes, fast train to Rome and then slow regionale local or Intercity train to Orvieto. It will take about 2 hours and cost about 10e. There are some faster options but they all require a change. I would book a direct trip with no changes and trade any speed gains for simplicity.

The only confusing option is you can book "Orvieto" or "Orvieto centro" which is the train and bus option since the train station is at the bottom of the hill. I would just book Orvieto and then take the funicular up to the town since I think that is part of the experience. The funicular station is right across the street from the train station. If you decide you want to take the bus from some reason you cal always do that separate from the train ticket on your own.

Most April tickets should be open but if you get "an error occurred" issues on the website try the same train a few weeks earlier. If that works then it is simply not available yet. Get the Trenitalia app for easy ticket storage, schedule checking and ticket buying.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

I haven't been to Orvieto since 2015, but at that time there was a branch of the local tourist office very near the train station. It sold a sightseeing pass that was worthwhile for me. Pricing and coverage will have changed since then, but your stay in Orvieto might be long enough for the pass to be worthwhile. The town has several good museums as well as the fabulous cathedral.

thanks for the quick replies!

@hiredman -- are you suggesting booking two tickets -- one Naples to Rome and then a second one from Rome to Orvieto? I tried looking directly at Naples to Orvieto, but there doesn't seem to be anything direct -- they all stop in Rome and include changing trains in Termi. But, I'll check again.

Anyone have opinions about how early or if to book tickets in advance for attractions in Naples area or Rome?

Any helpful tips about getting from Rome airport to Naples? Take the subway into the city center and then a train to Naples? Is there anything direct from the airport to Naples?

If you want to go directly from Rome FCO airport take the airport Leonardo Express train to Rome Termini which is the main train station. Then take the fast train from there to Naples Centrale. This is a point of debate but generally it's easiest to just book your tickets when you get there rather than try and predict when you will clear the airport ahead of time. Get the Trenitalia phone app.

You will need to change trains in Rome for Orvieto. The fast trains don't stop there so we will need to fast train from Naples to Rome and then change to the local or Intercity train from Rome to Orvieto. You can buy a for the trip but it will be two tickets - one for each section. You can buy fast train tickets ahead of time at a cost savings trading flexibility for price. But if you are willing to commit to specific train you can save money. Local tickets prices don't change so you can buy them ahead or as you need them.

Most attractions sell tickets for the next couple of months and they tend to "open up" the next month or so in chunks. You'll need to check them in January and see how far out they are selling - probably Feb or March and then revisit them when April opens up. The tickets for the things like the Forum are good for 1 in the 30 days before you buy them so you need to be sure you buy them within a month of when you want to use them.

Edit: @ChristineH caught that I was a day ahead here and Easter is April 5th not the 6th which is the day after Easter holiday. April 6th is Easter so the Monday you are landing is a holiday. I doubt this will affect your arrival or transportation but otherwise things may be closed for the holiday.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Easter is Sunday April 5
OP is landing on Tuesday April 7 so they won’t be affected by the holiday

Places to pre-book (if you want to see them):

Naples:
Capella Sansevero for The Veiled Christ
Possibly the San Gennaro Treasure

Rome:
Colosseum (some tickets are extremely hard to get)
Domus Aurea
Borghese Gallery
Vatican Museums
St. Peter's (buy the entry ticket with audio guide so you go through the shorter security line)
San Clemente

How far ahead you need to buy tickets varies a lot. I think probably the Colosseum and Vatican Museums are the most challenging tickets I've listed. The Vatican Museums, Borghese, Domus Aurea and Capella San Severo do sell out, but I think usually not massively far in advance. I remember that the Capella San Severo was sold out for about a week when I visited Naples in March 2023.

Some visitors would want to buy tickets for some additional sights just to avoid the on-site ticket line, but my attitude is that plans sometimes get derailed, so I don't want to prepurchase anything that's not necessary, because sightseeing tickets are usually non-refundable and non-changeable. YMMV

Interesting as I just posted a subject about no trains available for purchase on trenitalia.com for APRIL 11th-Rome to Bologna. Very odd, so I’m going to watch your post too. Maybe between the two we’ll get a good answer!

Yeah, so maybe I'm just a touch early for the Naples to Orvieto train tickets. There are some tickets that show up now and through March, but starting at about April 2, that's when I started to see "greyed out" options. And the best option in terms of price and speed completely disappeared. I guess I'll look again next week and maybe more will start to show up. I'll try to remember to post when I actually find what I'm looking for. This is the main ticket I'm focused on. I think we can buy the others when we are actually in Italy and have a better sense of our time. Thanks for the helpful suggestions.

@acraven -- thanks for the suggestions about pre-purchasing tickets. I agree, I don't want to buy a bunch of tickets ahead of time, my husband loves having time to just roam a city and his goal for this trip is mainly eating good food. I'll dig deeper into the Vatican and Colosseum related options -- I think those are the most important ones for us.

Lisa, I do not believe you are too early... if that is right around Easter it is my understanding that you would want to have everything booked just as soon as possible. I already booked rail tickets for multiple points for later in the month. Try going directly to the Trenitalia website. Enter Napoli Centrale to either Orvieto or Orvieto Centro one way, and select 8am or earlier so you get good visibility of what is available. The first one that came up for me is an 8:40 am arriving Orvieto Centro at 11:55am with 2 changes, the final leg being a short bus ride (I think) to the Orvieto Centro station. But if you are able to get where you need to go from the regional station, then it arrives at 11:37 and has only 1 change in Rome. That route is currently 151eu while slower routes are less costly.
On several of the trips I booked yesterday for the end of April, I had the option to pay a couple dollars more per ticket which made the tickets refundable with a small deduction...the option is on one of the last pages in the process and is positioned toward the bottom of the page in a large center box.