For the first leg of our trip to Italy, we will fly into Rome. Once there, we will take a train to Naples. I would love to buy the tickets for that now, but worried about flight delays. If we land in Rome at 0830, what is a reasonable time to expect to hop on a train? (Factoring customs, train from Airport to Roma termini, etc). Will my tickets be useless if we have a lng flight delay and miss our scheduled train? Would it be smarter to just buy them at the station?
Posted by
Green Bay
21348 posts
This is the general consensus to buy train tickets on arrival because discounted tickets are worthless after the train departs and you aren't on it. You could by full fare tickets in advance and get them exchanged, but the time to do this you could just have bought a full fare ticket anyway. There is not that big a price difference between SuperEconomy and full fare tickets to begin with. Rome to Naples is 30 EUR SuperEconomy and 45 EUR full fare.
Posted by
Chicago
8243 posts
If u buy the ticket Rome to Naples I would allow 4 hours from the time you land at 8;30. So about 1 pm.
Here are the rules for the type of tickets that you will see listed online http://www.trenitalia.com/
If you buy Super Economy train it is cheaper than all other options but non refundable, access to a different train are not permitted
like the poster above has mentioned
With Economy tickets you can change date and hour once up to departure, choosing a journey on the same category of train, according to the ticket change procedure and paying the difference between the full price (Base) applied to the train used and the sum already paid. Refunds are not possible.
With a Base ticket, before departure you can change your base ticket free of charge and unlimited times; after departure, up to 1 hour, free of charge once at train ticket office at the departure station only. If you no longer intend to use the ticket and want to cancel the journey, you can request a refund before departure with a deduction charge of 20%. After departure refund is not allowed.
As well as choosing a ticket type, you need to choose a class. Seat 61 gives a great summary of the differences between the classes on Italian trains, including showing photos. Generally, I just travel in the cheapest class available, although I have traveled in business when I have got supereconomy tickets. For example, on a frecciarossa train I would book standard class (higher classes are premium, business and executive)
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32402 posts
Katzullo,
The general consensus here is to purchase tickets when you arrive in Italy. The reason for that is that if you buy Super Economy tickets on the fast train from Rome to Naples and you miss the train due to flight delays, the tickets are worthless and you'll have to buy more at full price (Base Fare). Note that the fast trains (Rome-Naples) have compulsory seat reservations which are specific to train, date and departure time. You can NOT use the tickets on any train. While it is possible to exchange Base Fare tickets if you miss the train, there's usually a long queue at the ticket office, and standing there for an indeterminate time after a long international flight would not be my idea of an enjoyable holiday!
You'll first need to take the Regionale train from the airport to one of the Rome rail stations. The Trenitalia website shows connections to Naples at both Roma Termini and Roma Tiburtina. You'll have to know which of these stations you'll be using, as different trains are used from the airport. NOTE that Regionale train tickets purchased locally MUST be validated prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot!
Your destination station will be Napoli Centrale.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
You may buy cheap tickets now for other trips, but that first day I would buy the ticket when you arrive. If you are taking the Leonardo Express to Roma, you can buy that ticket and the ticket to Napoli Centrale at the FCO train station.