buying train tickets on line

You print it out. There is a code on the ticket that you show to the conductor. Remember the ticket is good for a specific day and time. Miss the train and the ticket is no good.

Cheri, within minutes of your purchase, you will receive an email from Trenitalia with your tickets. They actually print out on an 8-1/2x11 paper but they are your tickets if 1) trains requiring seat reservations show a 6-digit PNR code. 2) If you buy a journey that contains a train with seat reservations and a Regionale train, the fast train will have the 6-digit PNR code. The Regionale ticket will not have a PNR code. Instead, it will have an 8-digit code. These are your tickets. The conductor carries a wireless PDA device into which he can punch in your codes. The system verifies your ticket. By the way, the seat reservations comes with the purchase of your ticket and should be shown on your fast train ticket. No seat reservations on the Regionale train.

Have you thought about just buying them when you get there? Not to scare you but the Trenitalia system confused me a lot this summer. I wanted to buy my ticket ahead of time for Sicily to Calabria but it was not working. The train times and ticket prices were all different on the website than they actually were when I got to the station (Much less money!)

Essential reading: www.seat61.com Check out his Italian section.

I highly advise buying any fast train tickets as soon as the dates are available. You will save a ton of money on fares. As Frank mentioned, you do need to print out the receipt...it is proof of a ticket. You'd think you could just have an app on the phone or something, but Italy isn't there yet.

The receipt doesn't look like much, but make sure you have it, the conductor will be by to check. Our conductor just glanced at it, but did ask to see it.

I bought tickets last year for Rome-Bari and couldn't believe how much money I saved by doing that.

If you are just buying a regional ticket...say Rome-Orvieto or Florence-Pisa...don't bother buying now, just get those at the train station.

I buy lots of tickets on Trenitalia, your tickets will be emailed right away. You can print them out, or just show your smartphone email to the conductor (Italy is "there" now), but I prefer the hard copy in case something goes wrong with my phone.