Buying transportation tickets in advance - is it worth it?

Download the Trenitalia app, set up your account, familiarize yourself with using the app and note which trains will work for your itinerary then use the app to purchase a few days ahead of time
Very few fast trains sell out. Very Few.

But you can also keep an eye in the trains you need and if availability seems to be growing limited then go ahead and purchase

You will know if strikes are planned in plenty of time

Hello Dreammarinka,

The state train company is Trenitalia - they run fast trains and local ones. https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html
.Italo is a private company that only runs fast trains. The service between the two is pretty similar. https://www.italotreno.it/en

You'll want to take the fast trains between big cities and these come with assigned seats on a specific train. The earlier you buy the cheaper the tickets but you're trading economy for flexibility. Check the restrictions for each ticket level by checking the little info button - essentially the cheaper they are the less flexible they are - really cheap tickets are no refund "use it or loose it" tickets while 'Base' allows for changes and refunds.

Local trains called regionale tickets are always the same price - just buy them when you need them.

Download the Trenitalia app to check schedules, buy tickets, validate them for travel and track trains in real time.
Always validate your regionale tickets - paper ones at the stamp machine and electronic ones in the app. You should be able to import your Trenitalia tickets into your app so you should have them there in addition to printed versions.

Really good general train information here: https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-italy.htm

Have a great trip!
=Tod

Thank you for all your replies and advice!
I downloaded a bunch of apps on my phone (Omio, Trainline, Rome2Rio), I also see there is an Italo Treno app, but I cannot find Trenitalia app (using iPhone app store). Do they have a mobile app or only web version?
We already know which places and when we will be staying, visiting, etc. so, I guess I'll go ahead and book the intercity tickets (since looks like I can get a better price when booking online and well ahead).
Between the apps I downloaded (and hopefully to get Trenitalia, too!) and the physical ticket machines at the stations, I hope we'll be good to buy tickets for any regional trains or buses.

The Trenitalia app is most definitely available on the App store.

It may be easier to set up an account and enter a profile for each traveler if you have access on a PC, then log into your account using the app. The risk of buying tickets too far in advance is that your plans may change. And no reason to buy short hops on Regionale trains in advance, unless they're part of an itinerary including a high- speed train.

Aah good to know that Trenitalia app not available in Canada
Thanks periscope

Dreammarinka-
Rome2rio is a handy tool for getting estimated travel times and various transportation options but don’t rely on it for total accuracy
Go to to actual train or bus sites for that

Omio and Trainline are third party resellers
They don’t always offer all options and do charge a fee

Use the official train sites and apps

ItaloTreno offers fast trains on most major routes but does not offer regional trains

Trenitalia offers both fast and regional trains
Regional trains cannot sell out and price never changes

Thank you all for more replies, comments, and suggestions!
Good to know Trenitalia app is not available in Canada, but that it still seems to be the best option to use, along with Italotreno.

Regional trains cannot sell out

Does this mean that there will always be tickets? I understand that it's not necessarily that there will be a dedicated seat on such trains? Just wondering, if this is more like a subway / metro kind of transport (where people may stand in the train and to get the train is more like "first come first served", with the tickets)?

Yes it means there will always be tickets
No reserved seats on regional so it’s first come first served for seats( we have never not got a seat)

Just looking at itinerary you posted at start of this thread
All your trains will be fast trains

Are you going from Naples to Sorrento or somewhere on Amalfi Coast?
That will mean taking a local Circumvesuviana to Sorrento then bus or ferry to AC
No other trains on AC

Here is info on transportation on AC
https://www.positano.com/en/e/how-to-get-here
(good general info site for AC as well)

Bus tickets are usually purchased from the driver or a local tabac

Thank you, good to know all this!

We are in Italy now. Because I like to have all my tickets for the Freccia trains-fast trenitalia trains- or Italo- I purchase those before leaving home, usually saving money in the process. I also purchase business class after a rather unpleasant experience in premium due to huge bags and uncooperative passengers. A one off, but it’s business class for us now!
I don’t quite remember, but believe when I set up my trenitalia account, I asked to be notified if there were changes to my tickets. Lo and behold, we received a notification about 2 weeks ago that a train we had booked was not going to operate. Simply went to the trenitalia ticket desk in the train station at the city we were in (not the travel origination city either) and we received new tickets for that day even though a much later train. However, easy enough to do.

Since you can’t get the mobile app in Canada for trenitalia, definitely do the other for purchases. Omio, etc. are good for research, but aren’t always accurate. Also, they are third party so much better to purchase through the train vendor.

As for strike (sciopero) info: https://scioperi.mit.gov.it/mit2/public/scioperi. It gives the info for all types of strikes, but if you spend a bit of time with it, you can figure out which ones are relevant to your travel. Dates are listed in European format!

Enjoy!

Just back from Italy.

We bought Interlaken Firenze in advance. We had also booked an airbnb there for 5 nights.
One day we did a trip to Lucca. Ticket we bought on the day using the Trenitalia App.
Then we decided on a whim to go to Elba. Train from Firenze to Piombino Maritime, then ferry. All bought on Trenitalia. That turned out to be a bit of a mistake. There are only a handful of trains to the ferry port, and the ferry we had a ticket for did not exist (but we got on another one). Then in Elba we decided to break the return to Switzerland in Genoa (because we had never been there). I found out there is a direct IC from Campiglia Maritime (near Piombino) to Genoa, and a half hourly bus shuttle there from the Ferry port. So we just booked ferry tickets, took the shuttle, hopped on the train, and spend a few days in Genoa. Then another IC to Milano, and train back to Switzerland, all booked just a few days before.

Buses in Toscana we just paid by tapping in and out with our credit card.

Most transportation is mass transits, used by people to go about their daily business. People do not decide to visit aunty, go shopping or commute months in advance. So buying tickets at the last moment is the norm, not the exception. Think of the European railway network as an overlapping network of mass transit and commuter railways, with a few long distance trains on top of that.

I also purchase business class after a rather unpleasant experience in premium due to huge bags and uncooperative passengers. A one off, but it’s business class for us now!

SJS, did you have bags and were not able to place them anywhere? Could you share more please? We will be travelling with carry-on luggage, so I want to make sure we'll have space to place it with use in the trains. Thank you for actually reminding me to think about that!

WengenK, thank you for sharing your experience. From what I see, buying tickets and using extensive train system is quite easy and flexible. I only don't really want to have to spend time searching and researching, so will go with what most suggest here: will buy in advance long distance trains and will go for a regular transit experience for shorter distances.

Buses in Toscana we just paid by tapping in and out with our credit card.

That's good to know, it'd be so easier to pay by just tapping a credit card. Do you know if buses (and other public transport) in other cities use the same payment method?

There is an app called “ Trenit: Find trains in Italy “that I have on my Android phone and on my IPad..
You can see all the Italo and Trenitalia schedules. And buy tickets .

This thread is really a treasure trove of current info. And what's interesting is how the train ticketing 'norm' has changed since 2010, 2015 & 2017, our last trip. Even then, I bought everything in advance, had pdfs on my phone but also had printed hard copies of each ticket. Why wouldn't I do that again? Our trip will pretty much be hard-wired in, and not THAT expensive to replace if we miss one. But I will download that trenit app for sure and become familiar with it. Sounds like that's crucial no matter what.

This next trip March/April 2025--for either 4 or 6 people--will include train trips of Taormina/Salerno, Salerno/Florence, Florence/Rome. Only the first of those gets a little squirrelly, what with the train/ferry from Sicily to Calabria and at least a couple changes. Some people say NO, I'll call it an adventure. We'll see. But train travel has always been a big part of our trips, and we love it. Just bring enough panini & vino!