Euros / Train Tickets

Look for the ATMs at the Rome airport. They are called a Bancomat. You can get Euros there, or there are several foreign exchange offices you'll pass by as you go through the airport. ATM's are a better deal.

You can go to a travel agent to buy train tickets or go to a train station and buy them from the self service machines. It is easy to do!

Thanks for the info, Lisa.

Patricia-Lisa's right, the Bancomat's are easy to spot, but if you're a little giddy about finally landing, don't hesitate to ask someone to point you in the right direction. I didn't prepurchase my train tickets so I didn't have to scramble to catch a specific train, it was very relaxing. There are so many trains a day between the cities you've listed, leaving every 20-40 minutes. I got to the station, when I got to the station, and took the next train available. I used the self-service machines with my CC--The first question asked on them (touch-screen, by the way)is "what language to use" with pictures of different flags to help. They are really, really easy.

Thanks, Michelle. I have read that I can buy the tickets as we need them, I guess I'm just a bit concerned as we need to be in certain cities at certain dates and wanted to be as prepared in advance as possible. One more question, I've read that 1st class & 2nd class are almost the same, except the price for 1st class is much more. I would prefer to have reserved seats - does that mean I have to buy 1st class tickets, or should I just chance it and not worry about reserving seats? I'm a little confused about train seating.
Thanks.

Hi Patricia, Definitely travel 2nd class. As you stated, much cheaper and we have never felt that we needed anything better...2nd class was always just fine. Yes, you will need to reserve 2nd class and no, you do not need to do it ahead of time. What we did was buy our tickets when we arrived at a city for wherever we were going to next. This way we knew ahead what train we needed to be there for and never had to worry about standing in line before getting on our train. We arrived at the station about 15-20 min. ahead of departure time in order to give ourselves a little breathing room. This way we were on the train in plenty of time for it to leave.
Hope this helps!

If you buy your tickets a day or two ahead of time, ask for Amica fares (20% discount). If any of the allotted seats are still available on routes that offer Amica fares, you can get that fare up to midnight of the day before departure.

Tim-- Do you know if one can avail of the Amica rates from purchasing from a self-serve machine? Thanks!

We tryed purchasing Amica fares when we bought our tickets always 2 days prior at the train stations and was always told "No" and shook their heads. No other explanation, just No. So we landed up always paying for the standard 2nd class tickets. This was everywhere we went. Must be something more to getting those fares.

Thanks. Will try and get the Amica fares but if I can't, at least I know not to buy 1st class tickets. Thanks for all the input.
Patricia

Patricia--unless you need to be in a city at a specific time, I don't think I would worry about prepurchasing the tickets. There are lots and lots of trains each day between these cities. I don't remember or understand exactly how the "reservation" fits in to all this. I don't think this term is used like we use it here. Someone else may be able to explain it. What I do remember is at the self-service machine, when asked if I wanted a reservation, I pressed yes, and then it prompted me about seat choices, so I picked my seat--I'm a window seat girl!! I purchased 2nd class tickets with a reservation on the Eurostar all at the same time, about 15 mins before the train left. You'll be pleasantly surprised how nice the trains are, as well as how easy it is to travel between the big cities by just showing up at the station at your leisure and hopping on the next train.

Thanks, Michelle. Very helpful information. I'm looking forward to our 2 weeks in Italy - it's been 5 years since we've gone, so I'm excited.
Patricia