We will be traveling from Varenna to Milan to Rome to catch our flight to the US the following day. Does anyone know if there is a "fast train" from Milan to Rome. Where is the best place to check to see if there is more than one a day and if we are able to purchase them in Varenna.
Thanks for your help
Posted by
Watertown, MA
118 posts
Yes! Trenitalia.com is where you can search the timetable and buy train tickets. There are at least two trains per hour and travel time is 2:55-3:20 hours.
If your dates are firm, you can save a great deal of euro buying in advance.
re: buying in Varenna, it is a small station and I have read that the ticket window isn't always open. However, there is a travel agency where you can buy tickets.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34344 posts
There are at least two every hour, often more, provided by Trenitalia called the Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) and Frecciargento (Silver Arrow) which go Milano Centrale to Roma Termini via Firenze and one or two other stops. There are several of the Frecciarossa which make no stops at all.
The competing company, Italo Treno, is privately owned (no passes) and goes a similar route except it stops always in Bologna and Firenze and does not use the main stations at either Milano (Milano PG - Porta Garibaldi) and Roma (Tiburtina and Ostiense), but these stations may work well with your needs; it all depends.
Both of these are all reservation trains; they can be very cheap if you buy non changeable tickets well in advance or very expensive if you wait until the last minute.
If you wait until in Varenna you will pay top dollar.
You can buy and print tickets at home 3 months out.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
The advance-purchase discounts apply to the longer, faster train segment, from Milan to Rome. You can buy the Varenna-Milan regional train ticket at a train station (at the same time that you buy your ticket to Varenna) or at Varenna's travel agency (closed Sundays, see pages 286-8 in RS Italy or www.tivanotours.it).