High speed train from Naples to Rome -reservations ?

You can buy tickets on line in advance up to 120 days prior.
You can even buy on the spot at the station the Day you go, but the sooner you prepurchase the higher the chance to snatch a Supereconomy or Econ fare. Savings with the former are over 40%.
The catch is that after you book and pay a specific train on a specific date and time, no changes or refunds are possible. So if you change your mind or miss that specific train, your ticket is worthless.
You can check prices on the following sites:
www.trenitalia.com or, the other company, www.italotreno.it.
To see the Supereconomy prices choose a date a few weeks in the future, I’m sure there are some available even next week.
If you take the slower Regionale from Naples to Rome, you are looking to about 3 hours instead of 70 min with the Frecciarossa high speed.

A point of terminology, which may explain some of your confusion.

Any train in Italy that is not a Regional or Regional Veloce requires reservations. But, if you buy a ticket for one of these faster trains - whether on line or in a station, in advance or just before travel, discounted or full fare - it will include a reservation. The ticket with its reservation is only good for a specific train. If you want to take any other train, you must change the ticket BEFORE boarding, or you'll get a heavy fine. For instance, if you have a ticket for the 10 AM train leaving from Rome to Naples, and you want to take the 10:30 AM train instead, you must get a ticket for the 10:30 AM train. Whether you can get any of the value of the 10 AM train ticket applied to the new 10:30 AM train ticket depends on the terms of the ticket you bought; the cheaper ones (Super Economy) will be non-refundable, while the mid-priced ones (Economy) will allow you to apply the value to towards the new ticket, and the full priced ones (Base Fare) can be fully refunded even without buying a new ticket.

The only time you need to buy a reservation separate from a ticket is if you are traveling on a rail pass. A rail pass is not recommended for Italy because fares are pretty low in the country, so you'd have to be traveling a long distance (say, Rome to Milan) almost every day to make a pass pay off.

Our last trip to Italy we took Circumvesuviana from Sorrento to Naples Centrale, left our bags at the station, went to the National Archeological Museum for a few hours, returned to the station and bought tickets for the next train to Rome -- more expensive than booking far in advance but SO much easier than having to keep an eye on the time and rushing to make a specific train. This was, obviously, NOT on a day we were heading to the airport for a transAtlantic flight home.

Wow! What a wealth of knowledge on this forum. Thank you very much . I guess I need to check the prices and see the difference.With six of us it may be substantial. But, on the other hand, trying to get six of us up and around that morning to make the regional train to Naples to catch the high speed train may be stressful. The time difference between the express train and slower train is a lot .

Laura, did you take the high speed train or the slower train ? What month did you go ? We are going the end of June so I am sure trains will be busy. From a previous post I heard the train web sights can be difficult to figure out. The info I learned from this topic should help.We had previously planned in keeping the car- just parking it in Sorrento- but I read in another post that parking in Sorrento in season is difficult and expensive hence we will return it when we get there.

I would recommend taking the fast train, that way you will all be able to sit together because you can select your seats when you purchase. Regional trains don't have assigned seating and I am sure they will be even busier than the reserved train.

One other consideration when booking, Italo will let you book tickets for 6 people in one transaction but Trenitalia you can only book up to 5 people.

Navigating the site is not difficult.
Trains never sell out seats. At most they run out of seats in the cheaper Standard (2nd) class in the very next train. In that case you buy a more expensive class or wait for the next train 1/2 hour later.
The Regionale takes more than twice as long because it stops at many stations along the way and also takes the old railway (not the high speed line), so it goes slower.
Rome to Naples is the same distance as Los Angeles to Tijuana, Mexico. Try to drive that distance and see if it doesn’t take you 3 hours.

So, what is the difference with the two booking services ? Different train companies with different trains ? Not familiar with Italo but might need to use it to get six unless I do two reservations.

Trenitalia and Italy are two different train companies. I like to use www.trainline.eu because it show both lines with available discounts. If you have to make two reservations, there is an opportunity to select seats near other previously assigned seats.

Must be last time - probably 10 years ago- we took the express train because I don't remember stopping till we got to Naples.I am the major one planning this trip for the six family members - three generations.My husband and I have traveled independently over a lot of Europe but now- in our 70's -want our family members to experience a taste of " over the pond " travel.But the planning part is a headache with six of us versus the usual two.

Thanks for that info on the two train companies . And for the new web site.Fortunately I am retired ,so I have time to research this trip.But,if things go wrong ,you know who will have to take the blame ! Lol.

We bought our tickets for the same Naples to Rome train online in advance. It was easy to navigate.

Which website did you use that was easy to navigate ?

Hi kathy
I’ve used Trainline.eu to book tickets for long haul rides. There is a discount for seniors 60+, make sure you check the box. Your family is happy you’re in charge! pack a bottle of wine, box of clairol blonde and Calgon take me away. LOL Happy travel
Aloha

Italo Treno (referenced also with web address above)

In response to your questions, we went Naples to Rome in late May -- I had reserved tickets TO Naples in advance because there was one train I wanted from Orvieto to Naples, but FROM Naples to Rome I just bought tickets at the machine for the next available Regionale train. Could have bought tickets from the machine for a faster train but the €€ for the extra hour didn't seem worth it.