We're traveling on a daytrip from Venice to Padua and then on to Verona in the afternoon. Most likely we'll be traveling via one of the Eurostar high speed trains for all sections of the trip. Can I buy a single round trip ticket for the entire trip, even though we'll be breaking up the trip in the middle? I know that this is possible in Switzerland, but is it in Italy?
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Are you traveling with Jo from South Carolina? :-) She has another thread going about how/whether to do more than Verona as a daytrip from Venice. (My advice: Bad idea.) But to answer your specific question, you cannot buy one ticket that will allow you to visit two new locations and then return to your original location.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Trenitalia does offer a special price for roundtrip tickets, check their website at trenitalia.com; you can't hop off in the middle of your trip and hop back on, though.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23660 posts
You could do it if you used the Regional trains. You basically have two one way tickets from point A to C and C to A. Once the ticket is validated (time stamped) you six hours to get from A to C but you can get off at B. All other trains in Italy require a seat reservation specific to a train and time. In Switzerland it is a mix of reserved and non=reserved seats so you can do that as long as you take a non-reserved seat.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Michael is correct. You can buy a round trip journey but you will have one ticket going and one ticket returning. On the high-speeds with seat reservations, you cannot hop off and get back on a later train. You can do this on the Regionale trains under certain circumstances as there is no specific train information on the Regionale ticket. Regionale tickets purchased in Italy are good for 60 days from Point A to Point B. Once validated, you must complete your Point A to Point B journet in 6 hours. During that 6 hours, you do have hop off/hop on opportunities if you know what you're doing. Again, you cannot do this on the high-speeds.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32402 posts
Marcus, The most likely scenario if you buy all your tickets at Venezia S.Lucia and assuming you use all Freccia (or other premium) trains, is that they will issue three "cards" (tickets). Each will specify a particular train no. and departure time, and those will be the ONLY trains you can use. If you board the wrong train, you may be fined on the spot and it won't be cheap (about €60 PP)! The first ticket will be from Venezia to Padova, then Padova to Verona and finally Verona to Venezia. AFAIK, these don't have to be validated, as they're specific to a particular train, and only valid for that train. If you choose to travel on a Regionale, then the tickets MUST be validated, or again hefty fines. Happy travels!