I am traveling to Italy in March (Arrive Venice 3/13 - Leave Rome 3/30) with stops in Bologna, Florence and Orvieto. Airfare and all lodging is booked and the last bit of logistical planning is trains between the cities I am visiting. Trying to determine if I should book ahead of time from home or book as I go once I am in Italy. Since I know what days I will be traveling between cities I think booking now might be the best option so that I am assured of the times I want. Also Trentalia vs. Italo. From what I can tell Italo is a bit pricer but you are paying more for the faster service so I am ok with that. The only portion that they do not appear to work for is Florence to Orvieto and then Orvieto to Rome. What have others done? Is there any kind of cost difference if I wait and book once in Italy? For pure peace of mind should I just book now and be done with it?
Posted by
693 posts
Italo is not really quicker than Trenitalia, but some people prefer their service. Personally, I would book with whoever is a better deal for the days and times you want (Trenitalia have many more services so are often more convenient). Note that Italo do not service Orvieto.
For the Venice to Bologna and Bologna to Florence legs i would have already booked to secure cheap seats (economy or super economy). You may still be able to find these. Remember to use Italian spellings of place names.
For Florence to Orvieto and Orvieto to Rome, most direct services are Regionale and there is no real benefit booking in advance. However, you can book Regionale services 7 days before travel on the Trenitalia website (click on the English flag at the top and enter Firenze, Orvieto and Roma for place names). There are also some intercity services stopping in Orvieto that can be booked in advance.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32202 posts
Jennifer,
Italo will only be an option on routes between the large cities (Florence, Rome, Milan, Venice). They don't provide service to smaller locations such as Orvieto. Also note that Italo uses different stations in some cities and not the most "central" stations. In Rome the majority of their runs are to Roma Tiburtina or Ostiense, and not to the more central Termini station.
You can book tickets up to 120 days in advance on Trenitalia and save a lot of you can manage to get Super Economy tickets, but choose carefully as they're non-refundable and non-changeable. These come with compulsory seat reservations which are valid ONLY for one train, date and departure time. If you miss the train listed on your ticket for whatever reason, your tickets are worthless and you'll have to buy more at full price (Base fare).
If you want to purchase tickets for the faster trains in advance, you can also use www.italiarail.com in addition to Trenitalia.
If any of your trips will be via Regionale trains, these are more difficult to purchase in advance, and there's no reason to do so as there are no discounts. It's just as easy to buy those locally in Italy, either at a ticket Kiosk or staffed ticket window. DO NOT forget to validate Regionale tickets prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot!
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Once I have hotels reserved, I start booking trains (120 days ahead when possible). There are three categories of service on Trenitalia, the super-economy (Milan to Venice for 9€, for example), a flex-type fare that allows some changes, and the base (full) fare.
Posted by
Chicago
1944 posts
I booked our Italian train travel on Trenitalia for March back in December. Also used the SBB site for train travel in France & Switzerland. Got some excellent deals (all 2nd class), but they are restricted in that you have to travel on that train, on that day. However, I figured they're so inexpensive, even if I have to change it I'm not out a ton of money, that it's worth the gamble:
Paris / Lucerne $85/pp (SBB)
Lucerne / Milan $41/pp (SBB)
Milan / Florence $23/pp (Trenitalia)
Florence / Salerno $36/pp (Trenitalia)
Comparatively, the Trenitalia site is more vague and weirder than the Swiss SBB site. All I did was print out the sheets (which has the barcode) and hopefully that will be enough.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15582 posts
I balance the savings for early booking with the flexibility of on-the-ground decisions. The saving on Bologna-Florence was about €10. I decided to spend the extra money and decide while in Bologna (first time) when to head for Florence (third time). There are frequent trains so no problem getting a place. The trains from Florence (be sure to use Firenze S.M.Novella) to Orvieto are regional, so there's no savings. There was only one train from Orvieto to Rome that fit my schedule, so I booked that in advance and saved just about enough to pay for my last Aperol spritz in Orvieto.
When I don't book well in advance, I do try to buy my ticket at an "off-time" the day before I leave, just so I don't end up waiting in line to buy and missing a train. The regional train tickets can only be bought a few days ahead.
You can also buy a ticket when you first arrive at the station. Florence is usually the busiest, but it's also very close to the main sights, so it's easy to walk over in the evening and buy tickets.
If you are a party of 4-5, the savings can be significant. If you are solo, the difference may be negligible. The only time I ever encountered a full train was between Florence and Rome on a Friday around 5-6 p.m. I had to wait almost 1/2 hour to get to the machine (the line wasn't long but the tourists ahead of me were having trouble using the machine to check schedules for trains 3 days ahead - you just never know what you'll encounter), then another 1/2 hour because the next train out was full.
Posted by
Wells, NV
2 posts
I also want to book my trains by staying at home