I will be in Italy, the first week of June. I have a choice of buying our train tickets on raileurope.com, or simply using the ticket machines at the train station. Is there an extra cost associated with buying tickets on raileurope.com, or any real advantage, or should I just wait and buy the tickets from the train station ticket machines. We plan on travelling 2nd class to save money.
Posted by
Morrison, CO, USA
893 posts
Beverly, We're heading to Italy tomorrow for our 4th trip. We always buy our train tickets after we get there. Never had a problem with trains being full or not being able to get a ticket. And I've not seen much difference between 1st & 2nd. And we've had some nice conversations with people on trains, the locals are friendly and we've talked to quite a few American students who are studying there, and traveling on the train. Have fun.
Posted by
Austin TX after living in Boulder CO for 25 years
1174 posts
Everyone says that you should buy your tickets when you arrive, and after several trips to Europe, it really is the best way to go. Raileurope charges you for purchasing, AND they don't show all of the available times! Pull up the bahn.de site, type in all of the timeframes you think that you will travel from each town, and print it. That way you don't have to go to the train station to ask for timetables.
The only tickets we have bought ahead of time are night trains and trains that might be necessary so we don't miss a flight. We bought them through italiarail.com-they have an 800 number and the friendly agent answered all of my dumb questions before we purchased!
Posted by
Indianapolis, IN, USA
143 posts
Buy them when you get to Italy - I've not had a problem getting them there. I usually get them the day I travel, but if there is a particular train I am sure I want I buy them a few days in advance - I usually arrive in a city at the train station and sometimes just get tickets for my departure before I leave the station. You will pay a premium for using an agency like raileurope. The automated kiosks at stations are very easy to use with an English language option.
The difference in room and comfort between first and second class is minimal and not worth it IMO. And another way to save money is to take a slower train - Rick's books mention (correctly) that going faster is more expensive. EuroStar trains are are the fastest with fewer stops, Regional and InterCity trains have more stops. The Trenitalia site shows how long trips last; I've taken a slower train to save some money when I've had the extra time - on some trips an extra 30 minutes didn't make any difference to me.