Questions about train travel

Many train schedules across Europe are not yet published past June 14, when everyone takes the opportunity to revise schedules. Regional trains in Italy don't have advance discounts and you are not likely to get confirmed summer schedules online until later in June. It's easy to buy tickets in stations as you go, so only book ahead for the longer legs on fast trains (which have advance discount) and to which you are committed. Circumvesuviana is definitely one to buy at the station. Otherwise, Trenitalia is the original source for most train service.

The ONLY time it makes any sense to buy a Regionale train ticket on-line is when that ticket is included as a part of a continuing trip. In others words, if going A to D will a change in C to a Regionale train. The trip from A to B and B to C will be by a high speed or IC requiring a seat reservation but the last leg to D is on a regional train with open seating. That ticket will be include when you buy the trip from A to D. Otherwise, never buy Regionale train tickets on-line because those tickets come with restrictions. The Regionale train ticket purchased at a station does not. These tickets purchased at a station or a ticket machine must be validated (time stamped) just prior to usage.

You seem to be on the right track (No pun intended)

Trenitalia is the State run railway (or was, not sure if they are private now) that goes everywhere running trains of all types. Italiarail.com is a commercial site, affiliated with Trenitalia, that is focused on the tourist market, selling tickets on Trenitalia trains.
Italo Treno is a newer private rail company, they only run limited routes, and only high speed trains.

I am not sure if Italiarail.com is any more expensive than Trenitalia, it may be easier to buy tickets at from the US and they may offer some specials for travellers not available from Trenitalia.

If you are certain of your dates, then buying the fast train tickets ahead is a good idea, the regionale trains, just buy there when needed, they are cheap enough you will not get much savings by buying ahead.

Italirail is the private line but it does not always use the main stations. The trains are newer and the pricing should be about the same but carefully check the rail stations used by them. Regionale train tickets are never discounted. Same price online or at the station but online tickets have restrictions.

Frank
I think you meant "Italo" rather than Italia : )

atesmer
I don't think all of the regional trains are all loaded for the summer schedule although many fast trains are available for purchase.
As mentioned above, no point in buying regional train tickets unless you are going to a destination that includes a change of trains from a freccia to a regional.

You don't need to buy the Circumvesuviana in advance either and those trains are not run by Trenitalia. Very easy to buy once in Naples at the Circumvesuviana ticket window.

If you decided to go to Pisa and see the tower as well as the surrounding areas (Field of Miracles) you can leave your luggage for a fee at a left luggage place in the train station. You can walk to the tower in less than 20 minutes and I think it is a very scenic and interesting stroll. I think people only go to Pisa only for the tower and not realize that it used to be an important and well to do place, hence the beautiful duomo, which is well worth a peek.

This isn't a reply, I just need clarification. We will be in Italy in October. Am I understanding correctly from your replies that when we are using regional trains, we can buy the tickets right before boarding? Or would it be better to buy our departure tickets on the day we arrive? (This would be from Rome to Siena - our other connections will be fast train or bus.)

The Italo train schedules are out much earlier for purchase than Trenitalia. From Venice to Florence, this would be a good option. I would seriously price and schedule compare between these two. BTW, the super-economy 9 euros/pp fares don't seem to stay in the system long... the 2 for 1 fares for Saturday travel are worth looking into as well, as is the 5 euros seat upgrade (XL) on Italo trains.

I like to buy departure tickets on arrival - I usually know how long I'll be staying anywhere. You can buy tickets before boarding, but there may be a line or some other problem, so I prefer to have the next ticket in hand.

Thanks for all the replies!
Does anyone know about the train from La Spezia to Manaola? Do I just buy the tickets in La Spezia, no advance purchase required? How often does it run?
It seems that I can book Trenitalia trains on-line in advance and try to get 2nd class, super economy fares. I'll look into Italo high speed trains where available and compare the time vs cost factors.
But it appears that the trains to Manarola and the Circumvesuviana trains, I would buy when I get there.
Am I on the right track (ha, a pun!)?

Hi atesmer. Yes, buy the fast / long distance trains in advance for a big discount if you are willing to lock in an exact date and time. For your other question:
Does anyone know about the train from La Spezia Centrale to Manarola? Do I just buy the tickets in La Spezia, no advance purchase required? How often does it run?
--- You can see the schedule and price (2 Euro) on trenitalia.com; just use a day in the next seven days. Since this is a regional train (there are no discounts, and it is a generic, non-dated ticket), just buy this ticket when convenient at any station in Italy. Then be sure to stamp it in the machine in the La Spezia station before you board the train. Enjoy your trip!

... and ON THE TROUBLE SIDE (below) ... I too advise to purchase in advance especially if you are certain of your departure and return dates, and with the ability to get those super economy fares. While it is nice to be flexible and wait, you will pay double or triple the cost for tickets if you wait until you get there. I just purchased for 2people (on Aug. 6) Florence-Venice round trip in October for 38euros each way!! For two that's $100 total. For fun I had already checked pricing for a day and week or so in advance of the current date, and all super econ and econ were sold out -- the next cheapest (gulp) was 70-100 euros each way for 2 people --- so yes, you can save hundreds by purchasing in advance as a non-registered user and you'll receive the email confirmation within a few minutes.

ON THE TROUBLE SIDE ... When I was selecting my October dates, I was able to get the super econ for the departure to Venice, but the system kept telling me that not enough seats were available for the return time I wanted, nor were the next two tier prices up available, only the more expensive tickets, furthermore, and after closing the browser starting over it ultimately said nothing was available for the date and time I wanted to return!! So...I closed Chrome and dumped all cookies and browsing history, opened 2 windows and purchased two one-way fares (one from Florence and the return to Florence) and got super econo price. If you have similar difficulty, try clearing all your cookies and browsing and start fresh, as my skeptical self says Trenitalia tracks your IP address and if you search multiple times, it will eventually only give higher prices, or the system is designed to not allow you to purchase round trip at the super econo rate. Good luck!!

I should add -- advance purchase for Trenitalia -- regional/local trains are, as someone else also noted, same pricing regardless of when purchased -- and inexpensive, and in comparision to the fast trains (Alitalia), very inexpensive. So get those super econ fares when they appear, once gone, they are gone.

I think it's all covered above, but your plan is what we did. I looked at the schedules I could see for regional trains and saw which regional time I would need to catch my high speed connection - sometimes I would take the next later high speed just to be sure (in case the schedule changed).

We had our high speeds from Rome-Florence (bought 120 days out for super cheap - print the PNR code and you are all set). Then when we got to Rome Termini, we bought our Florence-Lucca regional ticket from the machines. (We also had in advance our Florence-Venice high speed).

The next day in Lucca, we were day tripping to Pisa, so at one time we bought Lucca-Pisa, Pisa-Lucca, and Lucca-Florence, so we were ready to leave the next day.

Prior to this week, we had a cruise where we went La Spezia-Riomaggiore, and we bought tickets at the station from the machine (both the outbound and inbound back to the ship at the same time).

If you find a machine that is working well for you, I would buy all the regional tickets for everything you need (not sure if it has to be in next 7 days, but it might.,...) - some of the machines were finnicky, but by the end I was an expert at getting them to work! We did need a chip and pin card to use the machines - I guess you could use cash also, but sometimes, again, finnicky. So if you have to use a machine, I would have a chip and pin as well as cash. There was almost always (although not always) a ticket window with a live person - but those lines were always horridly long. So if you are cranking through with a good machine, I would get everything you can then.

And don't forget to validate your regional tickets (as well as vaporetto pass in Venice!)!!! There were machines everywhere - although no longer Yellow as stated everywhere (white and green now, at least the ones I saw). Sometimes these were a little finnicky as well, put the ticket in an jiggle it and wait for it to stamp. We did have conductors coming sometimes and checking (on both train and vaporetto), so avoid the fine and be sure to validate!

Oh and Tower was maybe a... 5-10 minute walk from the Pisa station (not centrale, the other one.. Rosso?).

Enjoy!!
Kim

As Kim put above - Oh and Tower was maybe a... 5-10 minute walk from the Pisa station (not centrale, the other one.. Rosso?). - That is correct that Rosso?? station is close to the tower but there is no place to store your bags at that station. You can easily see Pisa in a couple hours (that's what I did earlier this year). You would get off at Pisa Centrale station. Look for Deposito Bagagli signs which is the luggage storage. It's all the way at the far end of the platform by the police room at the station. It's a staffed room and you drop your bags with the attendant. Then you can either proceed outside the station and get a cab to the field of miracles or catch a bus. If you have Rick's book he lists the bus to take and where to get it in front of which building at the station. I don't have it in front of me but i remember walking across the street at the station and catching it there. It was real easy to find. Just get off the bus when 90% of the other people do and your at the field of miracles. Note where the bus drops you off and you can return, although if you are 4 people you can always get a cab back to the station and not wait on the bus.