Rail Europe question - Rome

Just noticed there's another option. Termini.

Termini is the main/central station for Rome so if you are staying in Rome then you want to use Termini. The other stations are farther out from Rome. And, please, do not use the Rail Europe for scheduling info. Either use bahn.de for scheduling info only or trenitalia.com for the Italian trains and ticket purchase. And remember Rail Europe is a travel agency and not a train company.

steve,

DON'T use Rail Europe for getting accurate information on trains in Italy (or anywhere else). The Trenitalia website will provide much more useful information (or the Bahn.de website for other places in Europe).

For the trip from Rome to Florence, you'll travel via Freccia high speed from Roma Termini to Firenze S.M. Novella stations. The trip is about 90 minutes. If you wish to use the competing Italo Treno high speed service, the trip will be from Roma Tiburtina to Firenze S.M. Novella. You can easily get to Tiburtina from Termini via the Metro (it's only about four stops). If you're in central Rome, using Termini is the easiest solution.

Now I'm really confused. I tried to use Train Italia and was completely confused. The travel time from Rome to Florence was 10 hours whereas on Rail Europe it was an hour and a half to two hours tops. And there were much fewer times and options to choose from. And the prices were higher.

That cannot happen but I don't what you are doing either. Go to trenitalia, check the British flag so that it is in English. It is pretty easy to use. Only big difference is that the time is on the 24 hour clock. So 1400 is really 2pm. And watch entering your dates, all dates are listed as day, month, year. In other words 4/9/15 for us is April 9, 2015. In Europe date system that would be 4 September, 2015. So I always write out my dates. I will be 4 May 15 or 30 April 15. Then when I translate it is easy to do 4/5/15 or 30/4/15.

Trenitalia will have the most options and should be the cheapest prices by far. What exact travel date and times do you want?

If you input your 'from' and 'to' properly and your date correctly this is what you should see. I used July 1 as a test date.

https://www.lefrecce.it/B2CWeb/search.do?parameter=searchOutputViewer&cFID=KFDXPN1EyhwU

EDIT: the link is not working, sorry.

I'm trying to travel from Rome to Florence on May 12th. Then I'm traveling from Florence to Santa Maguerita on May 15th. Then I'm traveling from Santa Margherita back to Florence on May 17th. And from Florence to Venice on May 18th.

The other thing that's confusing is when I type in Rome as my departure, it brings up other options like Rometta Messinese or Fivizzano-Roma-Soliera. I have no idea what any of this means, never having been to Italy before. And the train stations in Florence are just as numerous. The one which the hotel recommended, the Santa Maria Novella didn't come up as an option. At least as far as I could tell. Sorry for being so lost, but any help would be greatly appreciated.

It appears that my link in the prior post isn't working. Sorry about that.

For Rome, input Roma Termini
For Florence, input Firenze S M Novella
For Venice, input Venezia S Lucia
For Santa Margherita, input Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino

See if this works. I set it to start at 0800. You can see a 29E fare.

https://www.lefrecce.it/B2CWeb/search.do?parameter=searchOutputViewer&cFID=Pc7sHZVWYrsE

Tutte Le Stazioni means all stations in xxx

Frank

PS The link just worked for me when I came back. I don't know if there is a time out on open search links.

I tried your link and it didn't work. It still didn't pull up Rome Termini. But then I did it on my own and somehow it came up with Termini. I was able to get an Economy Premium Seat on the Frecciarossa for $39 departing Rome at 2:20 p.m. and arriving in Florence at 3:51 p.m. But yeah, the military time kind of throws me off. But it didn't seem like there were many other options. I didn't see any of the Italo trains as an option. And it looked like the other options were just later in the day. Also, is it worth choosing something better than Economy. Wasn't sure how to get First Class or find out how much that cost or if it's available.

You are confused. Not sure where to start. Have you read any of Steves' guide books for Rome or Italy? You might go to roninrome.com for some train discussion. Class of travel (first, second) has nothing to do fares other than they are different for each class. First - Second class coach on the train is 2x2 seats, and has the space you would associate with Business class on an airplane. First class is 1x2, has more leg room but not significantly so. Second class is generally OK for most travelers.

Super economy, Economy, and Base are the three levels of ticket prices. Economy in first class is more expensive than economy in second class. Same for Base, etc. Personally I don't think the cost difference is worth it. But some people only travel first class so you pay the price. The train gets there at the same time but the first class coaches, sometimes - not always, are a little closer to the station.

Just checked my link and the search does time out. But it leaves you with the search window. Which is good. Choice one way at the top, start typing slowly R-o-m At M a drop down menu will give you the choice of all Rome stations, scroll down to Termini - Chose it. (If you type quick ROME - drop down goes away) Same for arrival station, Type F i r and a drop drop menu will give you a choice of all the Florence station - choice the first one - easier - Tuttle Le Stazion (all stations) or go to S.M. Novella. Put in your date of travel from the calender. Put a start time in, say 1500 (3pm). Hit search

That will throw all you options starting with 3 pm. Read across depart time, arrival time and station, length of trip, and beginning price. Choose what you like. Click on the arrow. The cheapest fare will pop up to your left. If you want other options including first class, scroll to the bottom screen and all of the different pricing options are available. I see everything froma low 19E to 100E with at least three or four trains an hour.

Only the US calls it military time. It is time in Europe. Just add or sub 12 as needed. My watch and cell phone will keep a 24 hr clock so I just set it to that in Europe

Good luck

Also -- just a heads' up for Summer travelers -- many JULY dates were released today within Trenitalia site. Secured my family's tickets from Rome to Monterosso (one connection @ La Spezia Centrale) for late-July. Alas, couldn't find any 'super economy' fares but that's likely due to popularity of the season.

The clock on the Trenitalia site defaults to local time, so if you are searching at 9am your time, the schedule will begin with trains departing from Roma termini to Firenze Santa Maria Novella at 3pm Rome time. Change the time to 7:00 and almost all the trains for that day will show up. All city names must be spelled in Italian.

The fare structure has been explained in the previous post. The fare you found sounds like a super-economy, which means you cannot change it.

Note that your train may stop at more than one station in the arrival city, make sure you get off at the correct stop.

Trenitalia will not list other companies' trains (Italo).

Thank you all for your help! I went to the Italo website which for me was much easier to use than Train Italia. But I did notice that there's a very limited selection of options departing Rome Termini. The majority of options were departing from Tiburtina. Does anyone know the pros and cons of going Termini versus Tiburtina. Is it just a short distance away? And lastly, I noticed the options for Italo offer "flex" which allows you to change your time or date (for a slightly higher rate) so I would most likely choose that option. And then they offer "Smart", "Extra Large" and "Prima" so I guess I would choose either "Smart" or Extra Large" since it's a short trip anyway. I haven't bought my tickets yet since I'm still finalizing my itinerary. Hate leaving it all till the last minute, but many things to juggle.

Italo is a new, private train line using the trenitalia rails and their under used terminals. Sort of a shot at privatizing the railroad. Think a little like the discount airline that use further out airline terminals. Ticket prices are about the same but promotions from time to time will undercut each other. Initially Italo only used the outlaying terminals. Now they have a few trains out of Termini but more routes out of the other stations. Terminal is the middle of Rome just to the side of old city. Tiburtina is four stops ( I think) on the subway - Metro. So if you are staying in Rome you will need to take a taxi to Tiburtina or go to Termini, go downstairs and catch the Metro to Tiburtina. Tiburtina is a smaller station which has been somewhat remodeled for Italo. Cost is going to be about the same. If you are staying in Rome you have the additional cost and inconvenience of getting to Tiburtina. Italo is running newer equipment so it might be a little new but for an hour and half it is not going to make much difference. The equipment in Trenitalia is fine.

The flex fare is nearly the same as the economy fare on Trenitalia. You can make one change to the ticket but pay the different between the economy fare the new fare. I would use Termini simply because it is more convenient and I am not interested having luggage on the metro.

Thanks very much, very helpful!

Another website is ItaliaRail. I haven't looked at this website in more than a year and haven't seen anyone mention it recently but I assume it still works the same. It is "powered by Trenitalia" (whatever that means) so it will have the Trenitalia options on there. Some feel it is a little easier to navigate than the Trenitalia website. There is a convenience fee/processing fee per ticket (I think $5.00) but it is not as much of an upcharge as Rail Europe. And you can still get discount fares.

Another option- try the Trenitalia website at another time. The site frequently has some glitches.

OK, but it still smaller or feels a lot smaller. I know it looked new so just it had been remodeled. OK, so it is total new. I thought it was a little easier to use.

Roma Tiburtina was rebuilt after a fire destroyed most of the older, smaller station, I think it was in 2011.

I'm afraid I waited too long to book and now the travel times are so limited. Any suggestions? Should I just choose Tiburtina?

Almost desperate to use Rail Europe at this point…. S.O.S.

I've used Italo from Rome to Florence then to Venice. Take Metro B to the Tiburtina station, the Italo Office is at the far end of the terminal. The online sight is easy, I have been in second class (Prima) and first class (Club Executive), a very comfortable ride. I was able to put my 25 inch wheeled suit case above my seat in the rack. First class does have a section for suitcase storage, in the front of the train where no one can take it without passing you, also built in closets to hang your coats. I was also able to put my suitcase above me in second class. The suitcase storage area has cable locks, you lock it and take the key with you.

steve,

Forget Rail Europe!!! What time and day do you want to travel to Florence? I've never had a problem simply showing up at Termini the day prior to travel and buying a ticket from a Kiosk. It does cost more since it's priced at Base fare, but it allows more flexibility as I don't have to decide exactly when I want to leave until I actually buy the ticket. No stress or worry. On travel day, I simply show up at the station and board the train.

Thanks again, Quirite, You are the contemporary historian for Roma!

I just checked Trenitalia for 12 May 2015 and there are trains available every half hour from Roma Termini to Firenze Santa Maria Novella starting at €29, so I am not sure why you are not seeing these.

Go to Trenitalia.com

Click the British flag icon to translate the page into English, or click whatever flag shows at the top of the page and choose English from the pull down menu

Type in Roma Termini in the "from" line - pull down menu appears as you type, choose Roma Termini

Type Firenze in the "to" line - a pull down menu appears as you type, choose SM Novella

Use the calendar box to find 12 May and tap that date

Set the time to whatever hour you want to leave - I used 8 for 8 am

All available choices show - click on "Select" for the one you want

Be sure your credit card company knows you will be using it for foreign purchases before you begin.

You will be asked to register on Trenitalia, it will help you manage your tickets. Use any Italian address (one of your hotels will work, you will not be contacted by mail).

Your e-tickets will be sent to your email address immediately. Print them on normal size paper.

The process is timed, so be careful you are not timed out during the process. I think you have ten minutes. If you are timed out, just start over.

Thanks Zoe. I tried it again and it worked as you said. For some reason, yesterday it wasn't showing the same options. I don't know whether I'm just overwhelmed by this being for first trip to Italy and being a novice traveler or what. But I did already buy the ticket on Italo leaving from Tiburtina. It's not refundable. Should I just ditch that ticket and buy one leaving from Termini? Also -- I'm trying to book my travel from Florence to Santa Margherita and am having trouble finding anything on Train Italia. Am I doing it wrong (again)?

Use the Italo ticket since you've already got it, that's one less ticket transaction to worry about now. We are in reduce-stress mode now.

Are you going to Santa Margherita Ligure? From Firenze? Go to Trenitalia.com. Use the same method I posted previously, change the "from" to Firenze SM Novella and "to" to Santa Margherita (there are a few cities with this name) Ligure (if that's the correct city), change the date and the clock and off you go.

Steve, it seems much more difficult than it actually is, once you take the first train. The other option is to just buy tickets when you get to the city you want to depart from, but the downside there is potential long lines and possible language confusion.

Go to the seat61,com site for info on trains or roninrome.com for info on Italian trains.

You need to choose Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino station, Steve.

There are trains with one or two changes, I suggest the train trip with one change (in La Spezia for Santa Maria Ligure-Portofino).

Thank you, everyone! I really appreciate your help.

Since it seems you're having trouble seeing what others are seeing on the Trenitalia website, try a different browser. There's no consistency - you may have a problem on a website with Firefox and no problem with Safari, while someone else will say the opposite. In addition to those two, there's also Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Opera, plus some niche ones detailed here: https://gigaom.com/2014/08/24/six-alternative-web-browsers-you-should-know-about/

I just had a horrible experience trying to sign into a secure website I needed for work; I simply couldn't see the things I needed. I changed browsers and voila! - no problem. So I'm acutely aware of the frustration of not seeing what everyone else sees on their computers.