This is our first time booking train travel on our own. We are debating weather the upfront booking is better or the 2month/3day pass is better. Does anyone have any idea on where we can find a schedule on which routes require reservations or better yet a schedule from the train company itself... Thanks, -Kevin
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
Kevin, in Italy a rail pass usually never saves you money or time. You don't mention where you'll be traveling but the train system in Italy is very good. The trains rarely (only on one or two holidays a year) sell out and with the number of trains a day to any given location it's very easy to book the next available one for the destination your going. It is much better to buy point to point tickets as needed or in advance if your travel dates are set. You'll easily be able to take advantage of "mini" fares if booked in advance and save yourself quite a bit of money. Before deciding any course you should do the math. Add the cost of the rail pass along with the mandatory seat reservations of 10 euros per person per leg of the trip. You can compare this with point to point tickets which include the reservation cost in the price. Go directly to the trenitalia site (official site) for the best prices. http://www.ticketclic.it/Gb/HTML/musei/colosseo.cfm Donna
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23318 posts
ALL trains in Italy except the Regionals requires a seat reservation and the fee ranges from 3 to 10E. The faster the train the higher the fee. Regionals are the slowest and take no reservation. Schedules are only posted about 60 - 90 days out but change little from quarter to quarter so if you want the schedule just plug in the day of week for next week. The Italian train is trenitalia.com. Also, bahn.de is a good site to view schedules for all of the European trains.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8166 posts
+1 on the above postings. There are so many trains, that making reservations far, far ahead is not required. Like they said, trains seldom sell out. RoninRome.com has the best explanations of Italian railways--including pictures of how to use ticket kiosks in the train stations. It's a great website for every facet of travel in Rome, too.
Posted by
Lafayette, LA
224 posts
The link below is the download for the Eurail pass timetable booklet that comes with rail passes. It is not an exhaustive list like trenitalia, but it does give an idea of routes, times and reservation necessities for the major routes. I http://www.eurail.com/sites/all/files/eurail.com/downloads/2012/eurail-timetable-2012.pdf