Rail passes in italy

That Eurail pass does not include the 10 EUR reservation fee per person per train ride.

Hi Carolyn, we used to live in Snohomish!

If you look on www.trenitalia.com, and put in a date in early April, you will see cheaper train tickets. For instance, Rome to Florence is 29.90 Euro. Same price for Rome to Naples. To obtain the cheaper prices, you need to purchase the train tickets a couple of months ahead on-line (the cheap tickets are popular and will be gone if you wait). The cheaper tickets are for a specific train and time - just like a plane ticket.

I’ve been to Italy at least five times, taking the train all over, and I have never purchased a rail pass.

I should also mention that on the train site, use these names:

Rome is Roma
Naples is Napoli
Florence is Firenze

Nope. And today before you buy anything online you should read everything and don't buy anything you don't understand. There are industries that know how to take advantage of certain customers

Are you thinking of staying in Rome and taking daytrips to Naples and Florence? That makes a difference.

If going one way, Rome to Florence is as low as 21 euro on Italo if bought well in advance. A same-day return ticket for a daytrip comes to around 47 euro.

As you are quoting your fares in $$, I assume that you are using RailEurope? Please don't do that. You'll waste a ton of money.

Please read this article from the esteemed Man in Seat 61, where it is explained that the one way fare from Rome to Naples can be 9.90 Euro and Rome to Florence can be 19.90 Euro - https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Rome.htm#Rome-Italy

By these calculations, you would spend 39.70 Euro to make a roundtrip from Rome to Naples and then a one way trip from Rome to Florence. Compared to the $230 plus $30 in reservation fees you would spend with a pass, I think you can see which is a better deal. Heck, your reservation fees alone would be as much as the tickets bought from the actual train company.

As well as Trenitalia, check Italo (a private rail company with competitive rates to select cities) for Rome>Naples RT, and Rome>Florence RT ticket prices as well. Oh, and lowest carriage classes are just fine: no need to pay more for Business or 1st Class unless you get a decent enough advance price break.

Do understand that with either Trenitalia or Italo, landing advance economy tickets pretty much commits you to the specific train at the specific time and day you're booking for so read the terms and conditions. Changes without penalty may be possible BEFORE your train is scheduled to depart but not afterwards, and sometimes there are fees to make that change. It depends on the type of ticket you purchased.

https://www.italotreno.it/en

I see there's a special right now on Italo for same-day return tickets (as in RT tickets for a day trip from one city to/from another) so you might see what's available for your dates? Choosing some random dates in May, I'm seeing advance "smart" (economy carriage class) tickets Rome> Naples RT around 20 euros each way (so abt 40 euros total)

Italo doesn't accept any passes, BTW.

well, thanks, everyone... im still confused and we will go to rick steves edmonds office and chat...
i went to Trenitalia and put in may 18th at 8am roma to napoli and somehow wouldn't let me put a return date (for later that same day) and $ was $99 euro... was that for 4 adults I put in ? if so .. that is 25 each one way...????
right now we dont' know what days we will want to train down to naples and coast area... so it would work for us to just buy tickets at train station early the morning we want to leave???? you can buy tickets right at tremini ???
we have airbnb in rome for the 8 nights we are there and would spend night in coast area either south or north if we had too but if we could get a return train back to rome, we would... trains only run to 10pm? sorry about being so dumb....
we are on a led greece tour from May 6-14.... trying to do this Italy on our own...

It is possible that you are trying to buy a return ticket. There are no return tickets. You need to buy two, one way tickets. So Rome to Naples, and then Naples to Rome.

Actually there is a "Same Day Return" ticket available.
https://www.trenitalia.com/en/offers/same-day_return_offer.html

Still, it might be cheaper if Super Economy tickets are still available when you buy.

Thanks,,, probably roma to naples train is one way...
still am wondering if you just walk up to tremini train station and buy your ticket right there and hop on train to florence...(which part of florence to we want to train to? i saw there were several train stations.... in Florence.
i read the train in seat #....
senior fares are for US seniors . or just italians with a special card?

I just put in May 18, 4 adults 8 am from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale, and I checked the "Return" box.
Got 99.60 EUR Super Economy. I then clicked "Continue" and got my choice of return trains, I chose 17:30 and continue and got 99.60 for the return, 199.20 for the tickets buying today and hit "continue" again and went to the payment page. Same Day Return tickets would have been 276 EUR.

If you buy at the station on day of departure, it would be 192 EUR each way for 4 adults, 384 EUR total.

Buying tickets on a Freccia train for the day of travel has three potential issues:

• You will probably end up paying full fare, whereas if you are willing to commit to a specific day and time and buy a non-refundable ticket now (assuming some are still available), you will pay considerably less.

• All Freccia seats are reserved, and some of the trains may be totally sold out.

• Ticket lines at Italian rail stations can move surprisingly slowly. I have missed a train while standing in such a line. The ticket machines are easy to use--as long as they don't choke on your US credit card.

As you can see from the fares being discussed, there's a not-often-mentioned disadvantage to making day-trips to distant locations: You have to take a fast train, and those tickets are costly. At least you already know the situation and can give this question some thought: Are a few hours in Naples worth over $100 US per person round-trip?

I believe all fast trains go to Napoli Centrale and only that station. Fast trains to Florence go to S. M. Novella. One reason fast trains are fast is that they make very few stops. Regional trains may stop at more than one place in a city, but they are much slower and not usually suitable for long trips like this. A regional train from Rome to Naples would take about 3 hours.

I have used the senior card (Carta d'Argento) in Italy. As of last year the cost was 30 euros. It can be bought by non-Italians; you just show your passport to establish your age.

still am wondering if you just walk up to tremini train station and
buy your ticket right there and hop on train to florence...(which part
of florence to we want to train to? i saw there were several train
stations.... in Florence.

Carolyn, the Roma station is "Termini". While you can certainly buy walk-up tickets at the station on your day of travel, if you are willing to commit to a specific day and time to travel, you can often save a lot of $ by purchasing bargain-priced tickets in advance, when available.

The main train station you want in Florence is Firenze S.M. Novella. I can't answer the question about senior fares but I'll assume, based on previous posts about the subject, that advance ticket prices are more economical; see the thread linked below:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/trenitalia-senior-discount