Rome to Assisi

At this point, there is no reason to buy those Regionale (Local), Regionale Veloce or Intercity tickets in advance. Wait until you get to Termini, and buy them there. There is a direct (no changes) Regionale Veloce train that leaves at 14:23 and takes 2 hours, but it's not worth waiting for. Get tickets for whichever one is next and then change trains in Foligno. Be sure to figure out which track your Foligno train departs from. It's a relatively small station but I seem to recall that there's both a Track 1 (Binario 1) and a Track 1N (for North). We missed our train there because I thought 1 and 1N were the same. They're not.

NOTE: These will likely NOT be reserved seat tickets THEREFORE YOU MUST VALIDATE THEM BEFORE BOARDING THE TRAIN. It's really easy to forget to do that, esp. your first day in the country. Because the changeover in Foligno might be tight, I would validate both legs of the trip in Rome (assuming they give you one ticket for each leg). They'll be good for five hours.

And FYI, in a lot of the stations they've moved the validation machines off the waiting platforms and into the subterranean passage that connects the various tracks. And the machines used to be yellow like this but now they're dark green like this

There are trains for Assisi at 11:28 (Foligno), 11:58 (Foligno), 14:23 (direct), 15:40 (Terontola-Cortona), 15:58 (Foligno), 17:00 (Foligno) and later.

Have a great time. Assisi is amazingly beautiful. I'll be there for two weeks in April-May of next year.

Thanks; that's helpful.

We did a similar trip earlier this year but to Orvieto. You don't say how you're arriving in Rome, but if you're flying in, when you buy your Leonardo Express ticket to go from the airport to Termini, the ticket seller can also sell you your train ticket to Assisi. S/he will be able to give you a choice of times and speeds and will know the best connection time for you. If you are able to do this, it will save you time and stress at Termini.

Good to know; that's what we'll do.

Brilliant suggestion by Carol. AND REMEMBER TO VALIDATE! (^_^)

Just so you are prepared: when you change trains, if you have to change platforms, you will have to go down and up a flight of stairs. When you get to Assisi, you may have another flight of stairs to get from the platform to the station. You can get bus tickets at the station that will take you into the historic center, but with luggage you may want to take a taxi. The historic center of Assisi is very hilly with lots of steps.

When you buy the tickets to Assisi, ask what the stop before your transfer station and the approximate arrival time - and also the stop before Assisi. That way you'll have time to get yourselves and your luggage to the door without stress.

Last June, my family and I made a short connection in Foligno between Assisi and Roma Termini. We only had a few minutes to make the connection and we were nervous. Turns out, we had plenty of time with only a few minutes and ran for no reason. There are only about 4 parallel tracks in Foligno. You get off your train, find a digital train schedule board or a train station worker and just ask "Assisi per favore?" You will get the platform number. Then, just take the underground passageway to the correct platform. The underground passageway is well marked with signs. You don't need to run, but don't go looking for snacks either if you have less than 10 minutes.

You can buy train tickets 30 minutes before the train leaves. I say 30 minutes only because others may be buying tickets. Or, our ticket counter clerk made a mistake on our tickets which he caught and had to redo our tickets.

A lot of great suggestions; thank you all.