Short train trips in Italy

Most of your train travel will likely be on Regional trains, therefore the best option is to buy tickets at the station on the spot. Regional trains are like commuter trains. There are no discounts by purchasing ahead of time and they don't run out. If all seats are taken (very rare) you just ride standing up, just like on a subway.

The only exception is the portion from Florence to Rome (I would do Siena before Florence, or even do Siena as a day trip from Florence). That portion is served by high speed trains. You can save money by purchasing that portion online ahead of time (up to 120 prior to the travel day). However discounted (Economy and Super-economy) tickets are non refundable and non changeable, therefore if you later change your plans or if you miss the specific train you book you lose all your money. The one way full fare ("Base" price) from Florence to Rome is €45 in the standard class (formerly 2nd class). Discounted tickets save about 30 to 60% on that price.

All of those trains will be regionale. The tickets can only be bought a week in advance, and there is no benefit what-so-ever to do so, so just buy them as you need them at the train station. You will not have assigned seats, but there should be no problem getting seats next to each other. One caveat, you WILL need to validate! Otherwise you'll end up paying a huge fine on the spot. I haven't travelled when AC was needed, but I imagine the trains probably have it, even in second class.

You could also take the bus from Florence to Siena, and Siena to Rome. The train station in Siena is some distance from the city center, whereas the bus will drop you in piazza gramsci.

Grazie, to Roberto, and Angela, for the very helpful information!

Jeff (Sacramento)

Jeff, the best website for answering rail questions is deutsche bahn, the German rail site. You cannot buy the tickets for other countries there, but I think it's the most user-friendly site for identifying the trains you want to take and determining what type of trains they are (i.e., whether they are regional, high speed, etc.).

Before I leave for Europe, I copy their schedules for my travel days to a single page and print it. I find that makes life much easier at the train station, since I know what trains I want. I don't have to figure it out looking at the schedules at the station, when there's a line of people behind me.

Jeff, I know that many people on this forum encourage people to just go to the station and buy regional train tickets right before boarding. However, based on my own numerous personal experiences, I would encourage anyone to, if at all possible, buy their tickets sometime before going to the station to board their train. That might be when you first arrive in town, or the day or evening before your train departure date, or even early in the day that you are traveling. I think it is much better to arrive for your train departure with your ticket already in your hand, and then just learn your track number, validate your ticket, and get to the train. I say this because various times I have gone to the station and either found long slow lines at ticket counters, that make it difficult or impossible to buy a ticket in time to get on the train, and/or I have found ticket machines that are not working, or will not accept my credit card (perhaps a "chip" issue), do not take cash, or reject my cash payment instead of issuing a ticket. Several times, even when arriving with modest extra time, I have either missed the train or had to run to make it, because buying the ticket took so long. That also causes a lot of stress. When you arrive at the station and already have your ticket in hand, you need just a few minutes to get to your train and travel.

jeff,

To begin with, you might find it helpful to attend the next meeting of the Sacramento RS group, which meets once a month at a local restaurant. Here's a link to their last meeting.....

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/sacramento-travel-meeting-saturday-5-17-10-00-a-m

That would be a good way to "fine tune" your travel plans with an experienced and cheerful group.

Regarding your questions......

You can check each of your rail trips using the Trenitalia website, as that will indicate the type of trains that will be used on each route. One point to note is that schedules for August may not be uploaded yet, so just pick a day within the next week, using the same day-of-the-week that you'll be travelling (although the schedules seem to be working tonight for dates in August).

If you'll be using any of the "premium" trains such as the Freccia, InterCity or similar, you MUST have reservations which are specific to train, date and departure time. On those trains, you'll be assigned a Car No. (Carrozza) and Seat No's (Posti). If you miss the train listed on your ticket (or board the wrong train), you'll face hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! You can save money with pre-purchase of tickets for those trains, but note that you'll be locked into using ONLY the train listed on your ticket.

When travelling on Regionale trains, it's awkward to buy tickets in advance and there's no reason to do so as there's no price break. One important point to mention is that tickets for Regionale trains MUST be validated prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. Failure to do so will again result in hefty fines collected on the spot (these are often about €50 PP, and double if not paid at the time). Tickets have a "shelf life" once validated, so DON'T validate them on the day prior to travel.

If you're going to be buying P-P tickets in Italy, I agree with a previous suggestion to buy them at least the day prior to travel, either using a Kiosk or at a staffed ticket window. The Kiosks have an English-language option and are very easy to use. The ticket offices in larger stations often have LONG queues.

For the trip from Florence to Siena, you might consider travelling via Bus instead of train. The trip is only about an hour and you'll be dropped at Piazza Gramsci in the centre of town, rather than the bottom of the hill where the rail station is located. Again, you'll need to validate your ticket prior to boarding the Bus.

For the trip from Siena to Rome, you may travel first to Florence and then connect with the high speed Freccia train which travels at up to 300 kmH. That will depend on exactly which trains you choose. Florence to Rome is only about 90 minutes and it's a very pleasant (and quick) trip, so an efficient use of your travel time and somewhat of a "novel" experience. If you use that method, you'll have to take a Taxi from Siena down to the station (it's relatively cheap so that's not a big deal).

If using Buses or Metro in Rome, note that you'll also need to validate tickets there prior to boarding. For getting around Rome, I often buy a B.I.G. (one day) or B.T.I. (3 day) pass, which only has to be validated on the first use. The B.I.G. pass expires at midnight on the day of validation, while the B.T.I. pass expires at midnight on the third day after validation. They can be used for Buses, Metro, etc. within the central area of the city.

One final point to mention is that you'll have to be clear on which stations you're using in each location, as many cities have more than one. You might also do some research on the aspect of train changes, as you WILL be dealing with that at some point.

Buon Viaggio!

One other point to mention......

Most of the trips you'll be taking will use Trenitalia trains. There is a competing high speed service called Italo Treno that operates on a limited number of routes (they don't operate any Regionale-type trains). Their fleet is easy to recognize as the cars are a deep maroon colour. In some cases these use the same stations as Trenitalia, and in other cases they use different stations.

IMO, it would simplify your trips to just focus on using Trenitalia as they operate in all the areas you're going to be travelling in.

The other thing to know about the Regionale trains (esp. in August) is that even if they say they provide air conditioning, that's often more in theory than in practice. Try to travel as early in the morning as possible. And, yes, do buy your tickets at least a day in advance if you can. You never know when you might hit long ticket lines or broken ticket machines at the stations.