Please sign in to post.

Train advice

Posted by on

Hello,
It's getting down to detail now. I need help with train travel. I'm going to book through Rick Steves but I still need help choosing which trains. Couple of questions. We have 19yr old and 12 yr old children w/us. Are they considered adults?
On Wed, 5/31, we're leaving Venice and traveling to Monterosoos al Mare for 3 nights. D

My (Rome) Homeaway landlord is requesting my train & arrival time.
I'm leaving Cinque Terre on Sat, June 3rd for my Rome reservation.
Would I take the Trenititalia from La Spezia Centrale (Cinque Terra) to Rome?

Are these National or Regional trains?

Thanks for the help! :)

Posted by
11613 posts

Why not go directly to the Trenitalia website? Be sure to spell station names correctly (to get you to the pull down menu). From Monterosso to La Spezia is a regionale train, I am fairly sure.

Posted by
35 posts

I'm not used to reading foreign train schedules. So if I've got 2 kids (19 &12) would they get Cartafreccia Young Fino 26anni ?
If so, what do I enter for Loyalty code?
Also, any one know how to take advantage of the Buy 2 get 3 tickets?
Thanks,
Julie

Posted by
16895 posts

All of Trenitalia's youth discounts require you to buy a discount card, which is not worthwhile for these few trips. That card number would be the Loyalty Code. The kids will pay adult rates but you're probably all still getting some discount by booking ahead. Look for Economy fares on the chart, since Super Economy is probably sold out.

Posted by
8889 posts

Would I take the Trenititalia from La Spezia Centrale (Cinque Terra) to Rome?
Are these National or Regional trains?

A bit of terminology. Trenitalia is the Italian National Rail company. Website: http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
They operate nearly all the trains, though there are some local operators.
Trains are of two types: Long distance/high speed trains and "Regionalle", both are run by Trenitalia.
For long distance/high speed trains tickets are specific to a train, they have date, time, train number, coach and seat number on them. The tickets are only valid on that train (like air tickets are), and are considerably cheaper if bought in advance.
For Regionalle trains, tickets are open, you can use them on any train; but if you buy them at a station you must stamp them before getting on the train to stop you using them twice.

If you are going from (say) Monterosso al Mare to Roma, that is what you look up on the Trenitalia website. It will calculate the quickest route, which will involve changing trains, and a mixture of Regionalle and high speed trains. But you don't need to know the route in advance, it will tell you which trains and where to change. It will sell you a ticket that will cover all the trains, end-to-end.

Just go to the Trenitalia site, punch in where (and when) you want to go, and get a "print-at-home" ticket.

Posted by
35 posts

Help!!

I'm not able to complete the transaction of purchasing train tickets from Monterosso to Roma Termina on the Italiarail web site. (Four times) I get to the processing page and then an hour or two later I get an email that the transaction DID NOT go through. When I go to the Trenitalia site as some of you have suggested There is only one departure on 6/3/17 and it's at 7:20 pm. Do I have any other options?

Thanks in advance!
Julie

Posted by
1259 posts

Hi js. I'm seeing many options all day on trenitalia.com for June 3 from Monterosso to Rome. Be sure to change the 'hour' option to 7 am or so to see all options - maybe you are leaving at default which will the only show you a partial day.

Posted by
16395 posts

I'm not able to complete the transaction of purchasing train tickets
from Monterosso to Roma Termina on the Italiarail web site.

When I go to the Trenitalia site as some of you have suggested There
is only one departure on 6/3/17 and it's at 7:20 pm. Do I have any
other options?

Julie are you using the Trenitalia - NOT ItaliaRail - website? That's what you should be using. I just pulled up schedules from Monterosso to Roma Termini for 03/06/2017 and there are many train options available. Use the calendar to choose your date, and remember that European dating is different: June 3 will be 03/06/2017 and not 06/03/2017.

And as Bob noted, be sure to indicate the approx. hour you'd like to leave Monterosso.

Posted by
4181 posts

Try as I might, I cannot get this result: "When I go to the Trenitalia site as some of you have suggested There is only one departure on 6/3/17 and it's at 7:20 pm."

I get many options all day long with 1 or 2 train changes. Those with 1 are from a regional to a freccia train. Try using this page and make sure you are searching All Trains. Also click on the I for information about the kids. It looks like the 19 year old is an adult. The 12 year old appears to get a 50% discount on both kinds of trains.

As for this problem: "I'm not able to complete the transaction of purchasing train tickets from Monterosso to Roma Termina on the Italiarail web site. (Four times) I get to the processing page and then an hour or two later I get an email that the transaction DID NOT go through."

Have you told your CC folks that you will be charging something online in Italy in €? I have to have my CC turned on for overseas purchases in order for them to go through.

Good luck with your next attempt.

Posted by
1259 posts

js - a couple of other thoughts..

  • on Saturdays, there is also a '2 for 1' adult offer. It is limited capacity, so you will have to see if available on the train you want. I tried it on the 9:07 train, and it resulted in 2 adults for 76.30. Then after that, you could try to buy 2 more adults at that 2 for 1, or 1 adult plus 1 child (the 12 year old).

  • if this buying online is turning into a hassle, you can also just wait and buy in Italy - either pay full fare, or you may still get some discounts if you buy a few days in advance; you could purchase these tix at any station or ticket agency in Italy at your convenience.
    Enjoy your trip!!!

This topic has been automatically closed due to a period of inactivity.