Hi,
We want to spend one night in Assisi, based on us getting a train from Assisi to Rome in the early evening of the following day.
We arrive in Assisi from Venice.
Next day see the sites in Assisi and then in the early evening take a train to Rome. However, I can't find any train schedules for June. Does anyone know if the trains between Assisi and Rome run in the early evenings? It would be a Friday evening.
And, how far in advance are the schedules published?
Thank you!
www.trenitalia.com
Use a date (maybe a Friday) in the next 7 days and you can see the schedule of regional trains, which are published weekly (The Assisi station is served by Regional trains only).
The schedule won't change much, if at all, with what you'll see in June.
The last direct train (no train change) leaves a bit past 18:00 hours.
The last train via Foligno (1 train change in Foligno) departs at 20:53.
The last train via Terontola (1 train change in Terontola), which takes longer than via Foligno, departs at 21:10.
Since they are Regionale trains, do not purchase the tickets on-line. There is no advantage and on-line tickets come with greater restrictions. Buy the tickets in any station and be sure to validate (time stamp) the ticket in the little blue/green/yellow box. Watch the locals do it.
Use a date (maybe a Friday) in the next 7 days and you can see the schedule of regional trains, which are published weekly (The Assisi station is served by Regional trains only).
No they aren't published weekly, they are published 120 days in advance like all other trains. For a few months trenitalia.com won't show any regional train after the next timetable change of June 12.
It's the third time I write it, you can easily check by yourself if you don't believe me.
I'm very sorry Dario that I don't have the time to read all your comments. I wonder if there is a way to get email alerts every time you write something.
I guess it would raise the average level of your inbox, but you should just re-read the threads where you have already posted once in a while. If you had done so, you would have discovered that Trenitalia has changed its policy months ago.
I have read you prior posts and will accept it at face value. Perhaps the policy has changed but historically you were only allowed to purchase Regrionale tickets on line seven days in advance. So last night spent some time on the trenitalia web site and can find no reference to Regionale tickets being available 120 days out. I would appreciate the reference so I can check it out myself. But that still does not negate that buying Regionale tickets on line is a poor practice and, probably, should be avoided.
Hi Frank, no problem.
It's written here:
If you don't speak Italian, you could google translate only this paragraph:
Novità
Da oggi puoi acquistare il tuo biglietto regionale per viaggiare quando vuoi (decade il limite dell'acquisto da 7 giorni prima della partenza) fino a 20 minuti prima di partire.
As I did in a previous post, I've taken a print screen of trenitalia's "buy" pages and circled in green the date (6-.10-2016) and the train category (Regionale # ).
http://s23.postimg.org/g98vrgdqj/Rsteves.jpg
I don't know why you couldn't obtain the same result last night, but I hope you'll trust me anyway even if didn't actually buy the ticket.
The print screen shows that you can now buy regional train tickets more than 7 days in advance, I've entered June 10 as departure date because of the limit of the next timetable change of June 11.
The 120-day window gets smaller and smaller as you get closer to the date of the timetable change, and then, the day after, it widens up again to 120 days. This happens only for Regionale trains that are subsidized by regional governments and are always the last ones to be loaded in the system. No competition from Italo... no "real" money from passengers ... no hurry. Trenitalia hates us all.
You are absolutely right: Regional train tickets bought in Italy (at the counter, at authorized travel agencies or at Tobacconists) come with less restrictions, but many tourists seem to appreciate the fact you don't need to validate tickets purchased on-line.
Jennifer,
Once you've researched your rail travel details on the Trenitalia website, it's just as easy to simply buy Regionale tickets in Italy. You could buy them in Venice when you arrive there or sometime during your stay there. I don't find validating tickets to be a huge problem (but don't forget to do that prior to boarding the train on the day of travel).
Wowza! Okay, thanks. It sounds like I don't have to make an advance purchase of train tickets to ensure that we will get a seat on the train that we want.
But, I also see that 120 days out I can get an idea of the timing of the trains, which I would like to have.
Did I get that?
Jennifer,
Check the current schedules within the next week or so, using the same day of the week that you'll be travelling. The schedules likely won't change much when the new schedules are posted in mid-June. Check again just prior to your trip. Roberto provided a good summary of your options on that route in his first reply.
When planning your touring in Assisi, be sure to allow adequate time to travel down to the rail station from the town. As I recall, it takes about 15 minutes by Bus.
THIS is what the station looks like.
If you're spending one night in Assisi, you might consider Hotel Ideale as it's almost right across from the bus station. They should be able to store your luggage while you're touring about the town. They would also be able to call a Taxi for you if you'd prefer that to using the Bus.
Jennifer,
If you decide to take the bus up into Assisi the store inside the train station sells bus tickets. You can also purchase bus tickets for your return trip to the train station. Don't forget to validate the bus tickets when you board.
Hope you enjoy Assisi, especially in the evening. It's a magical place.
Have a great trip,
Gene
Ken, Strange the link says Assisi train station but the signs all say Terontola.
Jennifer, depending on what kind of shape you are in you may want to take the Bus all the way to the top of Assisi and get off at the final stop Piazza Matteotti, then you get to walk down hill with your luggage.
You can also by tickets for the bus in the cafe at the Assisi train station.
Good suggestion about the Piazza Matteotti stop, I always start there and walk downhill. The only sights above it are Rocca Maggiore, Rocca Minore, and the Arena. Flights of stairs can get you to Rocca Maggiore as well.
That website with the Terontola sign is a Canadian site and they're wrong. The station for Assisi is actually called "Assisi" as you can see in the second group of photos that someone posted. And, as they correctly noted, the Assisi station is actually in the lower town of Santa Maria Degli Angeli. I imagine they call it Assisi as a convenience for all the tourists that go to Assisi.
