Will be arriving with my family in Rome after Christmas. Will be taking the train immediately to Naples. Any suggeston on what train to take. I see that there are fast trains but very expensive in both 1st and 2nd class. On the web sites there are slower trains for half to price. Help!! Since I am paying for the 5 of us, I am concerned about the total cost vs spending another half hour or hour on the train. Any suggestions? I believe that first class has a more comfortable seat however is there more room for luggage. We will each have one medium suitcase and one back pack. We arrive 8:30 am in the morning and not comfortabe prepaying for a specific train and time. Any help would be appreciated.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23290 posts
We travel in second class most of the time and find it more than adequate for comfort and space for luggage. First you will need to get from the airport to Termini. The Leonard Express is non-stop and will cost 14 Euro. The local train with take a little longer and will make a number of stops but it is only 8E. Regional trains are the slowest and cheapest. No advance reservation either so just buy a ticket, validate it, and get on.
Posted by
The Hague, NL (AMS)
2207 posts
Dean, with five people - not sure their ages - you might look at a private shuttle option to Roma Termini Station. The cost of five adult fares would be €70 on the The Leonardo Express Certainly that's in the ballpark for a private shuttle. Depending on your luggage and age of your travelers, a private shuttle may be a more comfortable, convenient, and cost-saving option. Unfortunately, the €8 train, the The FR1 Metropolitan, does not go to Roma Termini, which is where you'll connect to get to Napoli Centrale. As suggested by Frank, there are "slower" and thus less expensive trains you could take. Because you're arriving by AIR this day, I'd agee to shy away from pre-booking the cheaper Trenitalia MINI discounted tickets. If your plane is late and/or you miss your train connection, your five tickets would be worthless. Probably not worth the risk - especially travelling near Christmas. You can book on the slower trains to save money. You might read these two posts, Riding Trains in Italy and GAC's excellent article, 1st Class or 2nd Class tickets for some more help on which trains might work for you. Good Luck!
Posted by
fort montgomery, ny, usa
94 posts
Take the Trenitalia train.Buy a Global Pass for each person. It was 10 Euro a person . We had bought from Rick Steve before our trip to Italy the Eurail One Country Pass- Flexi My family went on the train 3 different times. This pass reserves your seat. So each time we went on the train we had the one pass and then 4 Global Pass for there was 4 people. And keep the Country Pass Safe because you need it everytime you go on the train with your Global Pass. And yes we went 1st class. And we had 4 suitcase and 2 carry on and I would suggest get one carry on -backpack. The elevators were not working, train strikes, bus strikes and they have lots and lots of steps. But you will have fun.
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
Before buying any type of rail pass check the trenitalia website and price out point to point tickets. This will usually be the cheaper option over a rail pass as you don't have to pay for a seat reservation in addition to the pass. You can also qualify for the mini fares if you buy in advance. This can save you up to 60% off the regular price. I only use 1rst class seats when traveling for very long periods of time. There is not much difference in the seats, space or service to justify paying for it if you're on very short trips. I wouldn't use first class on the trip to Naples. The trip is about an hour and not worth the extra money. As suggested, you'll have to take the express train from the Rome airport to the termini station or take a private transfer to the termini station. The company I use is romecabs.com. From the termini station you can take the high speed train to Naples. I would not pre-book any trains for the day of arrival since your plane can be delayed and your tickets would become worthless if you've purchased the "mini" fare. You can use the self service kiosks to buy your tickets. They are just like ATM machines and very easy to use. Donna
Posted by
Tilburg, Netherlands
2829 posts
While differences betwene 1st and 2nd class on high-speed trains is not that big, there is a HUGE difference between slower trains (some of which don't even have aircon or adequate heating on 2nd class) and the fast ones. Try to find a late train that is high-speed and buy a MINI fare. Better spend time at a comfortable station than shackling on regional trains all the way to Napoli.
Posted by
Edmonds
13 posts
We took the 'slow' train from Rome to Naples. We bought 1st class as it wasn't that much more. For us it was a good choice to do so.
The trip isn't so far/long that the slower train proved any problem As someone else suggested, check the Trenitalia site for schedules and fares. Its fairly easy to buy a ticket at the station and our train wasnt anywhere near full ( July) so advance purchase wasnt necessary. We had a roll-on bag and small back pack and had no trouble storing our luggage