Train from Rome to Naples

Kay, I'd suggest waiting until you're in Italy, and buying the ticket a few days before you'll be travelling, either from a ticket office or one of the automated Kiosks. Just curious, why are you planning to take a "slow" train on that route, rather than one of the fast ES / AV trains?

The best site to buy train tickets from for Italy is the official site, trenitalia, not raileurope, eurorail or something similar. http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD If you buy them online ahead of time you can get the mini fare if it's still available. For the IC train on Sept. 16 I found an IC train for 18 euros. For 22 euros you can get the mini fare of the AV train which is the regular price for the IC train. I think you are misunderstanding the way the discounts work. With the mini fare you must book no later than midnight the night before travel. You can book up to any time before that. These are limited fares and do sell out so the farther in advance you book the better chance you have of getting a good fare. If you wait until a day or two before you travel you run the risk of the fares being sold out. Donna

I've always taken Rick's advice: plan an orderly departure the day you arrive. That way you don't have to do a mad scramble the day of your departure and you'll know you have a seat on the train you book. Are you arriving in Rome via train to Roma Termini? There's a convenient commuter train that takes you from the FCO airport right into Termini. If so, you can buy your tickets when you get to Termini. Using Rick's phrase book, I script out the fare class I want (example, 1st Class is Prima Classe), the number of tickets (use numbers not words; numbers are universal) and type (adult, chidren, etc) and the destination. Often the people in the ticket booth don't speak English. It's better to hand them a piece of paper describing what you want, even if it's in broken Italian. Lookup the train # and departure time you want on line and write it on your script along with the other information.

Thanks, to everyone. Ken: the reason for the slow train is that I have looked online the fast trains or about double the euros of the slower train. I think I'd rather spend the additional euros on a good dinner. Donna: I had looked at the Trenitalia site but they offered nothing in the morning, only afternoon for September 16. We want to depart around 9 or 9:30 a.m. I will check again with Trenitalia to see if I can get morning reservations. €18 sounds fantastic. €22 on the AV train sounds even better. Earlier this morning I clicked on the mini fares on the Trenitalia site and nothing came up. Any suggestions as to what I am doing wrong on my computer? Hank: very good suggestion about writing down exactly what I'm looking for. I remember being in a residential section of a tiny town in France at about 10:30 p.m., completely lost. We, thank serendipity, found a woman saying goodnight to her guests in front of her home. No matter how many times I mispronounced Saumur she did not understand. Fortunately, I had a map and could point to the town. Her guests very graciously offered to show us the way. I will certainly write down the train I want if I don't look the train in advance. Again, thank you all.

We did this trip in mid-June. The slow train was long, but only about 22 Euros, while the fast train was 90 Euros second class. If there was one thing I am glad we "splurged" on in Italy, it was this train. 70 minutes door to door in very comfortable surroundings. Especially coming home. After "enjoying the Circumvesuviana train to and from Pompeii, and a hot day in the sun, the train was a welcome relief. Even if you are just going one way from Rome to Naples, this is a very sensible thing to do. Spend your time visitng things you want to see,rather than dragging through the countryside-nice, but bland, not like Tuscany. We found the auto ticket machines very simple and easy to use -see Ron-in Rome's great tutorial on his website. We bought our tickets the afternoon before our trip and booked the earliest ride we could get to from our hotel.

Kay,
I totally agree with the previous poster that the faster train is sooo worth the extra cost. I took a slow train on my first trip in Italy (by mistake, as we had paid for a fast train...but that's another story....our error), it was hot, slow, very outdated looking, and I'll spare you my description of the bathroom. I was exhausted and melting by the moment. On our second trip, we enjoyed the high-speed train from Naples to Rome, and oh my gosh, what a difference. So, after the long flight to get to Rome, definitely treat yourself to the high-speed train. Your body and your spirit will thank you, and you quickly can go about enjoying what Italy has to offer. Views from the train tracks/stations are not spectacular. And, great advice you were given to have everything written down. I even used the on-line translations of English to Italian (which are just sort of accurate sometimes), to have little index cards with key needs in my pocket, just in case I could not communicate well enough in Italian and the train personnel did not speak English (and many don't). Happy travels!

Kay, when you enter your cities and dates you must also enter the time. If you don't it defaults to the current time, so if you're looking at the site at 3 pm they will only show trains from then after unless you change the time. I would check it out again enter a time of 7am to see what you come up with. This far in advance there is absolutely no way all the morning trains are sold out. Donna

For getting the mini fares, enter your cities, dates and change the time. Click to the next page. Choose the train that you wish to travel on and click continue. The next page will show if there is a mini fare available. The mini fare changes with the time so one time may have a lower or higher mini fare than another. Just keep checking the different times. Donna

No driving around it on the way to Sorrento. Husband wants a car.Trying to tempt him with these train comments to at least consider it.
Pat

Thanks again to everyone. Donna, I'll try the Trenitalia site again using your instructions. Thank you so much. I will also rethink the slow versus fast train options. I really appreciate everyone's help.

Here's the link to the ticket machine tutorial that will make you an expert. http://www.roninrome.com/%20transportation/buying-a-train-ticket

Yeah, one of the biggest problems with the slow trains is that they quite often don't have air conditioning. Traveling when you are, I would want to make AC a priority. Happy travels.

Another view of slow vs fast train. We take the IC trains as much as posssible and took the slow train from Naples to Rome earlier this year. Cost was one reason but the other was that we use the extra time as time to rest. You didn't say if you were spending time in Rome before going to Naples but if so you might enjoy some enforced rest time and you'll be ready to go when you arrive. Also we buy our tickets one or two days before the travel date and in two visits of three weeks each we have never had a problem.

Is that 90 Euro one way per person? Makes me wonder if it would be cheaper to rent a car? I mean that would be 360 Euro for myself and husband to come from Rome to Naples and then back again? I can rent a car for 340 dollars for 6 days
Pat

90 euros is RT for second class with the base fare. You can still get the 7:35 am AV train (fastest train) for the 22 euros mini fare. If you are set on your dates you should buy these soon before the mini fare goes up. Donna

Margaret, you do NOT want to drive in Naples if you don't have to...risky and dangerous, parking is a nightmare, and cars stolen regularly.

Help! It seems that today (or tomorrow) is exactly 2 months in advance of my departure date (Rome to Naples) which is September 16, 2011. I found a mini fare for two people on the fast train (€44) on the Trenitalia website. Which is great! But I'm not sure quite how to proceed. The option I can do two months in advance is ticketless through e-mail. The site says: "You can buy a ticket with the ticketless procedure up to two months in advance". Does this mean any time before tomorrow (two months in advance)? I know this sounds stupid and lame but please bear with me. I've been known to mess up things via the Internet so I just want to be sure before I purchased the tickets. The site then says that ticket issuing takes place on board the train and I will evidently have a PNR number to give them. It also says that "customers who use the ticketless method are not allowed to collect or print their ticket". Does all this sound correct?
Then there are the "Seat descriptions: mandatory reservation or seats salottion business?" The first offers window, aisle or middle. The second seems to offer window or aisle. Is the first option for second-class? And the salottion business option for first-class? Then I must select seat near to coach: (blank). How do I determine which coach is preferable? Does it matter? Do I need to finalize this tonight?

Please ignore my previous e-mail! I just figured it out and was able to purchase tickets online using my US issued MasterCard on the FS train for their mini fare of €44 for two people, which is essentially the same fare as to regular price tickets on the slow train! Thank you thank you thank you everyone for your help. Special thanks to you, Donna. Couldn't have done it without you!

Kay, that's awesome! I'm glad you were able to book the tickets. One less thing to worry about. Have a great trip. Donna

If you are going to Sorrento, there is no problem AT ALL crossing Napoli metro area. There are many freeways all over there without any of the scares posted here.