Train from Rome to Orvieto

You can not guess this. How do you know your plane will land on time? Maybe only a few immigration agents will be scheduled or show up that day, or a bunch of International flights will land just before you?

Looking at the schedule, there is a Leonardo Express leaving at 11:27 connecting to an IC train to Orvieto, and if you are very lucky, you could make that one. At 11:57, there is a Regionale going to Tiburtina station connecting to another Regionale to Orvieto. Regionali don't take reservations, sit where you find a seat.

Bottom line, buy train tickets when you get to the airport train station. Supereconomy tickets for the Rome Termini to Ovieto IC train only save you 8.60 EUR and if you miss the train, that ticket is worthless. It would be very unusual for the train to sell out. Just make sure you aren't arriving during an Italian holiday period when everyone is trying to get out of town for a 3-day weekend.

Check the train schedules at http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
Use "Fiumicino Aeroporto" as the start point and "Orvieto" as the end point.

You'll have multiple people suggest that the better course of wisdom is to wait until you get to Rome to buy your ticket to Orvieto, in case your plane is late, etc. I have (at least 4 times) gambled the other way, and it has worked out for me each time. In my case, I purchase an advance ticket to (usually) Florence or Venice on the day of arrival at FCO. The savings, if booked ahead several months, can be in the range of 30 or even 40 euros. Are you checking a bag? If so, add another 20 minutes or so to these suggested times: Landing, immigration, and out into the main part of the terminal: approximately 30 minutes. (Yeah, there could be quite a line at immigration, but I've never experienced it.) Then, give yourself another 30-40 minutes to find the train station, purchase your ticket, and get on the train to Termini. Another 30-40 minutes to Termini. And another 30 minutes at Termini to find your platform, and maybe purchase some food for lunch to eat on the train. Thus, 2 hours MINIMUM and I usually give myself 3 hours for comfort, and usually end up at a cafe in Termini for an hour (try the upstairs level at Termini). Note re the train to Termini: In the main part of the airport terminal is a ticket booth, and also one (or two, if they are both working), kiosks at which you can purchase a ticket. However, there's usually a line here. Just follow the signs through tunnels, and up escalators to the train station at FCO and purchase your ticket at a booth there, with no wait. Be SURE to get on the right train to Termini. There are two adjacent platforms. The guy who stands/sits at the turnstile to the train platform will confirm for you which platform will be the right one for your train.

We have flown into FCO several times and the last time, Sept 2017, our flight was 1.5 hrs EARLY! This was a first, as our flight is scheduled for 9:30 arrival (PHL to FCO direct) and never landed before 10:00 and sometimes we got stuck waiting to go to the gate. Bottom line- don't book your train tickets on your initial day unless you have money to burn or time to waste!

jmauldinuu, the potential savings from early purchase of a ticket to Orvieto are very modest (and there's no savings on the Rome-Orvieto leg if you end up on a regional train). It's very different from a Freccia run to Florence or Venice.

With a short onward train trip like Carol has, I would never be willing to do the schedule-padding I'd feel necessary to pre-purchase an arrival-day ticket. I could end up cooling my heels at Fiumicino or in Rome, waiting on my pre-purchased ticket to be valid, when I could already be in Orvieto!

acraven, you are so right! I was not really paying attention to the fact that carolfrffn will be taking some form of regionale; I usually am taking a Freccia, as you noted, once I land at FCO. So, carolgrffn.... what acraven said! Please disregard my advice about booking ahead (though notes about where to buy tickets at FCO, etc., might still be useful). Have a great trip!

Thanks all! I know it makes more sense to buy the ticket when I arrive. On a previous trip I tried to purchase a train ticket from a kiosk after I arrived, but the kiosk wouldn't accept my credit card. I then had to wait in line for over an hour to get a ticket (this was at Milano Centrale). Since that time I've always purchased my ticket ahead of time.

Was that with a chip credit card, or just magnetic strip? I have a true chip and PIN card, but others have reported that the Trenitalia kiosks work with just a chip & signature. But nowadays, you could download the Trenitalia app and buy tickets with your smartphone.

We need a definitive answer from someone else, but I think you can simply buy the ticket at FCO, where there should not be a significant line. One thing to try when a European ticket machine asks for a (non-existent) PIN for your credit card is just pressing "Enter". Some folks have reported that working on some occasions. It might be related to the size of the purchase, which in this case is very small.

It is dice roll. We have been through FCO four times. The shortest through immigration was 30 minutes (once) and over two hours the last time. One time on a local flight into Rome from Athens, the wait for luggage was over an hour, fifteen. Normally we only do carry on so that was a little unusual for us. When you run a tight schedule with several uncontrollable variable it doesn't take much to knock you off schedule.

I suggest buying the tickets at FCO and taking the train from FCO to Tiburtina to Orvieto.
I researched this about a year ago, I don't recall any significant price difference for buying the tickets ahead of time or at the FCO train station. There was a time difference in using Leonardo Express all the way into Rome and changing trains to get to Orvieto verses going directly from FCO to Tiburtina to Orvieto; the day we traveled, going via Tiburtina was faster.
The train station at FCO is well signed and was easy to find but it is small. The lady at the tickets window spoke excellent English, we asked her which route was best route and she recommended getting to Orvieta via Tiburtina. She sold us the tickets for both legs to Orvieto and for our train from Orvieto to Rome a several days later. We used a chip and signature card. These were all trains that were not reserved; no specific time for the train, no reserved seats. By the way, the train tracks are right next to the ticket window, no buy the tickets and run to find the train!
I asked for similar help about a year ago and got excellent advice. You should be able to find it on the forum.
Enjoy!