Need suggestions for train tickets. What site should I buy them from? We will be traveling from Vicenza to Florence and then Florence to Rome. Any advice would be appreciated.
Posted by
North Carolina
2450 posts
Trenitalia is the national train service, and covers both routes. Italo is a private company that also has trains from Florence to Rome. Be sure to use Italian names of cities when looking them up (Firenze, Roma). There are various levels of trains - if you choose a Regionale train, there's no point to buying online. Just get your ticket at the station, and be sure to validate it before getting on board (time/date stamp it in one of the machines in the station). For a high-speed, reserved-ticket train, you may be able to save money by buying online considerably in advance, but doing so locks you into a particular time - there's no refund if you miss the train. Also note that some of the Italo trains go to the Termini station, whereas others go to the Tiburtina station.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
ja,
I'd suggest buying the tickets from www.captaintrain.com as they have a very user friendly website, and sell tickets for both Trenitalia and Italo at the same prices (without any extra fees). You can also buy tickets from each rail network if you wish.
A few points to note. If you buy far enough in advance and get the discounted Super Economy tickets on Trenitalia, these are non-refundable and non-changeable after purchase. Also, tickets for the faster trains (Freccia, InterCity) are ONLY good for the one train, date and departure time listed on the ticket. If you miss that train, your Super Economy tickets are worthless and you'll have to buy more at full price (Base fare).
Posted by
Pacific Northwest
2622 posts
Captain Train is very user friendly and a quick and easy way to buy those tickets. I usually buy in advance to save money for long routes, but then I am locked into a specific train, which works fine for me.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thanks for the suggestions! Our daughter is two and is free on the trains but do I need any type of ticket for her? When I went to book the tickets on captain train.com it said she wasn't included in the reservation. I just want to make sure I don't do anything wrong since the tickets are non-refundable. Also, what is the suggested transfer time between trains?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23273 posts
It depends in part on the station but 15 mins is enough for big stations and in smaller stations 5 to 10 minutes. However, for you very first transfer allow 30 min so you learn how to do it quickly.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32212 posts
ja,
If you book the entire route rather than each segment, the Trenitalia website will provide reasonable transfer times for each of the trains you'll be using. You can also research train details for most routes in Italy on the Bahn.de (German Rail) website, but you can't buy tickets there. The Bahn site doesn't provide details for trains operated by TreNord and a few other networks in Italy, so Trenitalia is a more reliable website to use.
Regarding tickets for a two year old, this might answer your questions.....
http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en/Offers/Bimbi-Gratis
If you have any problems buying tickets with the Captain Train website, I'd suggest sending them an E-mail. I've found their customer service to be excellent.