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Train Reservations

Posted by on

My wife and I will be visiting Italy for the first time in a couple of months. I was under the impression that train reservations do not need to be made far in advance, but I was shocked by the info on the web site: www.italiarail.com

I was looking at the train schedule from Orvieto to Napoli Centrale on Mon, Sept. 28, 2015. There are 12 trains listed: 2 slower direct trains and 10 requiring a connection in Rome. 9 of those 10 had only a limited--often only 1--reservation left at the listed price.

Is this site accurate? Do I need to be making train reservations this far in advance?

Posted by
32405 posts

mal,

Reservations are provided with any tickets you buy, if they're required on the particular train you're using. That's the case whether you buy them from the website you linked, from Trenitalia (the operator of the rail system) or from other resellers such as www.capiatainetrain.com. You don't "need" to make reservations (buy tickets) far in advance, however some advance purchase tickets are heavily discounted (depending on how far in advance they're purchased) so it's always good to save money.

One of the easiest and quickest trips from Orvieto to Napoli Centrale is a departure 11:23, arriving Napoli Centrale at 14:15 (time 2H:52M, one change at Roma Termini). Current fare is listed at €31.50 PP (the second segment is via Freccia high speed, and there are still Super Economy tickets available for that date - however note that Super Economy are non-refundable and non-changeable so choose carefully). You can easily buy tickets for the first segment (Regionale) when in Italy as there's no advantage to buying in advance. DON'T forget to validate Regionale tickets prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or you'll risk hefty fines!

I can't comment on whether the site is "accurate" as I'm not clear on which particular aspect of the site you're asking about. It's a well known website, and I'm sure anything they have listed will be accurate.

Posted by
16895 posts

It sounds like there was only 1 ticket left at either the limited Super Economy or Economy rate, and perhaps that web site does not display the regular Base rate until the cheaper ones sell out. At www.trenitalia.com, they display all the rates at the same time, along with their different refund/exchange restrictions. There's no deadline to buy tickets and little likelihood of the train actually selling out.

Posted by
715 posts

It is best not to use Italrail. Go directly to the source and use trenitalia.com.

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