Train reservations

You will be fine buying your tickets when you get there. You will have trouble buying them online from Trenitalia anyway as they reject most U.S. credit cards. You can buy the tickets online at www.raileurope.com but they will charge you more as they are ticket resellers.

Next, there are 53 trains a day departing Rome for Florence. Most are high-speeds with most of those being non-stops. Almost a 1/2 million people go through Rome Termini each day so you won't be able to avoid the crowds. You can avoid the lines by using the electronic ticket machines. Very fast and they will prompt you in English and accept your U.S. credit card. If you know your departure time in Florence for Venice, you can buy those tickets at the same time and avoid the ticketing process altogether in Florence.

The electronic ticket machine will also make the seat assignments for you. It's all included in the fare price.

You can buy tickets at the train station or a travel agency either on, or a few days before the day of your travel. Whether you get a rail pass or buy individual tickets can be determined by how many days you will travel by train, and how much on those days. If you're flying into Rome and going directly to Florence, I'd buy them in advance for at least the first leg of your trip. If you're going to be in Rome for a few days, take the train from the airport to the Termini Station and get them there, then on to your destination in Rome.

Rick has some great info at http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/ which is at the above tab for "Railpasses".....

and you can go to this link to check on a variety of train options from Rail Europe:

http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/point_to_point/triprequest.htm?WT.mc_id=msn.Railroads+-+M.cpc&WT.term=trenitalia&WT.campaign=1513&WT.source=msn&WT.medium=cpc&WT.content=603143507&WT.mc_id=bing.Railroads+-+M.cpc&WT.term=trenitalia&WT.campaign=1513&WT.source=bing&WT.medium=cpc&WT.content=603143507&cshift_ck=1416866154cs603143507&WT.srch=1

Or you can buy the tickets in the airport ticket office when you buy the Leonard Express tickets. You don't have to wait till Termini. However, Termini has about 200 or at least it seems that many ticket machines. Looks like the floor of a LV casino. Pick a friendly one. I would avoid RailEurope even for checking. Their train schedules are incomplete and overpriced.

This has all been helpful but I must ask what is the Leonard express?

This has all been helpful but I must ask what is the Leonard express?

Leonardo Express (we try to get on Frank about his keyboarding, but you know how retired professors can be)--this is the direct shuttle train between FCO and Rome's Termini station.

Buy at the train station, but get there plenty early so that you don't run into a full train and have time to find the right platform. I always buy at the automated kiosks in the lobby. They are in English and very intuitive. They accept credit cards and you don't have to deal with surly ticket agents. The ticket lines are usually not too bad, however. You can't buy online ahead of time using an American issued credit card. If you pay a little extra and get a 1st class ticket, you will be much more comfortable. Put your luggage in the rack at the end of the car, but close enough that you can keep an eye on it. Cable lock it to the rack if possible.

We will be flying into Venice and then traveling by train to Florence and then on to Rome and finally Naples. If we know what trains I want to catch from Florence to Rome and then Rome to Naples, can wepurchase all of these tickets at the station in Venice to save time at the other stations? Or are we better off purchasing at a ticket office/travel agency in Venice when we arrive? One last question, it appears that the prices quoted on the Rail Europe website are higher than those on Trenitalia. Is that an accurate observation?

Thanks!

Yes, you can buy all of your tickets in at the Venice Train Station. Yes, RailEurope's prices are higher and they do not show all of the available trains.

You can also purchase your tickets in Italy from a Travel Agent with a small additional surcharge for their service to you.

Thanks for that info. I had a travel agent try to tell me that the prices were no higher on RailEurope's website but when I did the math, there was a definite difference.

One word about buying your tickets at a machine. If you look at the Trenitalia site at home, you can print out a schedule to take with you. If you know which train you want, it makes buying the tickets a snap. Also, if your trip includes a change of trains, you will get a separate ticket for each train. Be sure to pick up each ticket from the machine. We almost left one behind. You can buy all your tickets for all your trips at one time if you want. The machines are very intuitive. You may get people coming up wanting to "help". Wave them away, and they will eventually leave.

Terry: That's why I don't use Travel Agents!

Thanks to all! We will be buying all our tickets once we arrive in Venice. I have printed the schedule from Trenitalia and know which trains we want to take. How far before departure time should we arrive at the station to get ourselves settled on the trains?

The station at Venice is not huge, but it is very busy. I'd arrive at least 20 minutes early if you already have your ticket. If you need to buy your ticket, factor in another 20 minutes or so. Also, ask at your hotel how much time to allow to get to the station. By the way, I notice that your first train trip is out of Rome. You can buy all your tickets there for all your trips if you wish.

I have been reading all of your wonderful advice about train reservations. Thanks for the information. One quick question - - if you have a Rail Pass, are you able to use the automated ticket machines to get your train reservations?

Thanks!

Mary Jo

Not to detract from Rick's wonderful website, but I have attached a website below which has essentially step by step instructions with photos of the FCO airport and train station. Might help in seeing where you'll be buying your train tickets.

http://www.roninrome.com/2009/04/23/the-train-station-at-fco/

i actually had the same question as Mary Jo above:

if you have a Rail Pass, are you able to use the automated ticket machines to get your train reservations?

Thanks!

Mary Jo and Mark,

Yes, if you have a railpass, you can buy seat reservations from a ticket machine.

Eric, thanks for the Ron in Rome link. Another easy to use, great source of information!