Can someone explain train traveling in Italy. We are going from Rome - Siena - Florence
Do we travel Trenitalia?
Is that the only train line?
An introduction for train traveling and/or a good website to help is greatly appreciated!
Being a NY'er I'm used to our system and know how easy it is but we are new to Italy travel.
Thank you in advance.
https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-italy.htm
There are 2 train companies
Trenitalia-fast trains and regional
ItaloTreno- fast trains only
You’ll be taking fast train from Roma Termini to Firenze SM Novella, then transferring there to a regional to Siena
( there are no direct trains from Rome to Siena)
Other option is slow regional train with change in Chiusi
Best option, quickest way is bus from Tiburtina
Both have easy to use apps
https://www.trenitalia.com/content/tcom/en.html
https://www.italotreno.it/en
There are many many discussions here about train travel in Italy
A search will probably bring up threads to that will answer all your questions
Thank you!
We are actually going from Rome to the Terontola-Cortona Station....If that helps.
Ok well that’s not Siena!
That will be a regional train or maybe an IC
Play around on Trenitalia site, it’s pretty easy to figure out
Schedules are only out thru June 11 but if you are traveling past that date, just use same day of week in May to see schedules, they don’t change much
Another tip for searching the train websites - be sure to put in the earliest time you want to be traveling (and remember it’s a 24-hour clock).
Hi ds,
I think you'll find the train travel easy and pleasant. I'm doing the reverse in April and will travel from Camucia-Cortona to Rome. I use the Trenitalia app and website. When I am certain of the time I will be traveling, I save money by purchasing some tickets ahead of time. I have always purchased 2nd class tickets and find those seats/cars quite comfortable and pleasant.
One piece of advice, when you purchase tickets at a station, be sure to validate your ticket(s) before you board the train. You'll see signs in all stations pointing to machines. Some of Rick's information in this article might be helpful. His Italy book also has great information.
Sharon
If your willing to take a chance you can purchase first class tickets at really low prices. If you not there for your train at the assigned time you will lose the ticket and your money. We purchase first class when available but did lose tickets a few times when we had plane delays.
You might want to look at https://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm.
You can also look at apps like The Trainline to see all the options in one place. They charge booking fees and have potential issues (how you get refunds from 3rd party, etc.). I just decided for me, the fee was a small thing compared to having my brain swizzled with all these different train lines in every country. I'm planning a UK trip right now with lots of train rides and I just gave up. I want all my tickets in one spot, one app, done. LOL
I haven't done my Italy train tickets yet, so maybe there's a different all in one train app that is preferred. Just saying it's something to look for, even just as a starting point to see what the options are.
https://www.seat61.com/websites/who-are-trainline.htm
Obviously read about the pros and cons.
You can also look at apps like The Trainline to see all the options in
one place. They charge booking fees and have potential issues (how you
get refunds from 3rd party, etc.). I just decided for me, the fee was
a small thing compared to having my brain swizzled with all these
different train lines in every country. I'm planning a UK trip right
now with lots of train rides and I just gave up. I want all my tickets
in one spot, one app, done. LOL I haven't done my Italy train tickets
yet, so maybe there's a different all in one train app that is
preferred
Both the Trenitalia and ItaloTreno websites and apps are so simple to use I don't see any reason to need a third party reseller to organize your tickets in Italy. For simplicity sake we most often just book with Trenitalia as we usually have a mix of fast and regional trains. (ItaloTreno runs only fast trains).
I can see some benefit of Trainline if you are traveling in multiple countries and have many different train companies to deal with- but I'd still probably not use. I prefer to avoid third party resellers/sites.
OP has indicated that they only need tix for a few certain routes- all served by Trenitalia, so why not keep things simple and use just Trenitalia?
