Train travel in Italy

A rail pass never makes sense in Italy. Buying point to point tickets directly from the trenitalia site is the cheapest and easiest way to go. You can look at schedules and prices at: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD With a rail pass you'll have to pay at least a 10 euros reservation fee for each trip so this will add to the cost of the pass. The seat reservation is worked into the price on the trenitalia site so the price you see is the one you pay. You may qualify for the mini fares if you pre-purchase. Some Americans have had success recently with their credit cards so give it a try. You may save a lot of money. Donna

Frances:
We are doing the Rome to Venice trip later this year, then backtracking through Umbria and Sorrento to Rome. Upon our arrival in Rome, we will take the Leonardo Express to from FCO to Termini, where we will connect with a high-speed train to Venice. I am not buying my ticket in advance because if the flight is late I could miss my train. That said, there are trains hourly to Venice from Termini. Oh, and the Leonardo Express is a 31 minute trip, runs every half hour as I understand it. As Donna suggested, research times on the Trenitalia website. Make a list of dates, times, train numbers and have that ready to show a ticket agent or to reference should you choose to use the self-service kiosks. Buy a few days in advance where possible (i.e., buy Venice to Florence segment when you get to Venice) to ensure you get the train you want, and to take advantage of discounts. Note that Naples is rarely recommended as the place to stay to see Pompeii. The usual recommendation is to stay in Sorrento. You would take a train from Florence to Naples, then the Circumvesuviana from Naples to Sorrento, and the same train to day-tour Pompeii. Do you have the Rick Steves' Italy guidebook? Lots of useful info about trains, Pompeii, Naples, Sorrento in there.

Thank you all so much, I had to idea that Sorrento was the place to stay and will definetly take that sugestion to heart, I've always wanted to go there anyway, LOL. I am now 30 and this is the trip of a lifetime for me, the planning started as only 1 week in Italy but it looks like I willnot be able to contain myself and will have to extend it to 2 weeks, oh my, what to do, LOL. I have been an avid Rick Steves fan since my teen years, while my friends watched MTV I was watching Rick's show on PBS. The trip is on!!

Congratulations on being able to take this trip at 30. It took us many more years to finally get there. Don't know if you bought tickets yet but you can fly round trip fare and leave Italy from a different city. You don't have to fly in and out of Rome, unless you want to do it that way.

I want to fly to and from Rome, I think that it would be the perfect way to culminate the journey. I'd like to go tp Trevi Fountain the night before and just relax and reflect on the trip. This site is a huge help. I bought my Rick Steves books and actually am now considering extending the trip to 11 nights and making Rome my base. I can't wait until June!!!

Frances, You've received lots of great tips so far. Could you confirm if you're planning to visit five cities from Venice to Sorrento in an 11-day time frame??? If so, that will allow about 2.2 days per city with no allowances for travel times? If that's the case, this is a bit "ambitious" and is going to be difficult to achieve (IMHO). You'll also need to consider that you'll lose the first day in flight times and will arrive in Italy the day after you leave the U.S. and the last day will be spent on the flight home. Therefore you'll only have nine days for actually touring (and you'll probably be jet-lagged for the first day or two, so won't be up to full "touring speed"). In order to maximize your limited travel time, I would highly recommend using open-jaw flights! If you start in Venice, it would not only eliminate "backtracking" but would also allow you to finish the trip in Rome which you wanted. It would also provide a more "gentle" introduction to the culture as this is your first trip. The culture in Italy becomes more "intense" as you head south (especially south of Rome). If you could provide a bit more information, it would be easier to offer more specific suggestions. Cheers!

"...and this is the trip of a lifetime for me..." I'm betting this is the FIRST trip of a lifetime - you just wait and see ;-) But only if you listen to the advice given here; otherwise, you'll hate the whole experience. I LOVE your enthusiasm! I, too, watched RS for years and dreamed of Europe... If you really want to fly R/T to/from Rome, I suggest catching a train from Rome to Venice immediately; it's an hourly non-stop that takes 3h45m and costs €74 2nd class (approx. $100). then go to Florence, then to Sorrento (hourly TO NAPLES - add-on Circumvesuvia to Sorrento, 3h00m, non-stop, €72,00 2nd), then to Rome. You have A MINIMUM of 13 days of sight-seeing, in my opinion: 3 for Venice (incl. 1st travel day, so really 2 days), 3 for Florence (EARLY train from V. to F.), another EARLY train from Florence to Sorrento for 3 1/2 days (plus 1/2 day travel time from F; to S.), then another early train to Rome for the last 3 days. So - that's actually 15 days...incl the two travel days...AND you could spend 2 days in Rome first, then the 3rd day in Rome the night before your flight... DEFINITELY one Carry-On-Sized bag! And buy your tickets there (but I don't have time to get into that right now...). DO get "Europe Through the Back Door" if that wasn't one of the books you've purchased...and read it front-to-back and then some. But you're a fan of Rick's, so that won't be a problem for you! ***"...am now considering extending the trip to 11 nights and making Rome my base..." I'm a bit concerned by the phrase "making Rome my base". As in going on day-trips from Rome? None of these locations are day-trips from Rome...OR do you mean just spending more time in Rome than the other places?

The most time I can take is maybe 11 days, so some places may have to be cut from the list, my guess is that I will stick with Rome, Pompeii & Venice. I like the idea of taking the train to Venice right away, as I have been looking at open mouthed trips and the price is way too much for me.

On your question about bike hire I can only comment on Rome and Venice. In the case of Venice it is forbidden to ride a bike there. When you go there and see the narrow laneways there you will see why. I don't know of where to hire a bike in Rome, but I would not recommend it. The traffic can be very heavy, and the roads are often narrow.

Frances, when you look at 'open-jaws'/'multi-city' flights, are you choosing the function called "Multi-city", instead of "Round-trip"? Many people try to put two one-way flights together, and I want to make sure you're not trying to do that! That IS very expensive! Also, don't forget that things like immediately taking a train to Venice adds $100+ to your travel costs (you still have to get to the train station from the airport - $ not included)...A flight that costs $150 more but goes to Venice is a better deal. I know - lots of details to keep track of! Do those 11 days (at most) include your travel days, too? (such as, depart USA on April 1 and depart Rome on April 11) That is 9 days, and I usually don't count the first day of arrival, so you can count on 8 'good' days of vacation time. Also, what time of year are you planning to travel?

I am leaving the US on 6/29/11 and leaving Rome on 7/11/11. When I get there on 6/30 it will be about 11am and I'll be leaving at about 3pm. I will look into the multi city travel, maybe that's why it looks like so much. Thanks, Frances.

Open jaw ticket are rarely much more expensive - and sometimes cheaper. Venice could be the problem since it is a small airport. You might try Milan. Three years we went into Rome and home from Zurich. It was actually $200/person cheaper than RT to Rome. But it was May ticket.

Ja, I found my ticket will travel from DFW to Venice, stay in Venice 2-3 nights, then go by train to Pisa stay there for 2 nights, travel to Rome by train, stay there another 2-3 nights and then take the trainitalia to Naples, after take the circumvesuviana to Sorrento and stay there another 2-3 nights take the circumvesuviana again to Naples and from Naples fly to DFW! I'l be staying in convents and monasteries, living on pizza, cappuchinos and pastries for most of the trip, but will get one really nice expensive meal and will be able to at least get acouple of hours soaking in the sun in the beautiful beaches of Sorrento. I cna't wait.

One short comment Personally don't think Pisa is more than afternoon visit and certainly not worth two nights. Add those nights somewhere else.

I did think about that and that's why I snuck on my schedule a one day trip to Florence and some shopping time, LOL. And I wil go to Pompeii while at Sorrento. Now all I need is to buy everything. Does anyone know of any shuttles from th Naples train station to he Naples airport??

It would make more sense, logistics wise, to go to Florence for two nights. And day trip to Pisa. Florence is, more or less, on the direct route between Venice and Rome. Pisa is not and a more complicated to get to. Florence would be a much more pleasant place to overnight than Pisa.

Frances, You do not need to take the train from Sorrento to Naples train station,you can catch the Curreri bus (curreriviaggi.it)
Leaves from Sorrento to Naples airport. 10Euro. Your hotel should be able to help you with this.

I actually want to take the train, I sort of like them. Anyway I'll be staying at convents and monasteries in order to save some cash and feel a bit safer. I will be spending my last 4 nights in Sorrento, one of the days will be in Pompeii and maybe another day a trip to Capri any recommendations for the remaining day???

Another plan is to go to Florence after Venice for a couple of nights, then on to Rome via Pisa; stay there a few hours, then take the next train to Rome. Timewise, it's pretty much a wash compared to taking a daytrip from Florence to Pisa, but now you're not spending a 'Florence Day' on it. There is a 'left-luggage'/'deposito bagagli' at Pisa Centrale station (FYI - According to Trenitalia, the only two stations in Tuscany with left-luggage service is Pisa and Florence SMN...info in Italian only). Reconsider the bus b/n Sorrento and Naples airport. I've read nothing but glowing reviews (recent) of the bus service on the Helpline, enough so that I actually toyed with taking it myself, just to 'do' my Naples daytrip (too much work, unfortunately). And I love the trains, too. And speaking of that, after you've seen Pompeii, go the the Archaeological Museum in Naples to see everything missing from Pompeii, plus other things. Or, maybe another daytrip to Herculaneum or Paestum.