We will be traveling from Venice to Rome on Sunday July 8th (we fly out of Rome on July 9th). Trying to decide if I should book my train tickets in advance (this weekend) or if we can just purchase the same day. Do these ever get sold out? Since we need to be in Rome on the evening of the 8th.
Recommendations.
You could purchase them the same day, but you will save money if you purchase ahead of time. Check on the Trenitalia website if there are any Super Economy tickets left for your date. If you’re able to purchase those, you need to select the exact time of day, similar to selecting a specific flight.
Venice = Venezia
Rome = Roma
Example, 2 standard class tickets Venice to Rome will cost 174 EUR, but there is a special offer this summer called "Super Venezia". Buy now and tickets are 1/2 price, 87 EUR. Numbers are limited, so its a good idea to buy as soon as possible. Google translate of the Italian:
From today you can travel to and from Venice at half the price!
With the Super Venezia offer you can buy a ticket with a 50% discount * for traveling on all Frecciarossa and Frecciargento trains, in all classes and levels of service.
The offer is valid for purchases up to 31st August 2018 and is limited to places, which vary depending on the day, the train and the class or level of service. It can not be combined with other reductions, except for that provided for boys.
There are currently super economy tickets at 11:35 for €25,90 ea.
Thank you for the advice to buy in advance. I plan to do this today , but when I look at the train site
https://app.italiarail.com/results. The tickets I am looking at are much pricier?
Also is it worth the extra $$ for the premium tickets?
Which sites do you all use?
Italia Rail is a US travel agency specializing in selling Trenitalia tickets with added commissions. So you should avoid them and go direct to Trenitalia. They operate the trains.
http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
Another company also operates high speed trains between Venice and Rome, Italo Treno. Check them too.
https://www.italotreno.it/en
You can also buy commission-free tickets for both companies at:
www.trainline.eu
So check prices at Trenitalia for your dates. When I looked for July 8, the SuperEconomy tickets were sold out and the Super Venezia was the best deal. I did not check Italo previously, but now I see prices from 34.90 EUR to 39.90 EUR per person, less than the Trenitalia price. They have an excellent reputation.
PS, Sometimes you can get better deals in high class service. I see you can get Prima class on Italo if you book the 8 am train for 34.90 EUR pp.
First of all, I totally agree with what was said until now.
Please notice that Trenitalia has much more frequent high speed trains than italo, yet it generally is a more expensive company.
While Frecciarossa classes are executive (definitely a luxurious travel in a coach with only a tenth of leather seats and a selection of snacks and meals, only in this case they are haute cuisine servings), business, premium and standard (the only one without welcoming snacks, and it isn't necessarily the cheapest one), frecciargento only provides first (with snacks and slightly more room for your legs, yet I found more problems there with luggage space) and second class. If some passengers are aged below 26 or over 65, I suggest them to subscribe a cartafreccia (it's free), so that in case you didn't find anything more convenient, you can use the cartafreccia senior or young offer.
Italo (that is generally cheaper) will let you choose between Club executive, Prima, Comfort (w/o snacks) and *Smart" (w/o snacks; you can book cinema class instead of smart without any extra fees, but I don't know if movies in English are available).
I traveled with both companies choosing the two lowest classes, and I think italo is slightly more comfortable.
The most precious tip I can give you is to carefully check the departure and arrival stations you are willing to use.
Roma Tiburtina has a slightly different range of trains and it is served by the B subway line (on the Rebibbia only branch), but it is definitely not as crowded as Termini (served by both lines A and B), and there is no ticket check before boarding.
Venezia Mestre and Venezia Santa Lucia are in totally different parts of Venice, and while the first one is located in the land-part of Venice, the second one is built directly on the Canal Grande. But I guess you already know this.
A general tip from a student who needs to travel economically. Never try to purchase last-minute tickets for trains. Prices are insanely high. The best is to purchase tickets at least a month or two in advance, since they tend to cost less (and italo often gives promo codes via website home page that let you have up to 50% off even on already low-cost fares). Just to let yourself get a proper idea of how this works, the Frecciargento I take to get back home can vary from €19 to even €90 depending on how in advance I purchase my ticket.
I wish you the best luck anyway ;-)
