Trains - never taken them

My worry is if a train is delayed or canceled, how difficult is it
still get to my destination, especially not speaking the language.

Not difficult at all, you'll just get there a bit later.

Is this a recipe for disaster or am I fretting for nothing.

No, why would it be a disaster? Just make sure you learn to spell Cinque Terre.

I always suggest this great resource for train info of all kinds.
https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-italy.htm

Unlike trains in the US, trains to cities in Italy are frequent. One time we almost go on the wrong train in Rome because there was another train(different number on the board) to Florence that left 15 min before ours. You will love the trains. We do not speak Italian either.

No, why would it be a disaster? Just make sure you learn to spell Cinque Terre.

Mostly because Cinque simply means Five in Italian and out of La Spezia nobody would understand where they are going to.

Patrick if you miss a connection because of the train company you can ask for a new ticket for free at the counter. Even if you purchased a discounted-but-non-refundable ticket.

I have never seen a cancelled train, but if it happens take another one. There are 7 direct trains a day between Milan and Monterosso in the Cinque Terre, around 70 (yes, 70) direct high speed train a day between Florence and Rome.

Same for delays, you can either wait for the train you have a ticket for or you can buy a new ticket at the top price and take another train going to your destination.

Boards and monitors work in both languages. This is the live version of Milan's departures monitor: https://iechub.rfi.it/ArriviPartenze/en/ArrivalsDepartures/Monitor?Arrivals=False&Search=&PlaceId=1728
Since you won't understand the announcements, look at the monitors hanging over the track to check if the train departing from there is actually your train. It's not like an airport gate, the same track is used by many trains any hour.

We were in Italy 2022. We took a lot of trains, from various places. We had no trouble. Trains run on time or pretty close, so be at the station at the stated time. In one case, the platform changed just before the train arrived. That was the only unexpected event.

Thank you for all your responses. Definitely put my mind at ease.

Using trains are pretty straight forward, you will figure it out. Do not be afraid of needing to do a change, like for one of the CT towns to Florence, in fact considering a change in Genoa for your Milan to CT route will open up more options.

If you have not yet, figure out main station names for your searches, most cities have several stations, and unless you use the "All Stations" option in the Trenitalia app, you need the specific station.

And when you use the Trenitalia website make sure to use the Italian city names, Milano, Firenze (Florence), Roma….

One thing to watch for on the board is your train number and not necessarily the destination. For example on your train from Florence to Rome, the final destination of that train may be listed as somewhere else such as Naples or Salerno, while other trains on the board may be listed as Rome because that is their final destination. So your ticket will say train # 1234 to Rome, but on the board you may see train #1234 to Naples, that is still your train.

All great suggestions, especially The Man in Seat 61. Excellent resource. Also Rome to Rio offers easy to understand information on which trains to take, etc. Sometimes you might end up with a short connection time, but usually the stations are compact enough that you can make those connections.

Patrick, don't worry about speaking the language. We've traveled extensively in Italy and other countries, and almost always the conductors and ticket takers speak at least a rudimentary English. If not, then we always found other travelers who have been helpful.

Another thing to watch: be ready to get out at your destination. Regional trains have one minute or half minute stops on their timetables so if you are still at your seat when the train enters the station you will be too late to get out. At some major stations (Milano C., Firenze SMN, Roma T., Napoli C.) trains reverse their direction and have scheduled 8-15 minutes stops, but even a fast train at Bologna C. will stop only for a minute or two.

I'm one of those people who uses Trainline for rail planning and ticket buying.

https://www.thetrainline.com/en-us?gclid=Cj0KCQjwiIOmBhDjARIsAP6YhSXCIK-6a-nmXEiDoPr9NV9rEF0uisDvN7p4wsafOey2oh_OeUcT2fAaAnTnEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

My worry is if a train is delayed or canceled, how difficult is it still get to my destination, especially not speaking the language.

I took a number of Italian trains this year and asked several railroad workers for help or directions. Every person spoke at least a little English, at least enough to point us in the right direction. Several were incredibly helpful, one off-duty conductor even led us to the right platform when we couldn’t find how to get there.

The Trenitalia app is quite useful and if you want to print off your tickets in advance that’s also helpful in case of a disruption you can show the printout to an agent while you use your phone for something else.

Being a newbie to European train travel myself, I also recommend The Man in Seat 61 website. His descriptions are very clear, and even provide photos so you know what to expect at the station and on the train. I like to visualize things ahead of time.

I think one thing to keep in mind is whether or not you have to validate your ticket before getting on the train. This is usually done only when you purchased a paper ticket right at the station. It was my experience (in Italy and in Austria) that tickets bought online or on a phone app (which are only for a specific day and time) do not need to be validated. Ahead of our trips I read a lot of sad stories about people who didn’t validate their ticket and faced the consequences with the conductor:)

Using trains in Europe is not difficult but it's good that you're doing some research as there are some potentially expensive caveats to be aware of, especially in Italy. I'll try to provide a brief summary....

Most European cities have more than one station, so you'll need to know which station your train is departing / arriving at. You can research all the solutions at Bahn.de (the German rail website) which shows trips for many locations in Europe. However you won't be able to buy tickets on that site for the trips you're taking.

The express / high speed trains require compulsory seat reservations, which are included with your ticket. In Italy the ticket will specify your Carrozza (coach no,) and Posti (seat no's.). The reservations are specific to train, date and departure time so can only be used on the one train listed on the ticket. If you miss that train for any reason, you'll generally have to buy new tickets.

It's important to be aware of what type of train you'll be taking on each leg of the trip. On the routes you listed in Italy, there will often be one or more changes. These are not difficult but usually involve going down into a transfer tunnel (Sottopassagio) and back up to the track (Binario) of your next train. There are electronic signboards in the stations that list all the track numbers, destinations, etc. For travel to the Cinque Terre, you'll have to specify which of the five towns your destination is.

Some of the routes you'll be using in Italy will involve the slower Regionale trains. These do not require reservations and have no reserved seating. However it's important to note that if you buy paper tickets for these at local stations, these must be validated (time & date stamped) prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. Failure to do so can result in hefty fines which will be collected on the spot. If you buy tickets online, these do not have to be stamped, but must be used within a specific time window.

You can buy tickets on the websites for each railway operator, or from one of the ticket resellers such as The Trainline, which sells rail tickets for many operators all over Europe (one stop shopping!). I believe they charge a small service fee but I've never found that to be a problem. Once you're registered on the site, it's very easy to buy tickets, especially if you have their App on your smartphone (data plan required unless you have WiFi available).

The ticket machines in the stations are also very user friendly, and offer a choice of languages.

Regarding your trips, I checked a few of the routes using an arbitrary date....

• Paris Gare de Lyon to Milano Centrale - there's a direct departure at 07:30, arriving 14:07 (FR 9281, time 6H:37M).
• Milano Centrale to (for example) Monterosso - the easiest route is the direct Intercity train, departing 12:10, arriving 15:05 (time 2H:55M)
• Monterosso to Firenze SM Novella - the easiest route is probably the Intercity departure at 11:07, arriving 13:33 (time 2H:26M, one change at Pisa Centrale).
• Firenze SM Novella to Roma Termini - there are numerous high speed Freccia departures... pick your departure time. Try not to arrive in Rome too early as your room may not be ready yet. Mid afternoon is good.

This is a bit dated, but you may find it helpful - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6n8rITO1Eek .

On the high speed routes in Italy, you could also use the competing line, Italo Treno. Trainline sells tickets for Italo also.

Good luck with your planning.

Buon Viaggio!

You have received very good advice. The only thing I have to add is to suggest you buy train tickets in advance for the high speed trains only. There is nothing to be gained by purchasing tickets in advance for the regional trains.

Download the Trenitalia app and become familiar with it. It is fantastic and super easy to use. Just buy your tickets the day you need them or the night before. They won’t cost any more and they won’t sell out. This way you preserve your flexibility and you don’t have to validate them.

Thank you. What I find odd is when I use the Trenitalia app and search for the same route-day-time on Italiarail(not an app) the Trenitalia app pushes my day one day later. It’s weird even though the Italiarail keeps my date. It warns me it’s pushing the date out but it won’t let me keep my desired date. Italiarail keeps my date.

Patrick re: your last post on the time/date selection for tickets, this is a recently discussed topic on the forum: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/transportation/problem-with-setting-the-time-on-trenitalia-website

Wow! I guess this isn’t new. My apologies.

Italiarail is not a train company
It’s a third party reseller

Stick with the official Trenitalia site

One other point to mention.....

Depending on the time of day and length of the rail trip, I often pick up a Panino and beverage before boarding the train. The express trains usually have restaurants on board, and snack carts that go through the coaches, but I normally just buy coffee from them. There are usually a variety of food outlets in the stations.

you certainly have a wealth of information from the above contributors. One suggestion from me, is stay close to the train station at the beginning of your trip. We just went from Paris to Torino (leaving from Gare de lyon at 6:35 am) then switching to Trenitalia at Torino to Firenze. Pack a snack and water for the trip and enjoy the relaxation and beautiful scenery. Just make sure that Milan station is the same as the departure station (Milan Centrale or Porta Gariibaldi). If we would have done the same route (paris to firenze) through Milan, we would have to go from PG to MC to catch the next train. It wasn’t a big deal, but just be aware. We also wanted to train through southeastern France and enjoy the scenery. The trains in Italy are great, just make sure you are on the train with your luggage at the departure time, as I’ve seen tourists in the past miss their train.

If you miss that train for any reason, you'll generally have to buy new tickets.

This is actually not true. If you miss a train because of a delay to an earlier train you are entitled, by law, to be transported on the next available train. For trains with compulsory reservations you should exchange your ticket, which you can do at a service desk. But don't miss another train because of that. If time is tight just talk to the conductor of the train you want to take. They should be able to look where in their train there are still free seats.

There is a Facebook poster named Rivieradreamer and she has clear videos on using train system in Italy. She is an American living in Cinque Terre. Great videos on the CT area too