What is the difference between, trenitalia, eurostar, and eurorail? I am looking to go from venice to florence, florence to siena, and siena to rome via train. Which will go the fastest and what are ball park prices?
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17442 posts
Trenitalia is the Itaian train website. www.trenitalia.com It is very easy to use. You'll find prices and schedules for your routes there.
"Eurostar" is a type of fast train, somewhat more expensive than others but good for the longer routes (like Venice to Florence) to save time. These trains are designated "ES/A" on the Trenitalia website. Seat reservations are required.
Posted by
Charlotte, NC, USA
39 posts
Anthony - if you are trying to buy tickets in advance you will not be able to on Trenitalia's website due to them not accepting US credit cards.
Almost everyone on the board says you do not need to buy tickets in advance (or just go to the train station a day before you are planning on leaving), but I went ahead and purchased ours ahead of time on www.italiarail.com; they are marked up a little bit, but they were sent overnight for free and I now have peace of mind.
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
Unless you are traveiling on a public holiday you won't need to buy your train tickets ahead of time. It's a waste of money to buy them from raileurope or eurail but if it gives you piece of mind then go for it. The trains very rarely sell out and then it is usually one train, not all the trains for the day of which there are many. There are usually a couple of trains an hour from Venice to Florence and at least one an hour for your other destinations. Just wait til you get to Italy to get your tickets. You can buy them all at the same time if your travel dates are set or you can wait and buy them anytime before you travel up til an hour or so before your train leaves.
Donna
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
The Eurostar class trains are the fastest in Italy. They are also the most expensive. If you ride the ES from Venice to Florence, the fare will be 42Euro. The trip takes about 2hrs. You can also ride the IC train on the same tracks for 22.50Euro but the trip will take 3hrs (more stops).
For Florence to Siena, it's best to take the SITA bus. Look for the non-stop. You can take the Regionale train but the train station is almost a mile out of town. From Siena to Rome, you can either take the SENA bus (not SITA) from the center of town or get your self down to the train station and take a Regionale train. The bus costs about 5Euro and is quite nice. The bus arrives at the Rome Tiburtina station and not Termini. Termini is 4 stops away on the underground Metro B line.
For what you are doing, the Eurail pass is a waste of money.
Posted by
Kihei, Hawaii
475 posts
I have used Travelocity to reserve/purchase ahead and was very easy