Verona to Rome by train with a stop in Bologna?

Thanks for the advice. We may take the regional to Bologna that morning, but looks like we should stick with the fast train to Rome that evening.

What do you mean it is more expensive to book separate tickets? Either way you pay the cost of a ticket from Verona to Bologna on the Regional train (8,90 euro) plus the applicable "mini" fare for the fast train from Bologna to Rome, which may be 19, 29,or 39 euros. The benefit of booking them separately is you can choose among more trains. I checked a random date in June and therewere better mini fares on some of the trains that did not connect with the train coming from Verona, and so were not shown on the page displaying a Verona to Rome journey.

Thanks. We are actually traveling in a couple weeks, so my mini fare options are more limited. However, there are direct trains (Frecciargento) from Verona through Bologna to Rome with a mini fare of 49 euros. If we book separate tickets first to Bologna then to Rome, the first ticket will cost 19 euros and the second will cost 49 euros or 38.50, depending on the schedule we choose. Not a huge difference, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything before I booked. I appreciate your advice.

OK, now I see what you are saying. I did not pick an early enough time and did not see those early morning Frecciabianca trains from Verona. So the 29 and 39 euro mini fares are all gone on the afternoon Bologna to Rome trains on your day of travel? If you can take a regional train from Verona to Bologna, it would be 8,90 euro instead of 19 for the Frecciabianca. Rail.ch shows a regional train departing Verona for Bologna at 10:26, R1773. Does Trenitalia not show this one? That would help a bit, bringing the extra cost of the stopover down to 8,90.

The only ticket that gives the option of getting on and off is a Regional train ticket. It is good for 24 hours in the direction of travel. So buy a regional ticket from Verona to Rome and spend as much time as you like in Bologna. And then get back on a Regional train to Rome. That will be slower but cheaper. There is no discount on Regional tickets so no point in buying early as they never sell out.

Regional trains the whole way will take a whole lot more time and involve some tricky routing. Trenitalia won't even show a Regional train between Bologna and Firenze S.M.N; you have to put in an intermediate change like Prato, or choose a train heading to Firenze Rifredi (and then transfer from there to S,M.N.) There is a Regional train from Firenze S.M.N. to Rome (Tiburtina) but it takes over 3 hours, making the total travel time from Bologna on Regional trains around 5 hours instead of 2:17 on the Freccia train. If they consider IC trains they can go Bologna to Rome Termini in about 4 hours, but that won't save them much money over the Freccia train, which is 2 hours faster.

So my husband asked a reasonable question tonight. We will be traveling with our luggage. Is there likely to be room for it on a 10:30am Sunday morning regional train from Verona to Rome on April 22?

You do not need to worry about luggage space. There are lots of places to put it : the overhead racks, the space at the end of the car, or in your seating area. A Sunday morning train is not likely to be crowded, anyway.

Great. Thanks again!!

Just a reminder: regional trains are valid for 6 (and not 24 as stated above) hours after it has been stamped in most of Italy. In some regions/routes, they are valid only for 3 hours or 2 after being stamped. This is to avoid an old practice of people "selling" their used tickets at the endpoint of their journeys for someone who'd "recycle" them in bulk-ish fashion.

Thanks. My latest problem is that there is a 24 hour rail strike posted starting 9pm April 21. So I'm just trying to figure out how I am going to make it to Rome that day at all!

Not all the trains stop running during a strike. There are certain lines that keep going. More info at Ron in Rome talks about strikes.

Thanks Michael. I checked that site and some others, including the Trenitalia list of "guaranteed trains." My problem is that I can't seem to find one that goes from Verona to Rome on a Sunday during the strike. There is a train on the list from Venice, but I'm nervous about trying to get from Verona to Venice in time to make the connection, because even if I can find a train that is running that route, its likely to be slow. Guess I could take the bus from Verona to Venice then the "guaranteed train" from Venice to Rome. Ugh! Then again, maybe we'll just fly!

You are traveling a week from tomorrow? If you can still get a flight from Verona to Rome that might be your best option.