What to buy here vs. Buy there (Roma Pass, Train Tickets, etc.)

You can buy train tickets before you go and save a ton of money. You must be sure of your dates as discounted tickets are worthless if you miss the train. There is no benefit to buying the romapass before getting to Rome. Donna

Train tickets for longer trips if at a good discount and you are locked into dates, any museum reservations that make sense, but the Roma pass and transit passes are just as well bought there, shorter train trips as well are just as easily bought there plus if on a regional train, you cannot buy that ticket anyway.

There are three levels of train fares for all trains in Italy EXCEPT the Regionale train which has only one level of fare - cheap. The other trains are super economy, economy, and base. Super economy is very deep discount, limited availability, and absolutely no charge or refund. Economy is discounted, still has limitation but can be exchange for another ticket and paying the difference in fare (think Southwest) and base fare is full fare. If absolutely sure of your schedule then purchase the super economy or economy on line when available. For base fare and Regionale train buy the tickets when you need them.

Adam, As the others have mentioned, it's possible to save money by pre-purchase of some types of rail tickets. Here's a brief summary..... > Regionale trains - buy the tickets in Italy, either at a Kiosk or staffed ticket office. There's no cost benefit in buying in advance, and may in fact be difficult to do do. When using Regionale tickets, these MUST be validated prior to boarding the train on the day of travel or you'll face hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! > Premium trains - this includes the Freccia high speed as well as Inter City Express and others. You can save money by pre-purchasing tickets well in advance, however you MUST BE SURE of your travel details. These tickets are specific to train number, date and time, so you MUST board ONLY that train or again, hefty fines collected on the spot! The cheapest "Super Economy" tickets usually sell out VERY quickly as soon as they become available, but if you can only get "Economy" tickets you'll still save money over "Base" fare. > Local transit tickets - such as B.I.G. tickets in Rome. Buy them in Rome as it's very easy. When using transit including Buses and Metro, again tickets must be validated or hefty fines. > Roma Pass - AFAIK, there are no savings for buying in advance. I'd probably just buy in Rome. Happy travels!

The high speed new red .Italotreno competitor to Trenitalia is a most excellent option. They also have three levels of tickets, and it is very easy to print tickets at home. If they go where you are going, when you want to go, if you were me you would pick them every time.

I used Italo for a trip to Naples and they were wonderful. The only hiccup is that they connect out of Tiburtina. This wasn't an issue just not what I'm use to. Donna