Italian trains

The Bahn only shows fares online for connections for which they sell tickets, and that does not usually include a stretch entirely outside of Germany. Use the Trenitalia website, mentioned above, to get prices and schedules. There might also be some advance purchase discounts available depending on when you get to Italy. Also check RailEurope, which is more expensive in most countries than national websites or counter prices, but currently showing ticket prices for Italy competitive with full fare prices over there.

But I wouldn't necessarily say that trains are expensive. Full fare in 2nd class from Rome to Venice on the fastest (less then 4 hrs) express trains (Italian Eurostar) is €73. The slower (just over 6 hr) ICs cost €42,50.

Italian Rail does not show rail service to Maranello. There is a regional train from Bologna to Modena. I would suspect in Modena you could find local bus service to Maranello.

Maranello is 20km south of Modena which probably is as close as you can get by train. I have no idea if there is any bus service from Modena to Maranello, but I expect you could take a taxi.

Meredith,

I'm not sure you'll be able to "book in advance". If you're planning to use trains, it's easy to buy tickets in Italy either from staffed ticket agents or automatic ticket kiosks. When I was there last year, the kiosks in Italy were still accepting the older magnetic stripe credit cards (France is a different story, as many kiosks there will only accept the newer "chip & PIN" credit cards).

I wouldn't recommend flying Rome-Venice as it will likely take longer than a direct EuroStar Italia train, and be much more of a hassle.

Cheers!

Thanks, guys, for all the info! I've been reading that city to city is less expensive than an Italian pass but using Rick's fare map that doesn't seem to be true (though the costs are close). Does anyone know when/if the fares on this site were updated to reflect actual costs? I'll be there June 5th - are the lines waiting to purchse tickets truly nothing to worry about in early summer?

Meredith

Meredith,

In his post Steve gave you a link to the Italian National Rail site. You can get current timetables and fares there up to and including 12 June. New timetables will go into effect on 13 June.

If you buy a railpass for Italy, you will have to buy a seat reservation for each leg on any trains that require them. The cost is €10 for high-speed EuroStar Italia trains and €3 for InterCity trains. No reservations are possible on Regionale trains.

While lines at ticket windows can be long, you can easily buy either tickets or seat reservations from station ticket machines. There is an English option and the machines accept US credit cards. See this page for detailed instructions, including photos.

I did a Google search and found this WikiTravel article describing bus service from Modena to Maranello. However, I can't guarantee that the information is either up to date or accurate.

The ticket kiosks in the train stations are easy to use. However, one time in Venice I did put too large a bill in the machine and it didn't give change-just a credit. Then I had to wait in the ticket line to get my refund. So try to use exact change or as close as possible. I don't know if the machines never give change or if this one was just out of change.

We have been to all over Italy (small Tuscan towns included) twice in June and had no problem getting tickets on Eurostar. We always go to American Express offices (off of Piazza San Marco in Venice, and next to Spanish steps in Rome) and get all our train tickets at once from there.

I think the Amex Office in Venice has closed.

You can buy train tickets at face value, including any discounted fares that may be available to you, from Travel Agency offices that display the Trenitalia logo in their window. See link for the list of approved agents.

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=29e23bf7c819a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD