Train Travel in Italy

Your ticket is still good until you validate it in the stamping machine. The ticket itself should say for how long it is valid. I've missed an intended connection, then used the ticket later. No problem. If you buy a separate reservation and miss your train, that is a different problem. When this happened to me, I took another train without a reservation (it was a train that didn't require reservations).

It depends on the train. If it's a non-reserved train (D, R, IC), the ticket is only valid once stamped, so you could simply get on the next train. If you have reserved a seat on an IC, you'd lose the seat reservation, but could still take the train, taking and empty seat (or standing if there are none). If it's on an reservation required train (ES*, IC+, AV), it depends on the ticket class. For the standard ticket, you can change up to 3 hours after the train has left (according to trenitalia -- no personal experience). If you go to http://www.trenitalia.com/en/orari_biglietti/info_tariffe.html you can see the fare rules.

Paul

I also meant to mention that I am sure allowances are made if you missed a connection due to a train being late. (In Germany, DB will reissue a reservation for free if a train was late and you had reserved on the missed connections.)

Paul

Thanks for the info -- I plan on buying tickets for the next city upon arrival -- so do I validate when i buy the ticket or the day of the actual ride?

It all sounds so confusing, or maybe i'm making more of it than it should be...

You validate your ticket by inserting it in a yellow machine just before boarding.