Italy Train Travel

I'm not having any trouble seeing schedules for afternoon Oct 24. Regional trains roughly every half hour (too far out to purchase, but they are 3.50 Eu) and intercity express trains every half hour available for 9.00 EU. Try hitting "Soluzioni Succesive" button in lower right hand corner to get later trains.

Thanks much for your good advice!
Do you need to make reservations for regional trains in October and if so, how far in advance?

Looks like you should get the Rom>Rav, Pad>Fir, & Fir>Rom legs now as there are still some supereconomy fares available and you can pick your times.
Rav>Ven & Ven>Pad are regional trains and cannot be purchased intil 7 days out. There is really no advantage to buying them in advance as the price won't change and they won't sell out. Ok, you could buy in advance if they use an intercity train involved but they are more money and may not be for times you want. FI, the last Rav>Ven connection is at 19:57 arr Ven 11:03 and is all regional train and cannot be purchased until 7 days. Only train you can buy now is at 13:41, leaving you only 3 hours in Ravenna.

The Scrovegni Chapel in Padova is awesome, you will love it there. You can't, however, just walk in and view the paintings. You buy a ticket (at the nearby museum gift shop/bookstore )for a specific window of time. You show up at the chapel for your scheduled slot and are admitted to a waiting room where they show an AV presentation. After this, you are shown into the climate controlled chapel where you have 15 minutes to view the works. You are then shown outside and the next goup is admitted.

There is open seating on regional trains and no reservations are possible. Your ticket is good on any train.

Tim, What type of ticket is this? Can you purchase a general regional ticket that you can use for several train stops or do you need to buy a separate ticket for each stop? And, can you buy the ticket(s) right before you want to travel, without reservations? Must they be for specific times? My route will be from Rome to Ravenna, to Venice, to Padua, to Florence, then back to Rome between Oct.21 to Oct.27. Thanks.

The fast intercity trains in Europe are all operating like airlines these days. Buy nonrefundable tickets for a specific time and date well in advance and they give you a big discount. Buy at the last minute, and you pay full fare. Regional trains are still operated like a public utility. One set price, no reservation, no guarantee you'll have a seat but are welcome to stand. The Rome>Bologna, Padua>Florence, and Florence>Rome legs are fast intercity trains. Full fares are 56,39, & 43 EU respestively. They are also available for advance purchase for as low as 19 EU each. The Bologna>Ravenna, Ravenna>Venice, Venice>Padua legs are all regional trains. Fares are 6.80, 16.15, & 3.50 EU respectively. These fares don't change.
So there you have it. Trenitalia says full flexilblity is worth 75 EU.

Gene, A few comments on the rail trips you mentioned.... > Rome to Ravenna: the easiest trip is a departure at 08:20, with one change at Bologna Centrale (time 4H:07M, reservations compulsory on the first leg). > Ravenna to Venice: there's a departure at 15:33, arriving Venezia S.Lucia at 19:03 (time 3H:30M, one change at Bologna Centrale,Regionale & Regionale Velocita). > Venice to Padova: there's a Regionale departure at 13:04, arriving Padova at 13:47(time 0H:43M, fare listed at €3.50, DON'T forget to validate). There are also Freccia trains on that route, but of course those are more expensive. > Padova to Florence: there are numerous departures on that route, all of which appear to be Freccia (fast) trains (travel time about 1H:40M). You may be able to save money by pre-booking. Base fare is €39. > Florence to Rome: there are numerous departures from Firenze S.M. Novella to Roma Termini via Freccia trains (travel time about 1H:30M, base fare €43). I normally buy tickets when in Italy (which is where I am at the moment), but if you want to try and pre-book, use the Trenitalia website. You may find it helpful to read the tutorial on the excellent Ron In Rome website. Happy travels!

Ken and Sam, Thank you, thank you for such excellent advisements! A further question for Sam: What is the 75 euro flexible ticket? Is this for 1 day of train travel or say, one location to another (i.e. Rome to Ravenna)?
Or, is this the Base ticket? And finally, would I be better off purchasing a Eurail pass in the US that would cover all trains for the entire week? I appreciate your expertise, Gene

For Italy, a Eurail pass will cover the regional trains, but these are cheap anyway. It will cover the faster trains only for the travel fare, but not for the required reservations (10 euros each). Since you have to get the reservations separately anyway, it doesn't save any time or effort (when you buy a ticket on a fast train, the required reservation is included in the price). And, it usually doesn't save money over buying the tickets in advance, when you can snag significant discounts. So, the answer to your question of "should I get a Eurail pass for Italy?" is "no". If you want maximum flexibility, and don't mind paying full price, it's easy to buy tickets at the machines on the day of travel. If you buy in advance (even after you're in Italy), you may still get some discounts (I can't keep up with the ever-changing Italian train pricing, but the Ron In Rome website mentioned above is a great source of detailed information). And if you want the lowest price, try to buy in advance as far as possible, remembering that these are non-refundable and non-changeable.

Sorry Gene, I think maybe you misunderstood me. I meant that your itinarary coud be purchased in advance, with careful choosing of trains, in advance with nonrefundable tickets for 74.45 Eu. You could purchase "spur-of-the-moment" for 149.45 Eu, (provided seats were still available). The difference between these two is 75 Eu. That is what I meant by the "cost" of flexability.

Ken, Thanks for your very helpful train schedule from Rome>Ravenna>Venice>Padova>Florence>Rome between the dates of Oct.21-27. I was able to book the Oct.23, 8:20 train with Trenitalia from Rome to Ravenna. However, there is currently no 15:33 train from Ravenna to Venice. The closest time available is 15:48 by Autobus and Intercity, then Frecciargento. Is bus the way to go? The TRAIN time I would like to take is 15:40 but is not accessible on Trenitalia's listingit is there but is greyed out. What does this note with this posting mean? "The regional travel solution is not purchasable if the travel solution departure date is after 7 days from current date" Does this mean I need to wait awhile to book it? Also, what would you recommend for transportation from Leonardo Airport to downtown Rome? I tried to book Rick Steves Shuttle suggestion on the internet, but the website is not secure. Would you suggest a taxi or Leonardo Express? Should I wait until I arrive at the airport or try to reserve now? Thank you for your help,
Gene