My boyfriend and I will be traveling to 4 italian cities (rome-naples, naples- florence, florence-venice and venice-rome ) in late april early may . we have hotel reservations already so are travel between cities will need to be at scheduled times. we want to travel on high speed trains only with reserved seating . my question to you is whether or not we need to purchase a pass in addition to the reserved seats ? Also in Rome, are there multiple choices of train stations and if so, how do we know which to choose ? Help ... feels a little overwhelming ! Lori
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
Reserved seats are required on all trains except the regional trains which have no reservation so you need not worry about seat reservation. If willing to commit to a fixed schedule, then you can buy discounted tickets on line that would be cheaper than any rail pass. But you need to buy the ticket now because the discount ticket sell quickly. You pick the station where the train goes. Trains do not go to all the stations in a city. The main station in Rome is Termini. Come to the meeting on Saturday. See https://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/99328/denver-rs-meeting-on-march-16.html
Posted by
Minneapolis
1261 posts
Hi lori. No reason to purchase a pass. Use site trenitalia.com. Use station names Roma Termini, Firenze SMN, Venezia SL. Ther are many trains per day on these routes. You can wait and buy tix when there and pay the 'base' fare, or buy in advance online for a discount if you are OK locking in your exact date and time. Seat reservations are included in the prices shown. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19275 posts
Note, with a pass you would still have to stand in line at a counter (or use an automat) to purchase the mandatory reservations (around 10€ per seat for high speed trains, so the pass won't be more convenient or save time, and, considering the added cost of reservations, it probably won't save money.
Posted by
Tilburg, Netherlands
2829 posts
Don't forget to check ItaloTreno! They are a new competitor offering high speed trains as well, but much newer ones than Trenitalia.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Just to clarify the other excellent posts: if you buy a single ticket (either in advance for a discount or at the last minute for full price), it comes with the mandatory seat reservation already included. If you have a pass, you still have to buy the seat reservation separately.