Train Travel in Italy

Trenitalia.com is your friend. Register and your purchase by credit card will go smoothly. Check out the super economy tickets at 90 days prior to travel and print the tickets at home. Regional trains (Naples) are not best to purchase in advance so you can buy them at the station. Check out www.seat61.com for all your questions.

Thank you George.

From Rome to Naples, Freccia trains only take 70 minutes. These trains have three price levels, explained (along with much else) on Ron In Rome's post, here: http://tinyurl.com/c4t693b. Basically, the cheapest tickets bought in advance are non-refundable and non-exchangeable. The mid-price tickets are exchangeable with limits. And the full ("base") fare tickets are fully refundable, but there's no advantage to buying these in advance (the reason to get advance tickets is to save money). If you're not buying tickets in advance on-line, you can buy them from machines at the stations (machines have an English option and take cash or US credit cards; they also have much shorter lines than the ticket windows). There are also regional trains between Rome and Naples, which take 2-3 hours. The advantage of regional trains is that there is no advance purchase discount, so you can buy at the last minute for much less money. The disadvantage is not only do they take longer, but you are not guaranteed a seat. These should not be bought online, as they Internet tickets on these routes have more restrictions than the ones bought at the station, and don't cost any less. continued..

continued.. From Naples to Pompeii, Herculaneum and Sorrento, you take the Circumvesuviana. This is a separate line, not run by Trenitalia. Advance purchase is not possible, and fares are very cheap (less than €10). It's a bit grungy, and is kind of like a "city bus on wheels," but gets the job done. If you get Rick Steves Italy, it will have all the details of which trains to take to get where, and how to take them (for instance, how to change in Naples station from Trenitalia to Circumvesuviana). Courtesy of regular poster Ken, here's a great introductory video about Italian trains: http://tinyurl.com/mvjjbyh

That is great information guys. Thank you all so much

Between Venezia and Roma check also offers by the new Italian major rail operator, Italo Treno...

Bill, If you decide to use the new high speed Italo train service, note that in some cases they use different stations than Trenitalia. In Venice both services use Venezia Santa Lucia, while in Rome Trenitalia uses Roma Termini and Italo uses Tiburtina or Ostiense. You'll need to consider that when booking tickets. I normally prefer arrival at Roma Termini at it's close to the hotels I use. Happy travels!

Andre, Thanks man. Good to know.
Ken, That is good to know. I was not able to find a train from Venice to Rome on the trains that I knew about. I know that the web sites use the Italian names of the cities for the most part. How is Venice spelled in Italian? I appreciate all the great information.

.... I was not able to find a train from Venice to Rome on the trains that I knew about...... WHERE were you looking? There is a train an hour between Venice and Rome. Venice is Venice on the English train site or you can try Venezia.

Look for "Venezia Santa Lucia", not "Venezia Mestre".

Bill, "I was not able to find a train from Venice to Rome on the trains that I knew about." Where are you looking for train information? There are numerous high speed trains each day between Venice and Rome. Most cities have more than one station, so the ones you'll likely be using are: > Venezia Santa Lucia > Roma Termini If you were planning to use the Italo service, note that they use Roma Tiburtina and Roma Ostiense, and DO NOT go to Termini. It's easy enough to get from Tiburtina to Termini via Metro, but if you'd rather not deal with that extra step, use the Freccia train (Trenitalia). The cost should be comparable and the travel time will be about the same. Cheers!