Trenitalia Rome to Florence in May

Becky . Your difficulty with setting up an account may stem from this : when Trenitalia processes your account info they send you an an acknowledgement and a temporary password , You then must go in to the website via your log-jn and immediately change the temporary password to a permanent one . That may explain what happened . As far as the ticket price , the operative word on that is " Price STARTING from..." It is possible that you missed the 9EU price and what you got was the next jump up . I'm not absolutely certain , but that is my thought . The train stations are correct .

For some routes the Super Economy fare is €9. For others, including Rome-Florence, it's €19.

Hi Becky! - I have the exact same feelings regarding our trip in May/June. In fact we have to make the Rome-Florence trip TWICE. I just asked a similar question and got some great replies. Check out my post under "To The Boot" with the topic "Super Economy Ticket Question". It may help ou as it did me.

Check the fares with Italo, the new high-speed operator in Italy, as well.

Be careful with Italo though because I have noticed it only offers routes to Rome Tirbutina, which would only be a metro ride away from Termini, but a hassle if you have luggage and pretty much weren't expecting it. Perhaps you can get to Roma Termini but I haven't seen it on the site yet.

Becky, Steven is correct about the temporary password. As soon as you receive it by email, go online and reset to a permanant one. I'm not sure how long it lasts before Trenitalia cancels it but it's not long. As for Super Economy, it's the lowest price offered on the run - not just 9E. I just looked 120 days out for the Rome-Florence trains and looked at all 52 runs listed. The 9E fare does not exist on this run for any of the high-speed runs listed. The lowest I saw was 19E and Trenitalia called this fare the "Super Economy" fare. The Economy fare was 29E. I'm suspecting that these runs are just too popular to offer the 9E. Economy fares are non-refundable. They can be exchanged before departure. The Super Economy tickets are non-refundable and non-exchangable. I also looked at the 19 runs from Florence to Venice 120 days out. Again, no 9E runs shown. 19E is the lowest fares on the FRECCI trains. And, its' listed as the Super Economy fare. I used to see 9E fares on these runs some time back but they are not there now.

Thanks everyone! I was able to get my own password set up and can now login to Trenitalia. Thank you, Larry, for confirming that there aren't 9 euro fares on that leg. That way, I won't wait around to buy them hoping I haven't missed something. There is a family offer that we could buy, but it's more expensive (albeit a little more flexible), so we will most probably go with point-to-point tickets. I checked on Italo too. Their fares are 20 euros a piece (can't book for May yet), no child discount from what I could find. They do depart from Tiburtina. Not too far, but good to know. Also, a "child" is from ages 4 to 12 on Trenitalia, right? I thought I saw that somewhere on their site, but I can't find it now. Our kids are 9, 13, and 16. Not much savings, but every little bit counts if we could get two kids' fares. Lastly, my husband asked today if there is an Italy pass somewhat like the Swiss pass? We are continuing onto the Cinque Terre then possibly Lake Como then into Switzerland. May be best to just buy point-to-point, but I'd love an opinion. I've been reading RoninRome this weekend, and I loved his quote, "If it isn't confusing, it isn't Trenitalia!" Thanks for all the tips! Cheers,
Becky

I was just searching on Trenitalia, and I found the 9 euro tickets! But, they are on an intercity train. So, instead of taking 1 1/2 hours, the trip takes 3 hours and goes into Firenze Rifredi. I think the high-speed train makes sense for the price difference for us, but I'm so glad to have seen that I can figure out the Trenitalia website. Well, for Rome to Florence anyway :). Thanks!
Becky

Becky, I believe that there is an Italy pass of somekind for EU citizens but I'm not aware of any for tourists. Since you indicate that you are heading for the CT, you can get some really good fares if you stay on the Regionale trains from Florence. Most trains to the CT are Regionales anyway. Once you get to the CT, there is the Cinque Terre Treno card that you can get at many places in the CT. It comes in 1, 2, 3 and 7-day versions and provides unlimited rides on the trains from La Spezia to Levanto. It also will work on the mini-buses in the 5 towns. If the trails are open from last years damage, the card will also cover you on the trails (yes there are trolls on the trails). We bought our Cinque Terre Treno card at the TI office in the La Spezia train station. If you do get them, make sure that it says TRENO on them and you see the Trenitalia logo. There is also a less expensive Cinque Terre park card that doesn't include the train. If the trails are closed, the card may not be worth it. The train rides between the towns are only about 1.50E. Really cheap. However, not all 5 towns has a ticket office and I don't think any have ticket machine kiosks although Monterosso might have one. Where are you heading in Switzerland? I have lots of scoop on tickets and passes as you get into Switzerland. You might want to know that the Chalet Fontana in Muerren has a nice and very reasonable family unit (at least they used to have one). Tim from Knoxville can tell about that one.

Thanks, Larry! I just checked the Florence to La Spezia, and it looks like the Regionale trains are the way to go like you said. So glad to hear, because we can't pre-book them anyway. I did see one option from Florence to Pisa and then Pisa to La Spezia that was a mix of regional/fast train. But, I think we'll wait to book those to have a little more flexibility. We were originally going to go to Varenna from Cinque Terre, but most people agree with our limited time (only 1 day in Varenna and 2 in Cinque Terre) to take the extra day in the Cinque Terre and then go straight to Switzerland from there. We are going to the Berner Oberland...staying in Wilderswil (right outside of Interlaken). We were thinking the Swiss Pass would be a good investment, especially with two kids who would ride free. I'd love some advice! Cheers,
Becky