Signing in Italian Train Stations
Sep 10th, 2011, 11:34 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 2,832
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Signing in Italian Train Stations
Is there any English language signing in Italian train stations? (Specifically, Rome Termini, Florence Santa Maria Novella, Venice Santa Lucia, and Milano Centrale.) I speak some French and Spanish, but virtually no Italian, so am concerned about finding my way to the right train/platform. Many thanks!
Sep 10th, 2011, 11:57 AM
#2
mmm - not sure as I [try to] speak some italian, so i wasn't taking a lot of notice of the english.
but my recollection is that I was surprised in Florence and Pisa Centrale [where I was in May this year] how much english there was. and there are the pictures of course - for toilets, tickets, taxis, etc.
that said, if you understand french and spanish, you should have little problem with italian signage. big stations are mostly the same everywhere - boards with platform ["binnario"] numbers show which trains are leaving when. if you know the destination of your train and its time, and give yourself enough time to locate it, you should be fine.
PS - you do know that before you board, you have to validate your ticket in those funny little yellow machines, don't you?
but my recollection is that I was surprised in Florence and Pisa Centrale [where I was in May this year] how much english there was. and there are the pictures of course - for toilets, tickets, taxis, etc.
that said, if you understand french and spanish, you should have little problem with italian signage. big stations are mostly the same everywhere - boards with platform ["binnario"] numbers show which trains are leaving when. if you know the destination of your train and its time, and give yourself enough time to locate it, you should be fine.
PS - you do know that before you board, you have to validate your ticket in those funny little yellow machines, don't you?
Sep 10th, 2011, 12:01 PM
#4
azzure - i ought to have said that trains in italy themselves have numbers - and if you are getting a train from Milan to Florence for example, you will likely be on a major train that will be well-signposted.
Sep 10th, 2011, 12:13 PM
#5
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,422
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You only need to know 5 Italian words to get where you are going: Roma, Firenze, Venezia, Milano and -- ?
Binario
Binario is platform/track.
You need to look at the departure at the station for trains headed to the above destinations. And then look at the "binario" number. You go to that track number.
Even in the weensy small town where I live, most train announcements are made in both Italian and English.
Plus, you can do what a friend of mine did when she was confused in Milan's train station. She loudly said: "Anybody here speak English?" Several nearby young Italians leapt to her rescue. They were eager to show off their English.
Binario
Binario is platform/track.
You need to look at the departure at the station for trains headed to the above destinations. And then look at the "binario" number. You go to that track number.
Even in the weensy small town where I live, most train announcements are made in both Italian and English.
Plus, you can do what a friend of mine did when she was confused in Milan's train station. She loudly said: "Anybody here speak English?" Several nearby young Italians leapt to her rescue. They were eager to show off their English.
Sep 10th, 2011, 12:21 PM
#7
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 10,254
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Another good website for how to use Italian trains:
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/trains/index.htm
The biggest key to finding the right binario is to know the number of your train and its departure time. Many train newbies think that their train from Rome to Florence will show "Florence" on the Departures board. The board show the final destination and shows it in Italian. Typically Florence is an intermediate stop and the final destination might be Bologna, Milan, Venice or someplace else. But the board WILL show the train number, type of train, and departure time.
Another way to verify: somewhere in the station there will be a large "Arrivi" and "Partenze" posters, showing all the trains that arrive and depart in that particular station in chronological order. The Partenze poster show the successive stops for the particular train from that station onward. It will also show the track/binario from which the train typically departs, but this location might change so watch the departures board. Scroll down about half way at this link for a visual:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travelbl...?destId=359975
The Italian names of the stations you mentioned will be shown as:
Roma TE (Termini)
Firenze SMN (Santa Maria Novella
Venezia SL (Santa Lucia)
Milano CLE (Centrale)
http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/trains/index.htm
The biggest key to finding the right binario is to know the number of your train and its departure time. Many train newbies think that their train from Rome to Florence will show "Florence" on the Departures board. The board show the final destination and shows it in Italian. Typically Florence is an intermediate stop and the final destination might be Bologna, Milan, Venice or someplace else. But the board WILL show the train number, type of train, and departure time.
Another way to verify: somewhere in the station there will be a large "Arrivi" and "Partenze" posters, showing all the trains that arrive and depart in that particular station in chronological order. The Partenze poster show the successive stops for the particular train from that station onward. It will also show the track/binario from which the train typically departs, but this location might change so watch the departures board. Scroll down about half way at this link for a visual:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/travelbl...?destId=359975
The Italian names of the stations you mentioned will be shown as:
Roma TE (Termini)
Firenze SMN (Santa Maria Novella
Venezia SL (Santa Lucia)
Milano CLE (Centrale)
Sep 10th, 2011, 11:45 PM
#13
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 1,254
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Here's a site you may find useful.....
http://mobile.viaggiatreno.it/viaggi...mobile?lang=EN
Just enter the number of your train and it will show you the service's final destination - which is what you should look for on the Departure ("Partenze") displays!
More detail if you go for this option...
http://www.viaggiatreno.it/viaggiatreno/vt.html
And use the list at the right of this page to see the symbols used to indicate various places you'll perhaps need to find...
http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/i...003f16f90aRCRD
.... some are obvious:
http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/i...003f16f90aRCRD
... others maybe less so?
http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/i...003f16f90aRCRD
And they don't seem to have one at all for the limited porter service, but...
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD
Peter
http://mobile.viaggiatreno.it/viaggi...mobile?lang=EN
Just enter the number of your train and it will show you the service's final destination - which is what you should look for on the Departure ("Partenze") displays!
More detail if you go for this option...
http://www.viaggiatreno.it/viaggiatreno/vt.html
And use the list at the right of this page to see the symbols used to indicate various places you'll perhaps need to find...
http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/i...003f16f90aRCRD
.... some are obvious:
http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/i...003f16f90aRCRD
... others maybe less so?
http://www.grandistazioni.it/cms/v/i...003f16f90aRCRD
And they don't seem to have one at all for the limited porter service, but...
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD
Peter
Sep 11th, 2011, 05:47 AM
#14
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Be careful if there are these words after your track numbers Nord(north), Sud(south), Est(east), or Ouest(west).
In Bologna this past May, we were to make a connection to track 11. We found 11 Ouest and thought that it was the one that we wanted. A nice gentleman asked us where we were going, we told him, and he said that we were at the wrong track. We needed to be at track 11, not 11 Ouest. Luckily we had enough time to get ourselves to the correct track.
In Bologna this past May, we were to make a connection to track 11. We found 11 Ouest and thought that it was the one that we wanted. A nice gentleman asked us where we were going, we told him, and he said that we were at the wrong track. We needed to be at track 11, not 11 Ouest. Luckily we had enough time to get ourselves to the correct track.
Sep 11th, 2011, 07:40 AM
#15
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 278
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
azzure, as suggested, the signage is easy to understand. For more info, you might look at these sites to help acclimate you to traveling by train in Italy:
http://tinyurl.com/roma-termini
http://tinyurl.com/riding-trains
http://tinyurl.com/tr-connect
http://tinyurl.com/roma-termini
http://tinyurl.com/riding-trains
http://tinyurl.com/tr-connect
Sep 11th, 2011, 10:00 AM
#16
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 1,254
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ovest, with a "V" for Venice is more likely however...
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovest
... whereas, almost next door, they use that "u"...
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouest
Peter
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovest
... whereas, almost next door, they use that "u"...
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouest
Peter
Sep 11th, 2011, 10:49 AM
#17
In my experience, it varies. Rome, Florence, Pisa, Lucca and Cefalú (from memory) all had announcements in English as well as Italian. Stations in the South (Agropoli, Salerno. the circumvesuviana stations) did not appear to have.
The last time I was in Pisa airport, the station was signposted, but the printed timetables were all in Italian - as before, I found this caused confusion among some tourists who could not find Florence on the list.
The last time I was in Pisa airport, the station was signposted, but the printed timetables were all in Italian - as before, I found this caused confusion among some tourists who could not find Florence on the list.
