shrimpy

I am going to be in Castiglione del Lago (Umbria) in late October. I want to travel from there -- by train, preferably -- to Venice and then back to Florence. Can any one please tell me any information about possible transporation -- i.e., is there a train from Castiglione del Lago to Venice (if so which one, how long does it take, etc.), and is there a train between Venice and Florence (if so, what, where, etc.)? Any helpful information would be greatly appreciated by a newbie to Italy (I've "googled" without luck!). Many thanks to all for your help..

Dukey1

go to one of these two Italian rail websites:

www.trenitalia.com

www.lefrecce.it

Castiglione has a rail station but be aware it is in the lower part of the town.

Steve_James

Hi Shrimpy - Castiglione to Venice takes 4+ hrs., with 1/2 changes (Terontola/Florence).

Venice-Florence on the Frecciargento takes just over 2 hrs.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

ellenem

Here's another link to the Italian rail site, all the same company as mentioned above.

http://www.fsitaliane.it/homepage_en.html

The trip takes 4.5 to 5 hours depending on the trains you choose. You can't take the same train the whole way.

At the site I mentioned above, I found the most choices for a route that goes from Castiglione del Lago (abbreviated on the train schedules CAST LAG) to Firenze Santa Maria Novella (FI.SMN), the main Florence train station. Then you switch for a train from FI.SMN to Venezia Santa Lucia (VE S.L.), the Venice train station on the island. Those choices took 4 hours 24 minutes with about a 30 minute connection time in Florence.

shrimpy

Thank you everyone! So helpful! Thank you for the help!

juliem111

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between these two sites that sell train tickets between Florence and Venice? Both seem to be only 2 hour trips.

This one is only 25 euros:
https://biglietti.italotreno.it/Book...neTreno_A.aspx

And this one is 95 euros:
http://www.lefrecce.it/B2CWeb/search...chOutputViewer

Thanks for your help!

raincitygirl

They are two different train companies.
The first one is ItaloTreno , a fairly new company.
The second is Trenitalia. Le Frecce are the high speed trains in the Trenitalia company.

You can read more about Italian trains on this site: themaninseatsixtyone.com

I used Italo Treno to travel between Florence and Naples last October and was very impressed.

juliem111

Thanks so much Raincitygirl. I really appreciate the help. I may try Italo Treno if the times work out right since the pictures online look so nice and the prices are great.

kybourbon

Italo doesn't always use the main train stations so pay attention to departure stations. Italo doesn't have as many routes/times either.

kybourbon

One other thing, Italo only allows booking 90 days in advance and Trenitalia allows booking 120 days (except for the slow R trains).

juliem111

Thanks kybourbon. I appreciate it!

msarsini

Unfortunately Umbria Mobilità trains still use paper based timetables which make it really difficult to use. However some time ago I found out that there is an App called Umbria Traveline which makes life much easier, it can be found at www.umbriatraveline.it