Booking Rail Naples to Rome Online
 

I'll start by saying I'm not afraid to book holiday things online and I've done so a number of times but I have to admit that this time I'm somewhat confused. Step 1 is easy. I can book my seats on the "fast train" Naples to Rome in late September and I have no problem with the steps that follow online at www.trentitalia.com BUT I'm not sure what happens after I give them my card details. This is where I become confused. I understand that I receive some sort of electronic ticket via email but at this point I have no idea how I redeem the ticket on the day of travel. Do I just go to the ticket window in Naples to get a real ticket or, as it seems I'm allocated my seats, that I just get on the train?

Has anyone done a similar journey in Italy? I could use some help in what to do when we want to get on the train. I'm sure some of you learned travellers will have the answer.

Your link didn't take me to Trenitalia. If you are booking one of the fast trains, use the area of Trenitalia just for booking them, not the regular link. It allows you to see an actual seat diagram and select your seat. It also shows about 5 trains at a time and discount prices so you can compare. You must use the actual Italian city names (it will start to autofill as you are typing) as it doesn't want to recognize the name unless it's exact..
http://www.fsitaliane.it/cms/v/index...003f16f90aRCRD

When booking online, you can register first or book without registering. The advantage of registering lets you have access to make changes.

>>>Do I just go to the ticket window in Naples to get a real ticket or, as it seems I'm allocated my seats, that I just get on the train?<<<

You will probably be able to just show your e-mail print out on board (sometimes depends on what you are booking). Sometimes you are told tickets must be picked up at stations with self-service kiosks. The kiosks in the larger stations are touch screen in English.

Online booking info:
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

Deja vu?

No, the OP's same question has also been asked (and answered) over on TripAdvisor....

Peter

Thank you for your replies and yes I did spread the net to cover all the bases. I hope this did not offend.

I don't understand why people agonise over online train booking in Italy. It is so easy, inexpensive and flexible in person.

tarquin - spoken like somebody who has done it often. Me - this is my first time.

Sorry for sounding intolerant. You will find it simple when you get there.

>>>OzJohnno on Jul 15, 11 at 3:05am
Thank you for your replies and yes I did spread the net to cover all the bases. I hope this did not offend.<<<

No, you did not offend. Ask away. That's what this site is for and many of us don't use or like TA as the advice is limited to their so called experts and you shouldn't have been admonished for posting on different websites. TA also closes threads after 6 months so you can't go back with follow ups which makes many threads useless.

Jumping on this thread to ask: Is it better to book in advance (and go through all this hassle/confusion) or wait until we get there?

Here's my situation: My fiance and I will be in Italy in late September for two weeks for our honeymoon. During that time, we'll travel by train from Venice to Florence; Florence to Naples; and Naples to Rome. All of these appear to be very common routes with multiple trains per day (sometimes as frequent as once per hour).

I understand that booking a Mini fare in advance will save us quite a bit of money -- but only if we're willing to commit to a specific time. I'm leaning toward a more flexible option, so we have the choice of when to leave on each of our travel days. (Then if there's one last thing we want to see in our current city, we can take a late afternoon train; or if we're anxious to get to the next city, an early morning one.)

My question is this: If we wait until we get there and then play it by ear, will we have any problems getting tickets? Do these trains usually book up completely, or are there almost always seats available even the day of? Would it be better to book in advance while we're in Italy, like a few days ahead of time, or would it be okay to just show up at the train station and try to get on the next available train? Ultimately I would love to be able to do that, but not if there's a high likelihood that we'll show up and have to wait five hours for the next train.

I know this is impossible to predict completely, but if I could even get a general idea of what most other travelers do, and specifically how booked up these trains usually are, it would be extremely helpful.

Sorry for hijacking your thread, OzJohnno!

The advantage of booking in advance is that it's much cheaper, as you've said. The disadvantage is that you're then tied into the one train.

Trains will hardly ever sell out. Even if for some exceptional reason one train is sold out, the next one is only an hour ahead. So there's no need to worry about that.

Personally, I'm a budget traveller so the discounts outweigh the inflexibility. Your choice might be different.

As one of the so-called experts on TA - and resident on the little island for which I'm such - we've been using the railways here since '96, and have only had difficulties in buying tickets immediately prior to travel on two occasions...

Both of those were on the same busy but infrequent route from Bari on the east coast across the country to Naples.

For those major journeys when you're certain of being able to use the ticket, with perhaps with a hotel booked at the far end, the Mini fares are a good gamble.

Indeed, if you can buy soon enough, and find ones that give the full 60% reduction, you can buy two - an hour or two apart - and still save money on the regular fare!

Otherwise, I'd not bother...

Peter

erries, I did a very similar itinerary for my honeymoon July 2009. my walk up fare for 2 ppl was 70euro from venice to florence. 84euro from florence to rome and I for get what we paid rome to naples but I think it was in the ballpark of 55euro. These routes from what I've heard don't sell out and there are a lot of trains. I found one leaving the station in the next 15 min everytime. Do you want to commit to a time schedule on your honeymoon?

good luck,
Peter
ps. do a tuscan wine tour, our single best day in a 2.5 week honeymoon. Sept is harvest season.

ere's my situation: My fiance and I will be in Italy in late September for two weeks for our honeymoon. During that time, we'll travel by train from Venice to Florence; Florence to Naples; and Naples to Rome. All of these appear to be very common routes with multiple trains per day (sometimes as frequent as once per hour).>

I have traveled on Italian trains for years and this leads me to highly recommend first class - especially for folks on a honeymoon - and if you compare first class flexible or full fares to the price of an Italian Railpass for those trips I think the pass could be cheaper - and again you have complete flexiblity and with a pass for years now I have never ever had any problems getting on any train in Italy - so many going all the time on those routes. But IMO strongly consider the benefits of first class travel - not that 2nd class is a cattle car but for the trip of a lifetime pay the relatively little extra and go in a more relaxed style. anyway for lots of great info on Italian trains and passes (a Saver pass is for 2 or more traveling together on one pass) check out these fab IMO sites - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com. and again IMO the cheapest way is often not the best investment - strongly considered going first class on Italian trains!

erries - You might want to go on and book your Florence/Naples train assuming you are not really staying in Naples. It's not really that they will sell out (although a few do), but it's a long day to get to the Amalfi coast area so can't imagine you would catch a late train. My last trip Florence/Naples, my train departed from Florence very late (over an hour). When you get to Naples you still have about 75 minutes to Sorrento and another hour or so to Positano or Amalfi is that's your destination.

I have walked up in high season (June) and had no problems getting the next fast train from Rome to Naples for six people. YMMV.

Sorry, Brit - Your posts are excellent, both here and on TA (some other destination experts not so much). As you can see, this post has stirred multiple questions from other posters which is why it's beneficial to be posted on this website also. When someone uses the search function above in the future, they can ask further questions. On TA, it would be closed.

OzJohnno - You can do a trial purchase run on the website. Select your trains and you will see which ticket options you can select (e-mail, self-service, etc.). They will not mail outside Europe.

If a train is sold out in 2nd class it most likely would still have seats available IME in first class - always seem to be empty seats in any Italian train I ride in in first class if not 2nd class.

We used the Regionale between Rome and Naples. Both are end stops, so if you arrive 25 minutes early, you can get a seat with no problems. Tickets are purchased the same day. But it takes a little longer and I am not sure that all trains have AC.

Thank you everyone for your prompt and very informative replies. You have taken a little load off my mind and I'm now quite confident we will have no major problems.

Regional trains take a LOT lot longer and though you can sit anywhere the seats themselves are much much less comfy than on the modern AV high-speed trains - but there are much cheaper and yes you just buy a ticket that can be used on any regional train - if there are still regional trains between Rome and Naples as these type of long-distance regional trains are being phased out it seems so you could even have to change trains. For most folks not worth it.

<i>if there are still regional trains between Rome and Naples as these type of long-distance regional trains are being phased out it seems so you could even have to change trains.</i>

Two months ago I did not have to change trains from Rome to Naples and from Rome to Florence.

There are some IC trains as well that run those routes - I also have taken a regional train between Rome and florence recently and it took well over 3 hours vs 1.25 or so on the high-speed train. I love trains that stop at every sleepy station but the typical person, alas, seems always in a hurry to get somewhere so though regional trains are dirt cheap and you can hop on any of them the average traveler will find them just to tedious and slow I think.