Help with Italy trains
 

My wife and I will be traveling between four destinations in Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice, and Cinque Terra) by train and we are completely clueless. Some questions regarding TrenItalia...

1) How early in advance before the departure time should we arrive at the train station?

2) Traveling to two of our destinations will require changing trains. I'm not sure how easy this is to do... do the trains usually arrive/depart on schedule or can delays cause you to miss the next train (like missing a connecting flight)? How do you do this, i.e., just get off Train A and find locate Train B at the station? Is it easy to do?

3) Is it best to book the trains through the TrenItalia website? Do they send you the tickets?

Thanks for your help!

Mike

You can book online and receive a locator number to pick up your tickets at a self service kiosk at the train station when you get there. You can also use a similar option that allows you to give that number to the person checking tickets and they will process it directly in their system. With either one of those options, you don't have to worry about really losing a ticket. In terms of how far in advance you should get there, I'd say 20 minutes is more than sufficient. Mos tof the time when we were there over the past few weeks, we didn't even know which deck to wait on until a few minutes before the train was scheduled to depart. The only time this wasn't true was our train from Rome to Florence and we had a good 20-30 min to get settled on the train before it departed. Otherwise, once it appeared on the sign, we only had 10 minutes or so to get to our car and get our luggage on board. As for changing trains, we never had to do that and I'm thankful.

Changing trains can be a hassle. If you can, give yourself at least 20-30 minutes in between your connections. Unloading luggage...making your way to the appropriate platform...finding your car and seat (if you have reserved) and loading your luggage again can get to be a pain...especially if you are not travelling light. Which actually is a must if you're doing a fair amount of train travel. Plus, once you're in Venice you don't want a lot of luggage to worry with.

To know what track to go to, look at the big yellow Partenze posters posted in several locations in every station. Find your train based on the time it starts from/passes through the station you're at., and the train number (which is on the ticket).

There will also be a Bin (binario) number listed which tells you which track the train usually leaves from. These occasionally change, but in big stations it will be a nearby track. So you can at least be waiting nearby when the departure board confirms the track number.

best regards,
Deirdré Straughan

living & travelling in Italy:
www.beginningwithi.com

Ferrovie dello Stato is not immune from Murphy's Law. Having to change trains TO major lines (Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples, Rome-Genoa-Turin, etc.) is more forgiving than going to a podunk secondary line, simply because there are likely to be more trains going to your destination. So if you miss the train, yes it's frustrating but not the end of the world. OTOH, if the line you're changing to is a podunk line (Bologna-Pistoia, for example) where there are fewer trains, you would want to allow more time Murphy's Law.

For the 4 destinations you list, how do you propose to get to and from the Cinque Terre? What is your trip sequence? The Cinque Terre are on the Rome-Genoa line whereas Venice, Florence, and Rome are all on the same major line. Either way they are major lines, but their only common point is Rome. If your itinerary goes Florence-CT-Rome (or vice-versa) the change is pretty simple: one leg of the trip will require a change in Pisa, Viareggio, and/or La Spezia. Going direct from CT to Venice (or vice versa) will be more complicated but not undoable.

>OTOH, if the line you're changing to is a podunk line (Bologna-Pistoia, for example) where there are fewer trains, you would want to allow more time Murphy's Law.

Yes, but then the second train won´t need reservations anyway and you would just take the next one that you can get from the change station.
I would say the change TO the major line has more potential for a problem if the train after the planned (and missed) one is full. Then you can´t just take the NEXT train, but the NEXT TRAIN WITH FREE SEATS. On a, say, Friday afternoon it can be a PITA.

We did not travel to Cinque Terra, but the other three cities are very common routes and you should have no trouble taking one train between any of them. (You'll have stops in between, but you can certainly take a direct train from Rome to Florence or Venice).

We found it much easier to purchase our tickets from the electronic machines with a credit card at each of the stations. That way, if we planned to take a 10 am train but got sidetracked and arrived late, we could take the 11 am instead. There are trains very frequently between all those cities.
From Rome to Venice, we arrived at the train station, went to the machine, and saw there was a train leaving in 10 minutes, so we just bought our tickets and jumped on that one! They were very frequent.

Make sure you purchase both your ticket AND reservation and wait for both pieces to print. We had some heated discussion with a conductor on one train because we hadn't known and had only grabbed one of the two pieces.

Every thing you want to know about train travel in Italy is at www.slowtrav.com/italy/trains/index.htm.

Just remember you can buy your tickets at a travel agent in Italy. I always do this a day or two ahead of time when I run across an agency in my touristing rounds. No worry about waiting in lines at the station, but no need to lug them across the Atlantic either.

Changing trains is something you want to be careful about if you're at all slow moving - or you have any substantial luggage. Even in many major stations the trains are available for only 10 minutes - at the most - before they leave. So - you need to be located, with your luggage - near the correct car when the train pulls in - and board as soon as everyone has gotten off.

In small staions the train may stop for only 4/5 minutes.

So - if you can give yourself time to find the other track and get your luggage over there.

We just returned from our first trip to Europe.

We bought our tickets from a travel Agent in Rome. He spoke English and took time to find routes where we wouldn't have to change trains in some cases.

We were clueless and a bit stressed. You will find plenty of English speaking travelers to help.

Book 1st or 2nd class tickets. You will know exactly where your seat and car are. Less stressful.

Get to the terminal early if you are unsure. We got there 45 minutes early for our trip from Rome to Cinque Terre.
Thee is a huge board with all the trains. Eventually you will see the trac (binario) that it will arrive on.
Make your way to that track. You'll punch your ticket in the yellow machine at the track.

Pack lightly and getting on (and off) the train.

We had to switch to a local train from La Spezia to Cinque Terre. No assigned car or seat. But if we missed the connection, anothe would be coming by soon.

It was pretty easy after the first trip to read the boards and schedules.

Get there early for the first trip to acquaint yourself and pack lightly...you'll be fine.

Hi m,

1. About 0:20 hr so that you can find your track.

2. a. yes and maybe
b. yes
c. Usually

It's not really difficult unless you each have 2 large suitcases.

3. If you buy your tickets from www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html you will get a confirmation email. That is your ticket.

If you buy your tickets in Italy, you will get a paper ticket. Punch that in the box at the head of the tracks before getting on the train.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))