Italy Rail

Old Feb 23rd, 2013, 12:03 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Italy Rail

Will be spending 2 weeks in April, visiting Rome, Florence, Venice. Is it worthwhile buying
our rail tickets in advance?
laleicht is offline  
Old Feb 23rd, 2013, 01:17 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 202
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We lived in Italy for several years and never bought a ticket in advance, so its certainly not necessary. It certainly can't hurt though if you don't mind having a firm schedule.
I'd be interested in others opinions on this...
Approach_Guides is offline  
Old Feb 23rd, 2013, 01:17 PM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 36,778
Likes: 0
Received 14 Likes on 11 Posts
If you know the dates you want to travel, you can get big discounts on Trenitalia.
kybourbon is offline  
Old Feb 23rd, 2013, 01:23 PM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 36,778
Likes: 0
Received 14 Likes on 11 Posts
Regular fare from Rome to Florence on the fast AV train is 43€. Advance purchase discount can cost as little as 9€ (more likely to be 19€ or 29€). Discounts can sell out.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...008916f90aRCRD
kybourbon is offline  
Old Feb 23rd, 2013, 01:39 PM
  #5  
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 96
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I bought a Eurail pass last time we were traveling between cities. I don't think we saved money plus we found ourselves going to the rail station to confirm things anyway. Next time I'll just buy tickets as we need them.

You might look at our trips for some ideas of things to do and our experiences in those places -

http://www.rimerson.com/
RobIm is offline  
Old Feb 24th, 2013, 05:03 PM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 278
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
As kybourbon and Approach_Guides say, it really comes down to cost vs. flexibility. I also lived in Italy and we rarely bought tickets in advance, but we traveled a lot of Regionale trains... or we decided to go at the last minute.

I suppose if you were making a once-in-a-lifetime-trip to Italy, you MIGHT want things laid out and planned...or if you're ON a budget that may influence you to BOOK in Advance.

If you can get the reduced rates on either Trenitala or Italo, you can save up to 60%. If we planned a trip well in advance we would buy tickets at a discount and treat them like "airline" tickets.

Here's some info on the Trenitalia discount ticket options: http://www.roninrome.com/transportat...fare-structure

Good luck!
rineurope is offline  
Old Feb 25th, 2013, 12:02 AM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
A very large proportion of Italy's major inter-city railway seats sold out completely during the recent Christmas-New Year break. Booking a month earlier, we found NO lunchtime seats in Standard class with either operator the day we wanted to travel from Florence to Rome.

Depends how close to Easter your "April" holiday is. But along the main Rome-Florence-Milan-Venice trunk line at a peak travelling time, the longer you leave booking, the likelier you are to have to upgrade to First and pay top whack even for that - if there are still seats left.

Given the recent boom in demand for Italian inter-city rail travel, be VERY careful about accepting advice from someone whose experience is limited to trundling round Victorian lines in the era before modern ticketing systems and revenue maximisation programmes.

The days of turning up and standing in the train corridor that I used to live in have disappeared forever on high speed trains.
flanneruk is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
travelinglife
Europe
8
Mar 31st, 2014 06:52 AM
dr_golf2000
Europe
15
Jul 4th, 2011 05:33 AM
Leburta
Europe
6
Jul 9th, 2007 02:26 PM
Neetse
Europe
8
Apr 25th, 2005 07:24 PM
Wendy
Europe
13
Jun 19th, 2002 01:18 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -