Hi all. I need some help, and although it seems like a stupid question, I'm having some diffuculty figuring it out.

I'm trying to buy overnight train tickets from Venice to Rome (6.5 hour journey on the slow train). On trenitalia.com, I am requesting tickets for three passengers 9/24/05 at 23:00. The results on trenitalia come back that there is a train at 00:04 9/24/05. So, is this ticket for 24 hours earlier, technically?

Does anyone have any experience with this particular train?

Help!

anyone?

Hi k,

00:04 is very early in the morning of 9/24. 23:00 is very late.

The train that you found is at 00:04*.

The * means next day, ie, just after midnight on 9/25.

It is an ICN arriving 06:56 at Rome Tiburtina.

The train is named "Marco Polo" and has sleepers, couchettes and seats from both Trieste and Udine via Venezia and Roma to Napoli. It arrives in Venezia Santa Lucia by 2342 so you should be able to board then, but you'll have to alight promptly at Roma Tiburtina at 0656 because the train continues at 0715 to Napoli.
If you're not certain about the date, request a train at 0001 on 25 September.

Brilliant. I knew I could count on you Fodorites!

If you haven't already bought it, you might want to consider this strategy, suggested more than once by Ben Haines... you can take a train from Venice to Trieste about 9 pm, and then get off and get right back on, headed the other way - - to Venice, and onward to Rome. The point being that you can get a bit closer to a full night's sleep, having settled in, starting at Trieste.

It's just an earlier boarding on to the same train you're already planning to take.

Best wishes,

Rex

Rex, going along with your good idea (via Ben Haines) if the train station in Trieste has luggage storage it would be fun for a traveller to take an early in the day train to Trieste and enjoy that charming city and then catch the 9:00pm Trieste train that goes to Venice, Rome etc. So few people go to Trieste it could make a nice day's outing. Again, if the train station had a place to store luggage for the day.

Aw, shucks. I booked the tickets last night before reading your responses. That'll teach me to act promptly.

Are tickets changeable?

Sorry, not thinking again. I guess we could just buy the tickets seperately...I'm a silly girl.

(never try to book any part of a trip to Italy while taking allergy medication)

The sleepers from Venezia may have started from Trieste or from Udine - the two parts of the train are joined at Venezia Santa Lucia.
The price of a sleeping berth is a fixed price and does not depend on distance so, if your sleeping car starts from Trieste and you have booked it from Venezia, then all you have to do is buy an ordinary ticket for the Trieste-Venezia journey. The sleeping car attendant will not be expecting you to board at Trieste, but you are entitled to board there if you have a ticket.