etonmymind

I was wondering if anyone knows of a good website for checking train schedules and fares, specifically in Italy, for spring. The Italian rail site has issues and I can't seem to find another source that I know is reliable. Help is appreciated, thanks!

ellenem

This is the official site:

http://trenitalia.it/homepage_en.html

Actual fares and schedules for spring 2010 won't be available for some time, but shouldn't change too much from what is currently in place. Just input dates for next week to get an idea of what to expect.

Palenque

there is no alternative for pricing in local fares other than trenitalia.com i think but for schedules i always use the www.bahn.de - Germany Rail web site that has schedules for all of Europe

that said info from Italian Railways is often late coming - like when summer and winter schedules start these are often frustratingly not completely posted until shortly before the schedule change. But since train times rarely change significantly and there are so so many trains a day just put in a date that does work - when schedules do appear they will usually be rather similar. RailEurope.com has fares for Italian trains but do not take these as typical as they often are a bit higher than what you'd find in Italy.

Try trenitalia.com for online discounts that may not be available at stations once there - yes this is a terribly frustrating site that has caused legions of Fodorites untold problems actually trying to book. If not going long-distances than the savings may not be worth the hassle. Compared to other counries trains in Italy are rather cheap so even full fare will not break the bank - and you can be sure of getting seats on trains in nearly all cases IMO

Christina

No train system will probably even have prices for spring now.

kybourbon

Trenitalia is not that difficult if you know the quirks to the system. It's not like air fares where the prices change constantly. There are a few discount tickets when purchased in advance, but Trenitalia won't accept US credit cards. Schedules really don't change much from winter (usually entered mid-December)to summer (usually entered mid-June). Prices in the past haven't changed more than a few euro. What does often change are the various discounts and the process to book them. To get prices for the trains you want, you must enter a date within the next 7 days (pick the day of week you plan to travel). If you don't enter a date within 7 days, the fares won't show for the slower R and D trains.

spaarne

Schedules don't change by much season to season. Prices can vary significantly.

For you own schedule I recommend Thomas Cook at
http://www.thomascookpublishing.com/...ies=Timetables
It is also available at Amazon.com

Palenque

trenitalia.com is hopeless for the novice user it seems and there have been literally hundreds of complaints about actually buying a ticket on in here - like they take your credit card info and then..... days pass without any word, etc.

But several Fodorites and especially kybourbon have been EXTREMELY patient and helpful in walking many successfully thru the process - and she (?) and others have saved Fodorites tons on euros in so doing.

altamiro

>I was wondering if anyone knows of a good website for checking train schedules and fares, specifically in Italy, for spring.

Since Trenitalia (actually Ferrovia dello Stato) are the guys that actually write the schedules you look for, until they come around to publishing them there will be no other ressources for you to check the schedules.

As other posters already wrote, if you want to book a specific ticket half a year in advance you just cannot do it and nobody else either. If you just want to roughly know the travel time and train frequency, just look for the schedules of the same weekday for e.g. next week.

Man_in_seat_61

The current timetable is Jne 2009 to 12 December 2009, the next on will be Dec 13 2009 to June 2010.

Timetable data for the next timetable should start to appear in the journey planner on www.bahn.de as from 14 October (the date when bookings open for the first few weeks of the new 13 Dec onwards timetable).

They won't change hugely, but there are some key changes here and there. Milan-Rom speeds up witht he last section of high-speed line in place between Bologna and Florence, down to 3 hours flat on the fastest trains.

scobb

>Man_in_seat_61: "The current timetable is June 2009 to 12 December 2009, the next one will be Dec 13 2009 to June 2010."

I'm travelling with my family through Italy in the first 2 weeks of January, but will be away from easy access to the internet from 11th December, so I would like to get my train bookings made in advance of this date. Does anyone know from what date Trenitalia will have their Winter schedule (Dec 13 onwards) online booking facility available? Right now, the way I read this thread, if you were planning a trip in the second half of December, it could be that online booking might not be available until pretty much the day you were due to travel (which rather defeats the purpose of advance online booking doesn't it?)

Thanks,

Simon

ellenem

Simon,

Yes, it's difficult to make a logical prediction about when Trenitalia will post the new schedule. Sorry I can't offer more help. Suffice it to say that in more than 20 trips to Italy--all of them involving some train travel--I've never purchased my tickets befre arrving in italy and always got the train I wanted.

For most days, times, and routes, you will be fine just making your reservations a few days before you plan to travel. Your family may qualify for the family discount. What trips are you hoping to book?

scobb

Thanks for your quick reply. We live in Christchurch, New Zealand. We're flying initially to London for Christmas and the New Year with my English family. From London, we fly to Vienna on 4th Jan, then on to Venice by overnight sleeper (already booked). From Venice we head to Florence, then Florence to Rome, Rome to Naples/Pompeii (same day return - a big day I know, but my youngest daughter is studying classics at University and is very keen to visit Pompeii). Then back to London briefly before returning to New Zealand via Hong Kong. 5 weeks away in total. I'm sure you are right that we would have no problems with booking trains as we move around, but I would prefer to get this organized ahead of time and get a small discount on the fare into the bargain. From what I can see, if you book ahead online we should get a 15% discount. Our children are aged 21 and 18, so we don't think we qualify for a family ticket, but would be interested to hear if you know of a better ticket option.

kybourbon

If you want to attempt some type of discount (who knows what discounts will even exit when the new schedules come out) then book all of your tickets when you get to Venice. Trenitalia changes their discounts when they change their schedules. The 15%, 30%, and 60% were new this past year. They might not exist after the new schedule.

Palenque

Trains fares seem to be a hot political question in Italy - in the past when fare rises were previsioned it set off a political tempest - Italians it seems feel entitled to subsidized public transports that make them IME the cheapest in Europe - and i'm all for that!