Still working on the budget for our upcoming January trip to Rome and was looking at the train fare from Rome to Bologna. I indicated standard fare and the number of adults, and the section below it says "Prenotazione parcheggio" (parking reservation?) and it added 25euro to the ticket price. What is that exactly?

Because we're going to Italy next month and need train tickets, too, out of curiosity I googled prenotazione parcheggio and it does appear to be a parking reservation.

One additional question about ticket buying at the station. Once in Bologna, we want to take a side to Modena and Parma. When I buy the ticket at the station, how do I indicate that I want to "jump" off in Modena for a few hours then continue on to Parma before returning to Bologna in the evening?

Unless you request it parking is not added to the ticket price. If you have a car that you want to park at Termini you click that option and reserve a parking space.

In order to 'jump off at Modena' you buy a ticket from Bologna to Modena and another ticket from Modena to Parma.

Hal beat me to it.

I know on trenitalia website you can indicate you're going from Bologna to Parma but are exiting the train in another city for x hours before resuming your trip to the final destination. I didn't know if that was indicated on the ticket or if you just have to buy seperate tickets.

If you travel Bologna-Modena-Parma on regional trains for which no reservations are possible, you can buy one Bologna-Parma ticket which will allow you to get off and back on again in Modena. On the other hand, ICplus trains require reservations so you would have to buy separate tickets for Bologna-Modena and Modena-Parma to ride those trains.

Here's a quote from the Trenitalia Traveler's Guide:

"Tickets must be stamped before boarding the train: after stamping, they are valid for 6 hours for journeys of up to 200 km and for 24 hours for longer trips, barring special cases for regional fares.

"If the stamping machines are not present or are out of order, you can have your ticket stamped at the station ticket desk or by the staff on board the train, without having to pay the extra charge envisaged for unstamped tickets.

"Tickets purchased at the same time as the seat reservation (ES*, sleeper, couchette, etcetera), on the other hand, are valid on the day and train reserved. Reservation changes are allowed with the methods envisaged for the specific service used."

Hi st,

Ghe reason for suggesting two tickets is that you can spend as much time as you wish in Modena without having to worry about your ticket expiring.

For the R trains, it costs 1E more.

For the IC+ (reserved seats) it costs 3.5E more.

I guess I'm a little nervous about how to explain what I want to the surly character selling me the ticket at the station.....

first of all, don't worry about buying the ticket at the station - they are used to tourists and IME are very helpful. Unlike the guard on our train from Florence to Pisa, who although he was told that we tried to validate our tickets and couldn't find the machine on the platform still fined us E5!
I would try to buy my ticket a day or so in advance if possible, unless you buy it on line before you go - far less stressful that buying it on the day, though in January, that shouldn't be too bad.
Good luck with whatever you decide!

Hi S,

>I guess I'm a little nervous about how to explain what I want...<

Write down the train number(s), time(s) and destination(s) in block capitals and hand it to the agent, who will probably not be surly, with a pleasant "buon giorno" and "per favore".

Say "grazi" after you get your ticket.

He will probably say, "No Problem" and "Have a nice day".

Thanks Ira, I have purchased a dozen or more tickets in Italy at the stations so I know what and how to do it and seem to always get the ones who act like that don't understand and don't really want to either. Just those pre-trip "worry-over-nothing" moments. I'm sure you'll be seeing a few more before January 9.

hi sandi_travelnut: Even better than re-writing everything down on paper, just PRINT out the exact schedule (train/day/time) you want off the trenitalia.com website. I usually print out the day (i.e. Weds. March 7 and then the first 2 or 3 trains I want to take, that way I have some options if my schedule goes awry). It is convenient with everything already printed out, just hand that to the ticket agent at the window and indicate 1st or 2nd class seat options. The nice thing is that at nearly all train stations in cities throughout Italy, you can plan ahead and buy multiple tickets even for travel to/from another city. For example, when I am in Rome, I have bought train tickets for Milano-Genova, etc. It saves time and you can get your itinerary planned out even more precisely. But then again, I tend to be a perfectionist when traveling and like to have everything organized beforehand....

When the transaction is done, it would be "grazie" (with an "e" at the end - Ira forgot the e!)

Hi huitres,

>When the transaction is done, it would be "grazie" (with an "e" at the end - Ira forgot the e!) <

Thank you. That explains why Italians look at me funny when I say "grazi".

Thanks everyone!

An additional question por favore:

The regional train from Bologna to Parma does not indicate that there's a stop at Modena. (I clicked on "details" on trenitalia.) Is it a given that there's a stop or could it be an express train? I want a stop in Modena so we can hop off for a couple of hours.

After you click on "details" click on the train number and you should get a list of stops. I did it in the Italian version, so not sure if the English version does something different.

At the train station in Bologna, you can check the big PARTENZE/Departures posters, which should also list all the stops.

Go to the timetables at www.bahn.de. Enter a date and time with Bologna Centrale as the departure station and Parma(I) as the arrival station. Click on "details for all" and then on "show intermediate stops."