lmz

Hi all - We are flying into Rome in early April and plan to head directly to Naples when we get there. There are multiple train options in the afternoon but not knowing about flight delays, etc I don't know if I should buy tickets or wait.

Is it ok to buy them the day of at the train station? They don't sell out do they?
If I need to buy them ahead of time and we miss the train would they carry over to the next train or am I just out of luck?

We are arriving on a Thursday if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

PalenQ

No they would rarely if ever sell out - zillions of trains - three types - fastest, medium fast and milk train - prices vary accordingly. You'll want the AV (name?) high-speed Eurostar type train that goes twice hourly from Rome Termini station - take the Leonardo Express train directly to Termini from the airport and change. no direct service from airport to my knowledge- buy both tickets at the airport train station - seat reservations are mandatory and come with the ticket so leave plenty of time at sprawling Termini to transfer as if you miss the train you will have to wait in line or go to an auto ticket machine to make a new seat reservation.

Search for GAC - a Fodorite as in the past few days he has posted invaluable info on the three types of trains, etc.

GAC

TRAINS BETWEEN ROME AND NAPLES

Travellers should know that, in Italy, not all trains are created equal, and there are significant fare differences between the various categories of trains, from the fastest, sleekest and most expensive Alta Velocita' ("AV") trains, to the slowest and cheapest regionale ("R") trains, which don't take seat reservations and stop at many smaller stations. With some advance planning, it is possible to save quite a bit of money by understanding the differences in fares and travel times when there are several train categories to choose from.

A good example of where there are lots of opportunities to save money is found on the Rome/Naples route, which is covered by SIX different categories of trains: AV, ES, IC, ICN, EXP and R (in descending order of cost).

Many travellers choose to visit Naples as a daytrip out of Rome. Leaving in the early morning, and returning in the late afternoon or early evening, travellers have many different trains to choose from. Here are HINTS of how to save lots of money by not selecting the fastest and most expensive trains:

Take Intercity (IC) trains when available, rather than AV or ES trains, which cost considerably more. The IC train costs half of the AV train. There are early morning IC trains to Naples, and late afternoon IC trains back to Rome.

The IC trains make three short en-route stops between Rome and Naples, but otherwise are quite acceptable as a cost-saving alternative to the faster AV and ES trains. Travel time is a bit longer, but not by much.

On a round-trip daytrip, I do not recommend taking the slowest and cheapest trains, the "regionale" ("R"), because there is a "time value" of money, and time is better spent touring in Naples than sitting on a train. However, on a one-way trip, taking the "R" train (which has only second class railcars) saves 50% of the cost of the IC train, and saves over 30 Euros compared to the cost of the AV train. The "R" trains don't have reserved seats, but this is usually not a problem, as they originate in Rome and terminate in Naples (and vice-versa), so travellers can almost always find a seat simply by boarding a little early.

As for the other trains (AV, ES, IC, ICN, EXP), they all have reserved seating automatic with ticket purchase, so again, there is no seating problem. (You won't likely be travelling on an ICN or EXP, which are night trains)

Look carefully at the train schedules and find the train which best suits your schedule and budget.

HERE ARE THE FARES:

The "hierarchy" of fares between Rome and Naples is currently as follows (all fares are one-way, second class, unrestricted "base" fare):

AV: 44 Euros (70 mins)

ES: 34 Euros (105 mins)

IC: 22 Euros (120+ mins)

ICN: 20.50 Euros (120+ mins)

EXP: 14.90 Euros (150+ mins)

R: 10.50 Euros (150+ mins)

As is evident, there are plenty of train choices between Rome and Naples. Choose carefully and wisely, and you can save LOTS of money. Booking much more than a couple of days in advance is rarely necessary , and seats are often available up to minutes before train departure.

NOTES:

Going to Pompei: 40 minutes and 2.40 Euros on the Circumvesuviana commuter line. Departures every 30 minutes.

Going to Sorrento: 65 minutes and 3.40 Euros on the Circumvesuviana commuter line. Departures every 30 minutes. There are also direct buses from Rome Tiburtina bus station to Sorrento and (summer only via Marozzi bus lines) to Positano, Praiano and Amalfi, which avoid the connection at Napoli Centrale to the Circumvesuviana rail.
Circumvesuviana trains run every 30 minutes from 5:10 to 22:43. They depart from the underground station below Napoli Centrale (follow signs and take the stairs or escalator down).

Going to Caserta: 40 minutes and 2.90 Euros on the "regionale" train. Note that there are direct trains from Rome to Caserta, which bypass Naples.

Going to Salerno: 40+ minutes and 3.40 Euros on the "regionale" train. Note that some AV/ES/IC trains are through-trains from Rome.

Going to Paestum: 90+ minutes and 5.20 Euros on the "regionale" train.

Going to Capri/Ischia/Procida: get to Molo Beverello by bus, tram or taxi and take a hydrofoil. There are also car ferries from the nearby Calata Porta di Massa ferry dock.

Going to the Amalfi Coast: get to Molo Beverello by bus, tram or taxi and take a hydrofoil (summer only); otherwise, connect to the SITA bus in Sorrento or in Salerno. There are also a couple of direct SITA buses from Napoli Centrale to Amalfi. From Rome to Amalfi/Positano (in the absence of the Marozzi direct bus), it's best to take Trenitalia all the way to Salerno, then connect to the ferry boat or the SITA bus, but there are several other options as well.

www.ferroviedellostato.it


www.vesuviana.it


www.metrodelmare.net


www.coopsantandrea.it


www.sitabus.it


www.unicocampania.it


www.caremar.it


www.medmargroup.it


www.capri.net


www.ischiaonline.it


www.procida.net


www.curreriviaggi.it


www.marozzivt.it

ellenem

You cannot just get on the next train if you miss the one for which you bought tickets. All train tickets except R (the slowest) are for a specific reserved seat on a specific train. If you miss that train, you will have to pay again.

I would wait until you are at the airport train station to buy the ticket. The Leonardo Express from the airport to Roma Termini station takes 30 minutes and the arrival track is at the far end of the station. Therefore, when buying the Leonardo Express ticket, at the same time purchase your ticket for Roma Termini to Naples, allowing at least 15 minutes from the time you arrive at Termini until your departure for Naples to find your platform.

ellenem

Yikes! GAC beat me with the comprehensive info!

ggreen

Since you're heading directly to Naples upon landing at FCO, you might want to look into flying. Airlines like Blu Express and Easy Jet can be quite inexpensive, especially if you book early. (We flew EWR-FCO nonstop, then transferred to Blu Express to Catania, Sicily. It was all pretty straightforward at FCO, and with hourly flights, we'd given ourselves more than enough time to clear immigration and switch terminals.)

lmz

Thank you so much for the quick replies! Our trip to Naples is not a day trip. We are spending 4 days there but it was much cheaper to fly into Rome than Naples.

ggreen

That was what we found for our international flights, too. FWIW, you might find Blu Express or other cheap airline tickets for basically the same as the FCO-Rome-Naples train tickets. Then you can decide which manner of travel you prefer on that first day, plane or train.

abenedek

bookmarking

Jean

In theory, I agree with ggreen's suggestion of continuing on to Naples by air on arrival at FCO. However, unless it's a long connection to cover a possible short delay of your FCO arrival, you run the risk of missing your connecting flight. My experience has been that cheap flights are sometimes sold out, so showing up without reservations or re-booking to a later flight can be difficult and/or expensive.

If you're arriving on the Thursday (4/14) before Palm Sunday, the trains could possibly be a little more crowded but not crazy crowded.

ggreen

What Jean says is fair. FWIW (again), my experience was as follows: nonstop flight to FCO (nonstop is less risk of significant delays) arriving just before 8am. I can't find my records, but I seem to remember our Blu Express flight was at 11am. This gave us plenty of time to: determine on a departure board which terminal we needed to be in for Blu Express and get there; stand in the check-in line and check our luggage (note they have strict limits, though our attendant let us by with an extra kilo or two); after wandering uselessly a bit, use the "help phone" to locate an ATM, then wait in line to use it; go through security, get to our gate, then backtrack to a cafe and wait in line there for some breakfast, then sit and enjoy it in the cafe before returning to the gate.

GAC

As contrasted to Rome/Palermo and Rome/Catania, where there are many flights on several operators, there are precious few flights between Rome and Naples, and ONLY on Alitalia.

While I've not done the math, I firmly believe that, in terms of cost, the train fare will be lower than the air fare on this route. In terms of time, the plane would be faster only if the connection is decent.

Noboby flies between Rome and Naples UNLESS connecting to or from another flight. Moreover, many travellers arriving at FCO on transatlantic or European flights choose to proceed to Naples by train rather than taking one of the rare Alitalia connecting flights. Because the fastest train now takes only 70 minutes from central Rome, train service can be nearly as fast as the plane (and indeed faster when the connection is poor).

Sharon_Post

It seems that the airfare is cheaper to fly into Rome and take a train to Venice, Florence, Naples etc. Is it less of a hassle to take the train than to fly to these cities?

LJ

Train travel in Italy is less hassle than flying because a) you don't need to book in advance and b) you go city-centre to city-centre and c)the Italians do train service very well.

ellenem

"It seems that the airfare is cheaper to fly into Rome and take a train to Venice, Florence, Naples etc. Is it less of a hassle to take the train than to fly to these cities?"

If you are asking flying from another country and arriving in Rome and then continuing on to another city by train is cheaper than flying directly to the other city, then the answer is no . . . or not necessarily.

For most people from the U.S., to arrive at the cities you name (Venice, Florence, Naples) will require a connecting flight somewhere. That connecting flight might be anywhere in Europe--Rome, Milan, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Amsterdam--and ease of doing this will vary by airline and the schedule offered. Even if the price is slightly higher, if the connection is about 2 hours you will save precious travel time and probably spend not that much more money when you factor in the train costs. The travel time saved is of value to me.

However, If you are not already at the airport because you just arrived and are already in Rome, then, as LJ wrote, a train will take about the same amount of time since you are traveling from city center to city center and don't have to go to the airport for lengthy check-ins and security checks.

GAC

Once again, let me repeat: NOBODY EVER flies between Rome and Naples unless connecting to or from another flight!

Currently, there are only three daily flights between Rome and Naples (ALL operated by Alitalia), greatly reducing the odds of finding a decent connection between flights.

If starting out from central Rome and going to Naples (or the reverse), people take one of the six types of trains offered on this route (see my long posting above). Taking the train in this situation will be MUCH MUCH faster (and cheaper) than flying.

Jean

The train journey from FCO to Naples' central station is only about 2 hours. In the time you would wait for a connecting flight (3 hours in ggreen's case), you could get to Naples and check into your Naples hotel or travel on to your final destination.

ggreen

Ah ha, the dearth of carriers and flights certainly makes a huge difference! And to be fair, in hindsight (and ignorance!) I <i>was</i> rather comparing apples to oranges! My experience was reaching Sicily: possible of course on a train, but quite a lengthier time commitment!! (We did return to Rome from Naples via train; 70 minutes center-city to center-city.)

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<< It seems that the airfare is cheaper to fly into Rome and take a train to Venice, Florence, Naples etc. Is it less of a hassle to take the train than to fly to these cities? >>

In addition to ellenem's valid comments above, I'd add that one reason "the travel time saved is of value" is because of the length of time it takes to travel by train from Rome to Venice (in particular).

greg

From your other posting, you mentioned you are traveling in April.

You know that the Easter 2011 is 4/24? So if your Thursday is 4/21, you are traveling the week before Easter. I have read divergent opinions on how crowded are the trains at this time. I have traveled on ES trains the week before the Easter. There were no empty seats on the trains. Not only that, the three of us could not sit together. On many subsequent trips on ES trains not during Easter, I usually found empty seats. The only exception was traveling north on a ES train during the 2010 Spring volcanic eruption when the planes were grounded.

Man_in_seat_61

Just arrive at the station, and look for the self-service ticket machines.

these have a touch screen and English language facility.

Tap 'tickets for today' and follow the on-screen instructions, a few more taps and you've tickets for the next train with comfy reserved seats. Easy!