Train from Rome to Naples
 

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!

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.

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

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.

Yikes! GAC beat me with the comprehensive info!

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.)

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.

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. ;)

bookmarking

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.

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. :)

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).

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?

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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!

We are not traveling the Thurs before Easter or Palm Sunday. We arrive on April 7. I will look into both options but it sounds like the train really makes the most sense. we are scheduled to arrive into FCO at 11am.

You can project to take a Naples-bound train from Roma Termini Station at or after 13:30. Your best bets: IC train at 13:39 (22 Euros); ES train at 13:45 (34 Euros); AV train at 14:00 (44 Euros) ; IC train at 14:49 (22 Euros).

BE SURE to allow yourself 15 minutes to connect on foot from your inbound airport train to Roma Termini to the outbound fast train to Naples. The airport train takes at least 31 minutes to reach Roma Termini from the airport. Departures are half-hourly. It could take well over one hour to clear passport control and retrieve checked luggage. That would put you into Roma Termini well after 13:00, assuming the plane arrives on time.

When you purchase the ticket for the airport train to Roma Termini, the ticket agent will also sell you the separate ticket for the connecting fast train to Naples. Absent specific instructions from you, she will automatically put you on the Naples-bound train to which you can comfortably connect, based on the time when you purchase the tickets at the airport train station ticket counter. If you have a different connecting train in mind, you must speak up. Also, the ticket for the airport train must be punched in the little yellow machine by the rail track before boarding. You don't need to punch the ticket for the Naples-bound connecting train, since seats on that train are reserved, and by consequence the ticket is valid only for that train on the specified date and time.

You don't need to go first class to Naples on April 7 unless you have lots and lots of heavy and bulky luggage. Second class is fine. All trains are non-smoking, and all seats on the IC/ES/AV trains to Naples are reserved. Seats on the airport train to Roma Termini are non-reserved.

GAC - Thank you so much!

We are going to Naples and have a flight out of FCO on the 30 of Sept. If I take the train to FCO how hard and long is it to,get into the departure lines for transatalantic departures?
If I fly how reliable is the am flight . The early am flight gets in at 8 am and my flight departs 10:30
3 rd option is to stay in Rome but then there is potential for traffic jams? Any suggestion It will be End of Sept so not as touristy but still?

SCDivers, you really need to be in Rome the night before. Even if all goes well, you'd have to retrieve your luggage (which can take a while), go to the international departures terminal, check in, and go through security. You could very easily miss your flight, and since they're on two separate tickets, you'd just have to buy a new international ticket, which would cost a fortune at the last minute.

I don't understand the bit about traffic jams. There is an express train from Termini station to Fiumicino airport. If you take the train to Roma Termini the day before and stay in a hotel near the station, you can get a train the next morning.

If your flight is to the US, you should be at the airport three hours before the scheduled departure time. I would suggest getting the 7:50 Leonardo Express, which would get you there at the ideal time. The trains run every 15 minutes at that time if day, so the next one would be OK as well.

Italy also has train strikes periodically so yes be in Rome the night before.

Traffic jams have nothing to do with tourist season - in fact in August they may be less as many commuters are on holiday.

But yes ditch the car in Naples and train to Rome the night before.

>>> stay in Rome but then there is potential for traffic jams? Any suggestion It will be End of Sept so not as touristy but still?

Sept 30 is Saturday. Additionally, to make it to your 10:30am flight from FCO, you need to be at the airport at 7:30am, meaning you have to leave Rome well before 7:00am. There is little traffic at this time. Whether Sept is touristy or not is irrelevant for this route. Coast to Rome road is a commuting route for the residents.

From your other thread, you seem to be staying in Rome first. By doing that, you are forced to stay again in Rome at the end. A simple rearrangement of putting Rome last would have eliminated this double stay in Rome as well as probably saving time and money by eliminating one check-in out travel and hotel cycle in Rome.

I agree about putting all of your Rome stay at the end instead of staying there twice.

>>>If I take the train to FCO how hard and long is it to,get into the departure lines for transatalantic departures?<<<

To be clear, you have to take a train from Naples to Rome Termini first and then change to a train from Rome to FCO. Once you reach FCO train station, you have to walk over to the terminal and catch a shuttle bus to the check-in area (this could change as the terminal is still remodeling). Once you reach check-in, you take another shuttle bus to the departure area.

>>>I would suggest getting the 7:50 Leonardo Express, which would get you there at the ideal time. The trains run every 15 minutes at that time if day, so the next one would be OK as well.<<<

Perhaps that would get you there on time, but quite a few of the US carriers state 3 hours in advance. The 7:50 train would not arrive until 8:22 and that's just to the train station. If they have to take a shuttle bus to check-in, it's possible they can't cram on the first bus and have to wait (BTDT). It depends on time of day how many trains per hour to FCO.