train ticket is not a reservation??
 

Hi everyone,
Need a little help understanding the trains. We are flying into Rome and have to get to Naples to then get to Positano. So ok I know we have to catch a train from airport to train station that takes us to Naples but I'm confused on the names of these trains and I have read that buying tickets and having a reservation are not the same thing...o my heavens this is very confusing especially when we don't speak the language. Can someone please break it down for us old timers .. nice and simple PLEASE. :-) Thank you so much

Hi red,

The high-speed trains (eg, E*) are reserved-seating only. If you buy a ticket from Eurail, they will sell you an open ticket good for any day and time.

You will then have to purchase a seat reservation from the train company.

If you buy your ticket from directly from the Italian train system (www.trenitalia.com )the reservation is included in the price, because you are buying a ticket for a specific date and time.

May I ask why you are flying into Rome if you want to go to Positano? Why not fly into Naples?

((I))

To further Ira's explanation:

Take the train (or a taxi) from the Rome airport which is located in Fiumicino to Rome Termini station.

Then take a train from Rome to Napoli Centrali (be sure to use the Italian spelling of the train station). This trip from the airport to Naples is 2.15 hours.

Then go downstairs to the commuter trains called Circumvesuviana and buy a ticket for Sorrento. You cannot book ahead on this train but they run frequently. The trip is an hour.

From Sorrento you get the bus (just outside the Sorrento train station) to Positano. The timing on this section depends on traffic but I'm guessing at least an hour.

You can also take the train from Rome to Salerno and then catch the bus to Positano. I've never done this route but I'm sure someone will chime in about where the bus is located. This train trip is 4 hours from the airport to Salerno.

You can also take a ferry. Here's the bus and ferry schedules.

http://www.amalficoastweb.com/posita...s_ferries.html


So you see it's a long journey if you fly into Rome rather than Naples.

Probably easiest is the ferry from Naples to Positano but I could only find the web site in Italian and I don't see a full schedule, probably because they won't have the summer schedule loaded for a couple of months.

http://www.metrodelmare.net/orari-tratte-e-tariffe/

For detailed info on buying train tickets in Italy see:

http://seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm#.UVM0KNmOuxU

First, suggestion...don't take a taxi from FCO to Termini...take the Leonardo Express (train) for which you can buy the tickets at a machine and no, you do not need a seat reservation for it.

>... take the train from Rome to Salerno and then catch the bus to Positano.<

The SITA bus stop is in front of the train station.

As you can see, you are in for quite an expedition. You are doing this coming off a trans-alantic flight? You may want to either break it up, like stay a night or two in Rome, stay in Sorrento instead of Positano OR splurge for a private car pick up in Naples. I have never taken the train from Rome to Salerno but it may be an easier plan than the Circumvensia (crowded commuter train) to the SITA bus (may be standing room only). These are my opinions - we did go from Atlanta to Capri in one shot in a trip but I think those connections AFTER Naples would just be re-location overload. And where is your hotel in Positano? - there may be many many steps before you can lay your heads on a soft pillow! Ok fellow posters, call me a wuss but it would be too much for me!

>>>If you buy a ticket from Eurail, they will sell you an open ticket good for any day and time.<<<

I'm not sure that is true anymore. All trains in Italy (AV, ES, ESCity, IC )require seats these days. Only the slow R trains don't. The fast trains are pretty much all AV trains anymore although there are a few ES/ESCity still on some routes.

Train tickets purchased from Trenitalia (or in Italy at tobacco stores and elsewhere)for the fast trains do include your seat reservations. Tickets for the slow trains are not reservations although some are for a certain time on a certain day (Leonardo Express tickets can have a 2 hour window to be used). Other R tickets can be good for a certain route only during a time period (can be as long as 4 months).

The airport train, Leonardo, has no reserved seating and no classes.

Train option #1

1. Leonardo Express from FCO to Rome Termini - buy at airport - 14€ - validate ticket before boarding (30 minutes)

2. AV fast train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale (70 minutes).

3. Local commuter train Circumvesuviana from Naples to Sorrento (no classes, buy ticket in Naples downstairs - 4€ - 75 minutes). Validate ticket before boarding.

4. Sita bus from Sorrento to Positano (about 1 hour and 4€). Validate ticket on board.

Train option #2

1. Local FR1 train (not the Leonardo!) from FCO to Rome's Tiburtina train station - 45 minutes - 8€ - validate ticket.

2. Italo Train from Roma Tiburtina to Napoli Centrale.
http://www.italotreno.it/EN/timetabl.../overview.aspx

3. See 3 above.

4. See 4 above.

There are also bus options from FCO to Termini or Tiburtina.

I would not consider the Metro del Mare. The last two years, they ran a very short summer schedule because of financial cutbacks. They won't put into Positano if the sea if rough. You would also have to get from the train station to the port and there may only be a couple of ferries per day.

There is a bus from the airport to Salerno. Departs about 3 pm so is usually too late for most people as many flights arrive FCO around 7 am.

http://www.buonocore-group.it/tratte...orto-fiumicino

In season, there is a bus from Rome Tiburtina to Positano - Marozzi.

http://www.marozzivt.it/script/bigli...obigl=marozzi#

Thanks to you all :-)

If you buy a ticket from Eurail, they will sell you an open ticket good for any day and time.>

not true - first of all Eurail does not sell tickets - Rail Europe does sell Eurail Tariff tickets but when reservations are obligatory I do believe they are included in the price - those are full fare tickets often that yes can be changed by making a new reservation once there (up until the train's departure I think) - best to follow kybourbon (Fodor's residence Trenitalia expert - follow her advice as she knows of what she is talking.

For lots of great info on Italian trains I always cite these fine IMO sources - www.seat61.com (great info on discounted tickets, which in practice are hard to change so when coming by plane to a train leave plenty of fudge time in case you plane is late - not unusual anywhere in Europe IMO) and www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. For peace of mind you may want to buy a full-fare ticket at perhaps $25 so or more (unless you book 90 days or so out and can get one of the ballyhooed but few in number 9 euro fares - in that case yes and if you miss the train you are out only 9 euros and then would buy the full-fare ticket. No reason to buy a full-fare ticket ahead of time since you do not really know what time you can get to Rome Termini to actually catch that train - rather if full fare just buy it at Rome Airport's train station before taking the Leonardo Express into Termini station.

Note Naples' main train station is Napoli Centrale, not Centrali.

I'm glad somebody clarified that reference to Eurail.

I'm glad somebody clarified that reference to Eurail.>

Yes indeedy - so many times this happens - Eurail, like it's some entity operating trains and selling tickets - Eurail is simply a pass to be used on trains - all trains save a handful - in Europe - Eurail is a trademark used by the Eurail Commission sitting last I knew in Utrecht Holland - owned by a consortium of European national railways to market Eurailpasses (of which there are hundreds of different types these days - all with the Eurail name on them.

But Eurail don't sell anything but passes that are sold thru agents like Rail Europe or ACP Rail and in turn their many agents.

As long as your not in peak season, a seat should be not so hard to find, but in July in Italy or other hot spots you want a reservation.

I have traveled in July and August on Italian trains with a pass and never had a problem getting a seat - perhaps because I had a first-class p[ass - maybe in 2nd class trains fill up but again there are so so many trains.

And please consider the suggestion to hang out a day in Rome before doing all this travel. If you are coming from the US, you will have been awake all night plus whatever it took you to get to your departure city. Don't make it an epic.