I've had a heck of a time getting train tickets on the http://www.trenitalia.com <<a style site. It just did not want to work for me. Getting tickets at the train station in Italy isn't really an option for us. I sent an email and they gave me a site for North American users here it is for anyone that is may need it www.italiarail.com/tickets/IR/IR.asp?AFF=TRE

Hi MW,

I went to the site you reference.

There are more screens to navigate.

For Rome/Venice - 1 adult, 2cl your site (which is actually RailEurope) wants $69.

www.trenitalia.com wants 51E.

The Italiarail people want a 5% premium, which isn't too bad for them.

What is the problem you have been having with Trenitalia?

Watson, I had the same issue with trenitalia--I almost threw my computer out the window or hit my head against the wall (either one would have been less painful than having to deal with trenitalia.com.

I did manage to book tickets but it was not fun, although I did get a good price (cheaper than RailEurope by $200) AND I get to pick up the tickets at the train station--one less thing to forget.

This may seem obvious but make sure that the tickets are no more than 60 days ahead (90 days for international) for your departure. Also, depending on the time, you may receive error messages--I found that the error messages were likely to occur if its night time in Italy (probably the servers updating).

Good luck!

I tried to book a trenitalia train on this website. Every attempt was indicated as being outside the validity period. Since I was trying to find trains leaving in March, they were certainly within the 60 day period. Have you had luck with this site. If you are permitted to purchase a ticket, is there a surcharge for using this site?

Hi Stuart,

If you are buying tickets for a destination outside Italy, you have to click "international".

The prices on www.trenitalia.com are the same as in Italy.

If you're going to be in the train stations in Italy, why isn't buying train tickets there an option???

We're going to be in Cinque Terre, needing to take a train out of Vernazza and go to Pisa on Saturday April 28 which is their Labor Day weekend. I'm guessing this is one instance when tickets should be purchased before we leave the States since the demand may be higher. Am I right?