We will be traveling within Italy by train.Rome to Siena;Siena to Orvieto & Orvieto to Rome.My question is in regard to the purchase of tickets.Is it better(cheaper) to purchse tickets prior to departure from a travel agent, Rail Europe the Italian train web-site or simply wait until we get to Italy.Thanks for any help.

Given the places that you will be traveling to, I think that its simpler and less expensive to buy the tickets once you are there. Buy all the tickets at once so that you only have to stand in line once. If there are three or more traveling together, be sure to ask for the mini-group rate (20 or 30% discount) since they will generally not give it to you unless you ask.

We had no problem purchasing tickets on the spot in and around Rome last July for a family of four. Tickets weren't a problem - the train schedules were. The orario posted in Lavinio turned out to be 3 years old, and the woman at the counter of the bar that sold the train tickets never mentioned to us that it was incorrect. Then one night, late, our tain from Rome back to Lavinio was canceled, and we had to take a very circuitous route home that took us half the night. Not once, btw, on five or six train trips did we see a conductgor or have our tickets taken. I had never been impressed with the trains in Italy before, and last summer I was downright outraged. <BR>I suspect, however, that you will not encounter such problems on the routes you mention, which are bound to be more popular than the ones we were using.

Easy enough to buy your train tickets when you get to Italy. However you may want to do some pre-planning by checking the on-line website to seek out times & prepare your itinerary. <BR> <BR>http://www.fs-on-line.com <BR> <BR>Do be aware this website can be quirky --and you need to enter the names of the cities as they're called in Italian. For example, "Rome" is known as "Roma". <BR>

We found that tickets were much much cheaper to buy point to point with-in Italy. By going to http://www.fs-on-line.com and printing out the travel schedules for the cities your traveling between on the days you want to travel will make life much easier. <BR> <BR>Have a great tiem in Italy. <BR> <BR>Cheers, the turnip

Henry, if in spite of these assurances, you're like me and would like to purchase tickets (and on some routes, seat reservations) ahead of time you can do so by calling CIT Tours in the US at 1-800-248-7245 M - F 9a - 8p EST..first get the fs schedule off the website above. There is a service fee but not a big price compared to so many other costs. Good luck.

Leslie, <BR> <BR>Many readers here are going to be intrigued to know what is the true additional cost you paid to get the tickets you purchased through CIT (even me). Can you cite exact prices and routes - - others can and will do the comparisons, using www.fs-on-line.com - - but meaningful comparison will require this info. <BR> <BR>Thanks, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>