We are off to Rome in two weeks and I can't wait. We are going to Florence for a day and would like to know if we should buy our tickets for the train before we leave the states. The plan is to get an early morning train (around 7:00am) and a late one back (8:00). I have been on the rail web sight and was surprised to see so many different prices and how it can take any where from 1 hour and 30 minutes to over 3 hours. Can someone tell me the difference.
We have been planing this trip for a year now and still I know there will be something I forget to take care of.
Thank you for the help.
ruthca

Buy your tickets after you arrive in Rome. Most people in the US can't get Trenitalia to process their credit cards.

I would take the 90 minutes train (ES or AV). If you buy a few days in advance you may be able to get a discount if they aren't sold out. Some discounts require 24 hour advance purchase (Amica fare) while others are 7, 15 or 30 days. The Flexi is the most expensive (like full fare on airlines). 2nd cl is fine on the ES or AV trains.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

I agree with ky - it's better to get it there. Although you've been a diligent planner, it's possible something may come up. Starting out early gives you a cushion of time in case of any delay.

Like when I got on the wrong train then had to scramble back off and poof - missed my ride to Florence! I caught the next one and it was perfectly fine, but if it happens, don't melt down, (like I did!), just find the cafe, relax and catch the next one. Have a grat time!

Buy your tickets at the train station. There are "self-help" terminals all over the train station that are very easy to use...and you can select "English" for your transaction. You can purchase your tickets with a credit card. The difference in travel time could be the type of train, or, the number of stops between Rome and Florence. If you look on Trentalia's website, you can see the different type of trains, ES (Eurostar), R (Regional) IC (Intercity), etc., and there should be an explanation of these train types. I believe the faster trains make fewer stops, while the slower trains stop more frequently.

Don't worry about getting seats - just get to the train station early so that you can get your bearings, buy your ticket, and find the appropriate train (Bin).

Good luck - happy travels!

You can't just get on another train if you have tickets for ES, AV or ICPlus trains. Those tickets are for specific trains and seats.

sheri - Did you get your ticket changed after you missed your train? If not and it was any of the type I listed, you were lucky you weren't fined.

>>>Don't worry about getting seats - just get to the train station early so that you can get your bearings, buy your ticket, and find the appropriate train (Bin).<<<

FYI - AV, ES, ICPlus are reserved seats only and the tickets you buy from Trenitalia will have specific cars and seats assigned. You can't sit just anywhere.

Hi ruth,

>was surprised to see so many different prices and how it can take any where from 1 hour and 30 minutes to over 3 hours. Can someone tell me the difference.<

The trains that take 1:30 hr are the fast trains. The ones that take 3 hr are the slow trains.
The cheap tickets are the discount fares. The expensive tickets are the full price fares.

It is highy unlikely that you will be able to purchase your tickets online. The service that Trenitalia uses doesn't accept US credit cards (mostly).

Buy your tickets to Florence when at the train station at FCO or in Rome.

This might be of use to you:
A DAY IN FLORENCE:

Train to Florence SMN:
The Luggage Office is to your left as you leave the train.

From Piazza d' Stazione, walk up via Nazionale to via d'Ariento and the Mercato Centrale, wander through.

Take any street going NE to Via Degli Alfani and go right to the Accademia for The David.

Take via Ricasoli SE to the Duomo, the Baptistry and the Opera Museum (Originals of the bronzes on the doors)

From the Campanile, take via Calzaiuoli S (do some window shopping) to the Piazza d' Signoria. Look around, take a break.

Continue S to the Uffizi. Visit.

From the Uffizi, walk W along the Arno River to the Ponte Vecchio.

(You can walk up to the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens if there is time. Great views of Florence from the top of the Gardens)

If you have time, walk E along the S bank of the river to Ponte alle grazie and cross over to visit Santa Croce.

If not, go W along the Arno from Ponte Vecchio to Ponte S. Trinita and go right. Go left on Via d'Spada to via d'Fossi and go right to Santa Maria Novella. Look around.

SMN is across the square from the train station.

If you have time, take the no. 7 bus (you can find it at the SMN train station) up to Fiesole (0:20 hr 1E) to watch the sunset from the terrace of the Bar Bleu.

Be sure to have lots of gelato (in a cup, not a cone), take some wine breaks and a light lunch.

Train schedules, prices and tickets are at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html
Call center from outside Italy is 39-06-68475475

Bus routes are at http://www.ataf.net/
Buy your ticket before you get on the bus. Stamp it in the yellow box on the bus.

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations
You can purchase tickets online at http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/musei/uffizi/

Have a nice visit.

ky - the ticket agent told me 'track one' so I ran over there and hopped on - and THEN realized it was the wrong train. He didn't know what he was talking about and I didn't check the board - so that was my mistake. I went back to the office and talked to someone else who got us straightened out.

Thanks to everyone for their information.
ruthca

You can buy tickets for train rides in Italy through U.S. travel agents and retailers such as Expedia or Travelocity if you wish. Those tickets may be non-refundable, so you should buy with care. We've done your ride in reverse: Florence to Rome. The ride is quite pleasant. On an ES train it was around 11/2 hours.

Have a great trip.

According to their online newsletter, to which I subscribe, Trenitalia has just launched a new series of savings/ reductions, effective April 1.

That will alter the discounts available to you. I will check them out and post again later. I think same-day return tkts may be affected in particular but I shd check details before I start mouthing off.

RE ability to re-book if you miss a train: Obviously, when you pay a reduced fare your ability to re-book without penalty is minute to zero. My understanding is that full fare tkts can be re-booked if you miss your train or wish to change your departure.

RE assigned seating and having no ability to change seats once the train departs: Absolutely not true.

The Rome-Florence trip on the AV (alta velocita) ES (Eurostar) trains is without stops. So any seats that are empty upon departure will remain empty until you reach your disembarkation point.

It is customary for Trenitalia to shove ALL the 2nd class passengers into 1 or 2 carriages, leaving several carriages empty or near-empty.

As soon as the train pulls out of Termini station, I go exploring for an empty carriage where we can spread out to our hearts' content. The conductor could not care less and I have never been questioned or challenged.

The website does not refer to new savings from April 1 -- I thought these were new deals but I may be wrong.

It alswo looks like the same-day 35% discount is available only for trips of 3h30 or more.

HOWEVER, if you buy 15 days in advance you may yet be eligible for a 30% advance-purchase discount (declines to 15% for tkts bought 7 days in advance) plus the usual additional 5% for online purchase, which I HAVE done with a NA credit card in past years.

FWIW here is the Same-Day Return offer, taken from the Trenitalia website:

"From 14 December 2008 until 13 June 2009, take advantage of our great Same-Day Return offer!
"The offer lets you buy discounted tickets for return trips made on the same day for connections on the Eurostar Italia 'Alta Velocità' trains, Eurostar Italia Alta Velocità Fast and Eurostar Fast with journey times of or longer than 3h 30'.
"The offer is valid only for direct journeys, made using only one train for each connection. No provision is made for limitations to the number of the places available.

"To sum up:

Trains in the scheme AV, AV Fast, ES* Fast
Reductions allowed None
Booking change Not allowed
Ticket change Not allowed
Access to other trains In cases of using tickets on a different day or train to the one/s booked, you will be regarded as having no ticket.

Refunds Not allowed

"How to buy the Same-Day Return offer
You can buy the offer through all of our sales channels:
• on-line (at Trenitalia.it)
• station ticket desks
• self-service machines
• approved travel agencies
• Call Center 89 20 21(a pay number)"

>>>>hmmm on Apr 22, 09 at 01:12 PM
You can buy tickets for train rides in Italy through U.S. travel agents and retailers such as Expedia or Travelocity if you wish. Those tickets may be non-refundable, so you should buy with care. We've done your ride in reverse: Florence to Rome. The ride is quite pleasant. On an ES train it was around 11/2 hours.<<<

Yes, but there is no advantage to doing so except to pay higher prices because the resellers such as Expedia, RailEurope,etc. markup the tickets.

When my husband and I were in Rome this past September, I was really looking forward to a day in Florence. Just like you, I had planned an early train there and a late one back. I always like to book ahead of time, but the Trenitalia site was giving me problems so I decided to wait 'til we were there.

It ended up being a good thing because the night before we were going to head to Florence, we decided to stay in Rome and just relax. Our whole trip had been so full of seeing new places (despite having been to Rome previously) and my back and feet were killing me from walking so much! Had I already purchased the tickets I would have felt compelled to go and I wouldn't have enjoyed myself as much.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't go - it just isn't a bad idea to wait and buy your ticket in Rome!