swandav2000

Hi folks,

I've been using the Swiss rail site and the German rail site for 15 years or so, but I cannot seem to crack Trenitalia.

I would like to travel from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Lucca, Italy, and am trying to find the advanced-purchase fares. The German rail site won't give a solution for Lucca but will to Bolzano. However, Trenitalia won't recognize "Bolzano" as a station; they say it's an invalid departure point. I've tried Bozen and Stazione di Bolzano, but I keep getting the same error message.

There does seem to be a train station in Lucca because I've found connections from both Florence and Pisa.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom or help?

Thanks!!

s

mjdh1957

I've just searched on Trenitalia.com for journeys from Bolzano to Lucca and had no problems.

Dukey1

I just went on Trenitalia also and typed in Bolzano and was given the option for Bolzano-Bozen as a station stop.

swandav2000

Thanks very much, guys. I just tried it again with Bolzano-Bozen and got the same error message.

Must be cookies or some other offending item within my computer. I guess I'll clear cookies and try later.

THANKS truly!

s

ellenem

Are you searching for dates past mid-June? The summer schedules may not yet be loaded on the Trenitalia site. Try searching for dates next week.

You may also be experiencing a problem if you are searching for tickets on Regionale (R) trains. Advanced purchase for R can be made only 7 days in advance, but it does not pay to do so since there are no discounts or reserved seats for R trains and online purchases of these tickets are more restricted.

Mary24

I believe that trenitalia are upgrading their IT systems. (I was trying to book a few days ago.) I checked out the man in Seat61.com website and there is some information/suggestions there on how to deal with. Look in the News tab for April.

Dukey1

Have you tried the alternative website: www.lefrecce.it?

swandav2000

ellenem -- I plugged in all kinds of dates, from two months from now and from tomorrow and many dates in between! arrrgggh, hehee.

Thanks Mary24 -- I'll check the news.

s

kybourbon

The schedules are there. I get three different Bolzano stations to choose from on Trenitalia (it starts to auto-fill as you type the name).
Bolzano Bozen
Bolzano Novarese
Bolzano Sud Bozen Sud

You have to choose one of the above. If you just enter Bolzano, you will get an error. Bozen Sud is near the airport.

As for advanced purchase discounts in Italy, it's only for the faster trains. Lucca is only served by slow R trains. Depending on which cities you choose for changes on your way from Bolzano to Lucca, it appears only one connection on each itinerary has a fast train (Bolzano/Bologna, Bolzano/Florence, Verona/Florence). If you enter a date beyond the may, you will not get prices. Currently, you can get fast train prices if you only enter the legs that are for the fast trains.

swandav2000

Hi kybourbon,

Yes, that's one of the problems -- I don't get that auto-fill when I use Trenitalia.

I'll use the other sites provided above and hope the Trenitalia site will get better.

In the worst possible case, I'll just walk down to the train station here, and the agents will give me the info I need --

Thanks again, all!

s

enzian

Hi Swandav--- you can use SBB to find the best routes and then go to Trenitalia for prices. They are re-working the site, but they have most schedules for the ES trails well into July and great mini fares.

Unless you particularly want to stop over at Bolzano, your simplest routing would be on the 11:27 direct train from Innsbruck to Bologna, change there for the fast Frecciarossa to Firenze SMN, and then a regional train to Lucca.

The regular fare on the Ic train from Innsbruck to Bologna is 49 euros and I did not find any Smart fares for a random date in late May. They aren't showing Late June dates yet for this IC train. If you don't see one for your date, try looking on the Austria site OEBB.

From Bologna to Firenze there are lots of 19 euro mini fares left in May and maybe some 9 euro ones left for June. Again I don't see your travel day so did not check. But you should be able to see these fares from Bologna to Firenze SMN now on your computer. If not then there is something wrong.

From Firenze SMN to Lucca you are on a regional train for one hour. The fare is only 6,40 and there are no advance purchase discounts.

The Lucca train station is just outside the city walls and an easy walk to most places within the walls. We spent several very enjoyable days there with our daughters in 2010.

kybourbon

>>>Yes, that's one of the problems -- I don't get that auto-fill when I use Trenitalia.<<<

Everyone else gets the auto-fill on Trenitalia. Perhaps you need to update your browser. What browser are you using? Even if you are using an old Trenitalia link, you can enter Bolzano Bozen and Lucca to get the schedules.

Try this link for auto-fill.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...0080a3e90aRCRD

swandav2000

Yes, kybourbon, that's something I said above -- I'm sure it's something with my computer. I also said above that I used Bolzano and Bozen and Bozano-Bozen, and still got the error message.

s

kybourbon

Try this link for non-auto-fill. Type in Bolzano Bozen together (no dash) as your departure.
http://www.fsitaliane.it/homepage.html