Help needed for Italy train tickets

[SusieKIslandGirl]

We're planning to take the train from Rome to Florence and back in November. Is one train company preferred over another? And can US citizens use the senior fare offered on some of the trains? Lastly, is it worth the time to take the slow train either to or from Florence? Thanks for your help.

[carlmm]

What do you mean by train companies?

There are different types of trains.

Regarding the senior fare, this might be interesting: Senior Offer - Trenitalia

 

[CeleryCruiser]

Hi! Purchasing tickets from https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html is easy and there are also option for reduced price tickets too, please look the Trenitalia pages. Frecciarossa is the fast train- takes abt. 1,5 hours from Rome to Florence with average price 40 eur/pp one direction - this train ends till main station S.M Novella = city center. The normal Intercity train takes 3+ hours and includes typically a change to local train if you need to go to the S.M. Novella station- the average price is abt. 25 eur/pp. Travelling in by train in Italy is really good option as trains tend to be in time and network and train schedules are well covered the whole country. I recommend. Please be careful of your belongings in stations as they are pickpockets heaven!

[euro cruiser]

There are two train companies running high speed trains, Trenitalia and Italotreno (Italy high speed train tickets| Italotreno.it - Official website).

 

They offer very similar service, there is no reason to pick one over the other except for which one has the best combination of timing and pricing for the trip you want to make.

 

Only Trenitalia runs slower service but I see no point in that, personally.  There's nothing particularly scenic between Rome and Florence and when it gets really pretty in the mountains the train goes through tunnels.

 

If you are set on the dates and times you want to travel (and therefore are unconcerned about the inability to change or get a refund for the tickets) you can do much better than the senior fare.  Italo in particular offers great promotional fares.

 

For example, right now I'm seeing tickets from Rome to Florence on Italotreno for 9,90 euro per person (this is in August, they aren't selling tickets for November this early).

Edited May 26, 2022 by euro cruiser

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all your information.

[tlatrice]

I need help with train logistics as well.  (OP, I hope you don't mind me hopping on your thread. I didn't want to start another one with basically the same question. 😆)

 

I saw a video for the Trenitalia High Speed train from Florence to Rome.  It looked really spacious (Executive Class) and I'd like to take try it, as I'll be travelling with 2 bags.

 

Background:  I'm in country for 2 weeks.  Week 1 is a B-school related trip where we'll be traveling to Rome, Bologna, and Florence visiting several businesses and taking cultural tours ALL WEEK.  We end in Florence on June 4.

 

Week 2 is my cruise out of Porto di Civitavecchia, departing June 5.

 

I want to take Trenitalia from Florence back to Rome.  Ideally I'd like to get close to the Port but that doesn't seem possible.  When I put the Port in as a destination, I still get Rome Tributrina, which is in the city center.

 

So would I take the train to Rome then have to take another train back to the Port?

[Langoustine]

Yes, the port is 60 km from Rome, and it takes about an hour to get there.

Edited May 27, 2022 by Langoustine

[euro cruiser]

39 minutes ago, tlatrice said:

I want to take Trenitalia from Florence back to Rome.  Ideally I'd like to get close to the Port but that doesn't seem possible.  When I put the Port in as a destination, I still get Rome Tributrina, which is in the city center.

 

So would I take the train to Rome then have to take another train back to the Port?

You can get to one mile from the port entrance by train.  The station nearest the port is Civitavecchia.

 

From Florence you would take a high speed train to Rome (usually Rome Termini) and change there for a train to Civitavecchia.

 

Some things to note:

* Most trains from Rome to Civitavecchia are regional trains.  These are not capacity controlled and there are no assigned seats, as well as minimal room for luggage.  Additionally, the tracks for these trains are a three city block walk from the tracks the high speed trains use.

 

* You can take a high speed train to Civitavecchia from Rome, there just aren't very many each day so the timing may be an issue for you.  Would you be willing to make the Florence to Rome trip on the 4th, spend the night in Rome, then the Rome to Civitavecchia leg on the 5th in order to get a high speed, seat reserved train to the port?

 

* Once at Civitavecchia you'll need either a bus or a taxi to the port.  There is a new bus that is supposed to take you directly to your ship for 3 euro, I haven't used it but another recent poster said it worked well for them.

 

* There are two companies running high speed trains between Florence and Rome, check both for the best combination of price and timing.  The service offered is pretty much the same.

 

* Only Trenitalia runs high speed trains from Rome to Civitavecchia.

 

EN - Trenitalia

 

Italy high speed train tickets| Italotreno.it - Official website

Edited May 27, 2022 by euro cruiser

[euro cruiser]

I just looked at the schedules.

 

On Sunday, June 5 2022 you can get two Trenitalia Frecces as follows:

 

Depart Florence Santa Maria Novella at 9:48, arrive Rome Termini 11:22, depart Termini at 11:57, arrive Civitavecchia 12:44.  Current price 48,80 euro.

 

The second option:  Dep. SMN 11:59, arrive Rome 13:35, depart Rome 13:57, arrive Civitavecchia 14:44.  Current price 60 euro.

 

I would go with the earlier train, on the small chance that it's late and you miss the 11:57 connection you'll still have that second high speed train to Civitavecchia at 13:57.  Rome Termini station has a great food court to spend time in if you need to.

 

There are plenty of other high speed trains between Florence and Rome if you want to force a greater gap between trains, there are also all of the Italo trains.   

[tlatrice]

15 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

* You can take a high speed train to Civitavecchia from Rome, there just aren't very many each day so the timing may be an issue for you.  Would you be willing to make the Florence to Rome trip on the 4th, spend the night in Rome, then the Rome to Civitavecchia leg on the 5th in order to get a high speed, seat reserved train to the port?

 

This is exactly what I wanted to do! 😀  My hotel that I’ll be staying in on the night of the 4th is within walking distance of the cruise terminal.

[euro cruiser]

Okay, so you're staying in Civitavecchia the night of the 4th?  Do you have to?  It would be more pleasant to add that night to Florence, or split your travel and have a night in Rome.

 

If you must stay in civitavecchia the night of the 4th, what time can you leave Florence?

[tlatrice]

I was planning to return to Civitavecchia on the 4th so I wouldn’t face any issues trying to get back in time for my departure on the 5th.

 

Current itinerary for Week 1:

Sunday -Wednesday -Rome 

Wednesday - Saturday - Bologna and Florence

 

i can leave Florence any time on the 4th

Edited May 27, 2022 by tlatrice

[euro cruiser]

Well, it's up to you but Civitavecchia is pretty dull, and you can't get on the ship in most cases until after noon, so there's no real need to sleep there the night before.

 

You can use the links above to see the train schedules and lay out your options.

[Langoustine]

"Dull" is being very charitable.

[SusieKIslandGirl]

I've seen a site called rail ninja. Does anyone know if it's a safe place to buy rail tickets from. Thanks.

[euro cruiser]

Buy directly from the two rail companies, not through a third party like rail ninja.

 

EN - Trenitalia

 

Italy high speed train tickets| Italotreno.it - Official website

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Do you know how far in advance you can purchase tickets? I've checked out the Italotreno website and for a month now you can only buy tickets through September 9. Thanks!

[CruiserBruce]

Usually you can only buy on the official rail websites 3 or 4 months in advance. On RailEurope, you can usually buy earlier, but at a greater price. I never recommend buying on RailEurope, but you can do some research there.

[euro cruiser]

Note that if you purchase through a third party, like RailEurope, they are guessing that the train will be available, they don't actually have tickets to sell before the companies begin selling them to the public.  So you're paying an extra fee and you may not have what you think you have.

[WomanRN]

We just booked for September 18th. Part high speed (Venice to Ferrara), part regional train (Ferrara to Ravenna). We were able to choose our seats when booking directly through the rail lines. And thanks to Euro cruiser, we now know what to expect at the transfer in Ferrara. 

[Scottee25]

On 5/27/2022 at 9:36 AM, tlatrice said:

I need help with train logistics as well.  (OP, I hope you don't mind me hopping on your thread. I didn't want to start another one with basically the same question. 😆)

 

I saw a video for the Trenitalia High Speed train from Florence to Rome.  It looked really spacious (Executive Class) and I'd like to take try it, as I'll be travelling with 2 bags.

 

Background:  I'm in country for 2 weeks.  Week 1 is a B-school related trip where we'll be traveling to Rome, Bologna, and Florence visiting several businesses and taking cultural tours ALL WEEK.  We end in Florence on June 4.

 

Week 2 is my cruise out of Porto di Civitavecchia, departing June 5.

 

I want to take Trenitalia from Florence back to Rome.  Ideally I'd like to get close to the Port but that doesn't seem possible.  When I put the Port in as a destination, I still get Rome Tributrina, which is in the city center.

 

So would I take the train to Rome then have to take another train back to the Port?

 

How married are you to the idea of taking the train from Rome to Civitavecchia? How many pieces of luggage do you have?

 

I know everyone's tastes are different but I personally wouldn't want to take the train to Civitavecchia and then try to work through the rest of logistics of getting to the port. We were just in Italy in mid May (Transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale to Rome and then 8 nights in Rome). We arranged a private transfer to pick us up from the port and take us to Rome. They also work in the opposite direction as well and can drop you off at the port. They can be a bit pricey (anywhere from 130-170 Euros for 2 people) but well worth it in our opinion.

 

We made day trips to both Florence and Naples during our stay in Rome. We booked business class seats on Trentalia high speed trains. Trentalia seemed to have many more high speed trains running through out the day so the schedule worked better for us which is why we chose them over Italotreno. If you book ahead of time and don't need refundable or changeable tickets, Trentalia offers Me & You rates that are for 2 people and often can include Business Class seats. They do charge 2 Euros to pick your seats. I don't remember exact costs but it was most likely around 35-40 Euros per person each way. Business class had comfortable seats and once the trip is underway, they come buy with a beverage cart with a light snack. Coffee in the morning, alcoholic beverages in the evening. They also have sodas and other beverages. They also gave us bottled water that we took with us while we were off exploring the city.

[iancal]

We have used the trenitalia site many times during our travels.  I would not be concerned about buying tickets months in advance unless you are traveling on a popular holiday period or have numerous people in your party.

 

If you are planning to travel by train keep in mind that you will have to be responsible for getting you own bags on and off the train. 

 

Also, in some stations you need to walk through the subway to get to tracks on the other side. Yes...there are elevators.  Our experience is that at least half the time the elevator is not working.  Count on using the stairs!

 

We have used the train to get from FCO and from Rome to Civ. a number of times, and the reverse.  But...we both only have a carry on bag.  It would be a challenge if one had lots of bags or was physically challenged.

Edited July 10, 2022 by iancal

[BeginnercruiserHD]

We're thinking about doing one of the intercity trains from Rome to Civitavecchia.  Do you think it would be worth doing first class for the extra luggage room?

[euro cruiser]

I've only ever been in first class on IC trains, but those were older ones.  I don't know if they are using newer train cars now (I sure hope so!).  At any rate, it's only a few euro more so I'd go for it.

 

For the same price you can take a Frecce from Rome, in those trains second class is fine.  

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, BeginnercruiserHD said:

We're thinking about doing one of the intercity trains from Rome to Civitavecchia.  Do you think it would be worth doing first class for the extra luggage room?

 

The last time I took an IC train was several years ago, and I did second class. The second class compartments on the train I was on were like small communal booths -- we had to "share" one with three Italian college students.  It was a little weird, I would've preferred regular seats, but it was fine. Were I to do it again I'd probably opt for first class.