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Italy travelers- Trenitalia questions


DH and I are headed to Italy at the end of this month- first time abroad and we will need several train tickets.  We will be there June 30- July 14th and will need tickets from Venice to Monterosso, then from Monterosso to Florence, and then from Florence to Rome. We will not be taking any trains on the days we will be flying. Not sure if we should buy online in advance just so we don't have to worry about it there- one less unknown. Or should we just buy there? What do you think would be best? Thank you in advance.

Re: Italy travelers- Trenitalia questions

  • We bought in advance.  I prefer knowing that I have a seat and will arrive at my destination at a certain time so that I can schedule events for that first day.  But, I am very much a planner and would be super uncomfortable booking day of; some people enjoy doing that, not me.


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  • This is EXACTLY how I am...  this is why I am considering this.  

    Did you have to ride any regional or inter city buses to get to your destinations? 

    Did you have any trouble navigating or paying on the Trenitalia site? 

  • imagemouse10031978:

    This is EXACTLY how I am...  this is why I am considering this.  

    Did you have to ride any regional or inter city buses to get to your destinations? 

    Did you have any trouble navigating or paying on the Trenitalia site? 

    We didn't have to ride any regional buses, but we did Venice to Rome.  We also traveled from London to Paris, Paris to Luzern, Luzern to Venice.

    We actually used Selectitaly.com to book our travel tickets.  It is an all English sight and was easier to navigate and pay the the Trenitalia site.  We didn't have any problems with them.


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  • We purchased the majority of our train tickets before our trip occurred using RailEurope.com. I didn't want to deal with the hassle of waiting in line while there or having to worry about purchasing the tickets at the station. Using Rail Europe was very easy!
  • On the flip side, we didn't buy any tickets in advance during our trip to Italy in December.  We just bought them at the station.  The lines were never that long (even though it was a holiday weekend for the Italians) and it was pretty painless.  Plus, it allowed for flexibility - we didn't have to worry about being at the train station at any exact times.  But if it makes you feel less stressed to buy them in advance, you should do that.  Just wanted to let you know it is not a big deal to wait to buy them if you decide to go that route.
  • TravellingJen- 

    Using RailEurope, do you just print tickets and take them with you?   Then validate before you board or do you have to go to the ticket window at the station?

     

    Browsing RailEurope, I see the tickets are more expensive rather than just going through Trenitalia directly, but it is easier to navigate.  

  • i've only done the rome/florence route but we bought our tickets the day before at ta travel agent's office in rome. there are many trains a day on that route so we were ok buying them there.

    im thinking since you have a few trips why not contact your hotel in your first city and see if they can rec a travel agency that you can visit when you get there? it's so easy adn they print them out right there for you and no additional fees.

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  • We are only staying at B & B's so I wonder if they will do this for you? I hadn't thought of the travel agent in Italy route, but how would this be any different than booking them through a travel agent here? 
  • We leave in a week and a half!  I'm a planner w this kind of thing, so we booked through Trenitalia in advance.  I like knowing I'll get the itin I want and the seats I want.  We didn't have any reason to book last minute or through a third party.  Their website was very easy to navigate.  
  • imagemouse10031978:
    We are only staying at B & B's so I wonder if they will do this for you? I hadn't thought of the travel agent in Italy route, but how would this be any different than booking them through a travel agent here? 

     

    Not sure-ask the B&B. It's not like a liberty travel place-more of a train ticket booker. email your hotel and ask. If you book with the TA here they will be charged all of the extra fees for processing etcc... (as far as I know). there no fees.

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  • We bought our tickets before the trip, then ended up changing the times (wanting to spend longer in some areas, less time in others) and having to pay fees for doing so. When we changed the tickets, the lines were never ridiculously bad and we always got a seat. I wouldn't pre-buy again. 
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  • I've been to Italy several times and never bought train tix ahead of time.  There's really no need to do that IMO.  i've never experience long lines (many stations have kiosks where you can buy the tickets- very quick and easy).  Also, if there happens to be a last minute strike (which happened to us on our trip in October) and you book your tickets ahead of time, you might be SOL as far as refunds. 
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