Italy with train system.

Italy advanced train system

Among European train systems, I rate the train system in Italy as one of the best train systems. An intuitive, easy-to-use ticket interface, fast pay, and tickets can be bought very cheaply if planned. If you plan your ticket hunting soon, I promise that sometimes you can get a very cheap ticket (only EUR 9/trip).

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Wikimedia

Moreover, as I have been in many cities in Italy, I can tell you I often saw train stations in the edge of every city. It seems like Italian trains are available in most cities throughout the country and can be reached in the most remote villages and countryside. When I compared the price of the tickets of the Italian system with other train systems in Europe which I have used, I can assure you that Italy train tickets are one of the cheapest train tickets in Europe. Perhaps it is because of the fierce competition between many train companies. Of course, I also apply a tip to buy cheap train tickets in Italy: simply take the patience to hunt tickets early!

General information on ticket and train travel in Italy

Website booking:

Trenitalia: This is the official website of Trenitalia, the largest railway company in Italy. Almost everybody uses this site to book tickets to Italian cities and international routes. This site is very intuitive, fast and can be used internationally to book, bookings at no cost.

Italiarail: This site is similar to Trenitalia, the fare is almost identical to the price in Trenitalia, although there are many cheaper ticket options on this site, but I do not like it because you are charged a €3. 50 fee. Also, this site can develop many mistakes or errors when booking and sometimes I could not book tickets with this site.

Loco2: if you are going to the UK, the price is equivalent to Trenitalia's prices.

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Diagram of rail network in Italy

Buy tickets at the station: Here I can assure that you can go to the train station to buy tickets at the ticket machines, using credit cards with "chips and batteries". The English-speaking ticket terminal is easy to use, selling both long and short fare.

There is one thing that I always keep in mind: to validate the ticket! When you have a ticket, remember to validate it in the Validation machine that is available in front of the station. Otherwise there are many officers on the train who will check whether your ticket have been validated or not. So be carefull!

Whether to book a ticket: My answer is yes and no. With short distances in the same area (as from Florence to Pisa, Milan to Como or Tirano), I think there is nothing different between booking in advance or just going to the station to buy tickets just before going on the train.

As I have travelled the route of Milan - Venice - Florence – Rome, my friend has advised me to book tickets in advance because tickets may be out of sales and tickets' prices can often get very high. Here I would say that you'll probably realize that that route is the busiest route in Italy. Sometimes I do not need to book anything because I travel from Florence to Rome alone, but the train can be complete. Booking online gives you an overview of the stages. Moreover, when you want to change schedules or if you miss the train, it will be easier to do a ticket exchange online.

Quality of service: Train in Italy is very nice, comfortable, and fast. Some medium and short trips only takes 1-2 hours. There are also bars, food and drinks, beautifully furnished cabins and clean toilets.

How to book on Trenitalia

To book tickets on Trenitalia, I simply go to this site. Follow these steps to book tickets:

Change the English interface at the top right corner of the screen to facilitate ticket booking. I know that many of us do not understand Italian but you can change the language to English, French, Spanish or German.

Next, determine exactly where you are going, for example from Venice to Rome. Then, after determining where you want to go, determine which stations you are leaving from in those two cities because there are many different stations in the cities. Generally, you are at the central station (Rome's central station is Termini, Florence's is SMN (Santa Maria Novella), in Venice's stations are Santa Lucia Station and Mestre).

Type of train tickets

There are two types of tickets: first class (1st) and second class (2nd). Second class is cheaper.

When filling in the name of the place, remember to write in Italian, because if it is filled in English, you will have to do it again. The first time I booked a train ticket from Milan to Piacenza, I had written the station name in English, so I had to do it again. From that moment, I found out that Italian names are different from English names. For example, Venice is Venizia, Florence is Firenze, Rome is Roma.

After clicking on the ticket, you will see the list of trips, choose the trip, then fill in the personal information (you can register or not), payment method (credit card or customized paypal). You will be able to choose a seat, so I recommend to choose a seat outside to watch the window.

Here I will list down some cities' names in Italian and their central stations. I hope that you will remember these names, it will make it easier to book tickets and find places on the map.

1. Rome: Roma Termini (central station): ROMA TE
2. Naples: Napoli Centrale (central station): NA C. LE
3. Florence: Firenze Santa Maria Novella (central station): Fl. SMN
4. Venice (island): Venezia Santa Lucia (on the island): VE. S. L.
5. Venice (mainland): Venezia Mestre (on the mainland): MESTRE
6. Milan: Milano Centrale (central station): MI C. LE
7. Genova: Genova Piazza Principe (central station): GE P. P.
8. Genova: Genova Stazione Brignole: GE BRIG
9. Pisa: Pisa Centrale (central station): PISA C.

Before booking your tickets with Trenitalia, you should also check Trenitalia's offers at the moment when you are booking. For example, tickets for children under the age of 15 will be free. Moreover, when you buy 10 tickets, there are 20% discounts etc. I remember that I could change freely tickets an unlimited number of times before the departure time. After the departure, only at the counter or online in the customer area on the website. See details here:

• The base ticket.

Successful purchase tickets will be sent to you by email, including confirmed tickets on Trenitalia and a barcode PDF, which looks like this:

Booking confirmation

Electronic ticket to bring on board

Note that this ticket is paid online. You won't need to validate your ticket in the validation machine but you'll just have to save the ticket on your smartphone. If there are inspectors on the train, they will ask you to give this ticket.

Buy tickets and cruise experiences in Italy

Tickets are available for sale about 3-4 months before departure, so make sure you plan ahead to buy ticket. I found out some regular fares are available in the form of € 9, € 19, € 29, € 39. The sooner the ticket is bought and the shorter the distance between the cities is, the cheaper you will pay. But I will tell you another tip: if you check early and do not see that the tickets are being sold, do not rush.

I had that situation 3 months before my trip to Italy, when I wanted to buy the ticket as early as possible to save money. The tickets are for sale only a month before the departure. Remember to check the offers as mentioned above.

Personally, if I had to give points, I would give Italiarail more points as booking at italiarail is more convenient than Trenitalia because ItaliaRail is a private company. It offers good services.

On Trenitalia, sometimes, I had language problems: I had to fill the station names in Italian, while ItaliaRail is in English. But I still had to pay a €3. 50 service fee. Italiarail also allows you to book tickets for 20 people at a time instead of 5 people for Trenitalia. And when you book a ticket for one seat only, Italiarail still allows you to book for the rest of the price, while Trenitalia is not available because of low ticket prices.

Italy's domestic trains are overcrowded during the day, it made me feel as when I was in Spain, when I took the 6am train to Barcelona and came back to 9pm. So just worry about low ticket prices if you book late.

There are many types of trains that are on sale when you want to book a ticket, usually the Frecciarossa is the fastest but also the most expensive one, in addition to the fast Eurostar but these ships mainly run through the city. Prefer the Intercity or Regional (local) trains, they go to most locations throughout Italy and they are the cheapest.

When you arrive at the station, you should carefully look at the ticket code, train code and rail number to find out which train you are in and where it is.

Why? I have been in some of the major stations, such as Roma Termini, and they were very large (there is a large commercial center in this station). I was impressed by the enormous number of outlets and the train station is gigantic, so you need to determine exactly where you are in the station so as to find the right train. Information about the train will appear on the electronic board in the station, with the train number, the train arrival and the train departure time. Otherwise you can check the timetable, most of the stops in Italy are short (only about 5-10 minutes).

Tickets will be validated at the ticket machine, if not validated, you will be fined. When you have booked tickets online and that you have already made reservations, you do not need to validate anymore.

Take a night train in Italy: There are quite a few night cruises in Italy that you can take, such as Venice to Rome, Milan or Rome to Sicily, or from Venice, Milan to Naples.

• Venice Train Station
• Trenitalia
• International routes

With international departures to other European cities from Italy you can still book and find tickets through the website Italiarail or Trenitalia. However, I also use Captaintrain or Loco2 for Milan - Turin - Paris and Bahn for Munich or other cities in Germany.

Normally, with long trips such as Rome / Venice to Paris, you will have to change trains between stations, that is to say you will have to switch to Frecciarossa, Eurocity,... Many stations do not have tickets directly in the website, you will have to order more than once. For example, if you go from Venice to Prague without a ticket, you must book your ticket to Venice - Vienna before continuing from Vienna - Prague, or you can choose another city of your choice.

Of course, taking international trains is just in case you have no choice. I always avoid taking them except when I have to go from Germany to Italy. In fact I believe that taking flights with Ryanair or Vueling will save you a lot of time.

• Take the Italo train

In addition to that, Trenitalia is very famous. When you travel in Italy you also have another option, which is the Italo. You can book tickets on their home page: Italo.

This is a private carrier in Italy but I find that the quality is very good, the facilities are not inferior to other trains compared to Trenitalia.

Italy's internal routes

Turin - Milan - Bologna - Florence - Rome - Naples - Salerno

Venice - Bologna - Florence - Rome – Naples

• Some features of Italo that I believe you notice.

If you buy tickets from Italo's homepage and buy tickets early, you will also have the opportunity to find cheaper tickets. This is a good option if you do not have the opportunity to find cheap tickets on Trenitalia. Italo's train tickets have more than just First class and 2nd class. Sometimes you can find cheaper tickets than Trenitalia on Italo.

• Terminal: Italo uses a private terminal called Casa Italo, usually in major cities and it is the main station. Casa Italo looks very modern, with automatic ticket machines, many staff people at the information counter. It guarantees the best service. They were not in many stations in the city before, but now there are plenty of them.
• Running time: Currently, Italo does not have frequent trips throughout the day such as Trenitalia, but they are still growing very fast. Italo's train times are sometimes interspersed with Trenitalia so you have more options if you want to travel within a few hours, when the train does not have Trenitalia.

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