There's no better way to see the great cities of Italy than by train.  The trains link just about every Italian town or city of any significance, centre to centre, with advance-purchase fares from just €9.90, €19.90 or €29.90 upwards.  Driving and parking in Italian cities is a nightmare and the new high-speed train network is now faster, more convenient and more relaxing than flying.  Rome to Florence now takes just 1h32 at up to 186 mph & costs from €19.90, Rome to Venice 3h45 from €29.90, Rome to Naples 1h10 from €19.90, Rome to Milan 2h55 from €29.90.  Zero check-in, no need to get to and from remote airports, no baggage fees or weight limits.  Journeys to and from Sicily can be made overnight on a time-effective sleeper train or leisurely daytime InterCity train.

All about train travel in Italy...

  How to check Italian train schedules & fares

  How to buy train tickets for Italy

  Maps of the Italian rail network

  Railpasses - usually the gold-plated option

  What are Italian trains like?

  Frecciarossa, Frecciargento & Frecciabianca,

  InterCity, sleeper trains & Italo

  Travel tips: ticket validation, food, bikes, lounges...

  Luggage on Italian trains

  Which station to use in which city?

  Luggage storage at stations in Italy

  How to reach Sicily

  How to reach Herculaneum & Sorrento

  How to arrange a day trip to Pompeii

  How to reach Capri, Ischia & the Amalfi coast

  How to reach San Marino

  Airport links: Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino, Pisa

  How to use the Italian Railways website

  How to use self-service ticket machines at stations

  Holidays, vacations & tours around Italy by train

  Useful country information - currency, dial code, etc

  Hop-on hop-off bus tickets for Italian cities.

  Hotel price comparison with Hotelscombined.com

  Hotels in Italy at Booking.com

  City maps showing stations...

    Map of Milan   Map of Venice   Map of Florence

    Map of Rome   Map of Naples   Map of Turin

International trains to & from Italy...

  Train travel from the UK to Italy

  Trains to Italy from other European cities

  Trains from Rome to other European cities

  Trains from Florence to other European cities

  Trains from Venice to other European cities

  Trains from Milan to other European cities

  Trains from Naples to other European cities

Other useful information...

  Eurail passes - the railpass for overseas visitors

  InterRail passes - the pass for European residents

  An introduction to European train travel

  Thello sleeper trains from Paris to Italy

  TGV high-speed trains from Paris to Italy

Sponsored links...

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Useful country information

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Italian train schedules & fares...

	There's no check-in, and no hassle. You simply walk straight from the city centre onto the station concourse, look at the indicator board to find your train and hop on, any time up until departure.  Here, passengers board a sleek, high-speed Frecciarossa train in Naples Centrale...
	The main concourse at Florence's classic SMN station.  The station is walking distance from the famous Duomo or even the Ponte Vecchio...
	For hotels in Italy I recommend www.venere.com (an Italian specialist) & www.hotelscombined.com, an excellent hotel price comparison site I use all the time:

You can check train times and fares for any journey in Italy at the Trenitalia (Italian Railways) website, or at one of two private agency sites which connect to Trenitalia and which can be easier to use.

• www.trenitalia.com is the official Trenitalia website which will give times & fares for most Italian routes & trains, including sleeper trains and direct international trains.  The English button is a UK flag top right. 

  You'll need to use Italian language place names, Roma Termini for Rome, Venezia Santa Lucia for Venice, Firenze S. M. Novella for Florence, Napoli for Naples and so on - use Tutte Le Stazione if you don't know which station in a given city to choose. 

  On high-speed trains it'll let you pick specific seats from a numbered seating plan.  It happily accepts overseas credit cards but it has a few quirks, so you'll find detailed tips on using Trenitalia.com further down this page.  You may find www.italiarail.com easier to use and sometimes cheaper.

• www.italiarail.com is easier to use, all in plain English with English-language place names - and it can be cheaper then Trenitalia.com if there are 2 or more of you.  It's an online agency which sells Trenitalia tickets in €, £, $ or Au$.

  After recent improvements it's a better system than Trenitalia in many ways:  It shows a whole day's trains in the search results not just an hour or two, it can book up to 20 people at a time, Trenitalia only books up to 5 people, it highlights the cheapest trains and trains where 1st class is cheaper than 2nd as a free upgrade.

  Although www.italiarail.com accesses exactly the same prices as Trenitalia, it can be cheaper for 2 or more people travelling together because it can combine the last remaining tickets at a cheaper price level with tickets at a higher level within the same booking.  Trenitalia can't, so will ignore any remaining tickets at the cheaper price level if there aren't enough for all the passengers travelling.

  Italiarail charge a small fee around €3.50, this will be refunded for seat61 users if you email them (not me!) at seat61@italiarail.com after booking.

• www.loco2.com is a UK-based European train booking site which also connects to Trenitalia to sell Italian train tickets at the same prices as Trenitalia, in € or £.  It's also in plain English and also uses the familiar English place names.  Loco2 charges no booking fee if you use a debit card.  The advantage of using www.loco2.com is that it also connects to the French, German, Spanish, UK and Italo ticketing systems so can compare Trenitalia and Italo prices in the same search, and can book international journeys combining Trenitalia or Italo trains with French SNCF ones, for example Venice to Lyon or Florence to Paris.

• The new high-speed network links Naples, Rome, Florence, Milan, Turin & Venice, with trains hourly or better.  Rome-Florence takes 1 hour 32 minutes, Rome-Milan 2 hours 55, Rome-Venice 3 hours 45, Rome-Naples 1 hour 10, Florence-Naples 3 hours.  Faster than flying.

• To understand the different types of train, see the What are Italian trains like? section.

• You can buy Economy and Super-Economy fares giving up to a 60% discount off the normal Base fare if you pre-book a high-speed Italian train before departure on a 'no refunds, limited or no changes' basis.  To understand the choice of fares, and the rather poor or non-translation of sleeper types, see the how to use trenitalia.com section.

• Child age limits:  Trenitalia changed its child age limits in December 2012.  On all trains, children under 4 go free with no ticket required, just bring them along.  On regional trains, the old age limit still applies, children under 12 travel at the child rate.  But now, on national trains children under 15 can travel at the child rate.  National trains means Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca, InterCity, InterCity Notte (ICN) sleeper trains.  See the train travel with children page.

• Sorrento, Pompeii & Herculaneum are on the Circumvesuviana Railway:  Remember that Sorrento & Pompeii are not on the mainline Trenitalia network.  You travel to Naples Centrale with Trenitalia then switch to the frequent local Circumvesuviana Railway, www.eavsrl.it.  This is a local railway, you just buy a ticket at the ticket office and hop on the next train.  See the visit to Pompeii page.

• Amalfi, Positano & Praiano don't have stations, you can reach them by bus from Salerno or Sorrento.

• Milan-Tirano and some other local trains in Northern Italy can be found at www.trenord.it, a joint venture between Trenitalia and LeNord. 

• Competing NTV Italo high-speed trains:  Private operator NTV runs its new high-speed Italo trains in competition with Trenitalia on the main Milan/Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples route, see the Italo page.  You can buy Italo tickets at www.italotreno.it. 

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Maps of the Italian rail network

• Map of the Italian railway network

• Schematic rail map (not all routes shown) with real-time train info.

• For other European train maps see the advice here.

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Do you need to buy in advance?

• Regional trains, no.  For example, Pisa to Florence, Florence to Siena, Milan to Como or Milan to Tirano.  There's absolutely no need to buy in advance and no advantage in doing so other than saving time at the ticket office.  The price is fixed so there's no cost advantage in pre-booking, no reservation is necessary or even possible so the train can never 'sell out'.  In fact, buying in advance is a disadvantage as regional tickets bought online are non-refundable and non-changeable, limited to a 4-hour window from the time of train you book.  So just buy a ticket at the station from ticket office or self-service machines when you get there, validate it in the little green validating machines and hop on the next train, sitting in any empty seat.

• Long-distance trains, yes. For example, Rome to Florence, Milan to Venice.  All seats on Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca & InterCity trains are reserved, so they can in theory sell out.  However, as there are so many trains each with hundreds of seats there are almost always places available on most trains even just before departure.  So yes, there's usually no problem at all buying at the station on the day if you want.  The issue is price.  On the day of departure you'll pay the most expensive base fare, Rome-Florence €45, Rome-Venice €84, but if you book in advance you can buy a cheap economy or super-economy fare from as little as �€19.90 Rome-Florence or €29.90 Rome-Venice, assuming you're OK with limited or no refunds or changes to travel plans.  It's your call!

Buying tickets at the station the easy way...  Use the self-service machines!

• It's easy to buy tickets at the station on the day of travel or perhaps the day before, even if you don't speak Italian.  Simply go to one of the 'fast ticket' machines installed at all main stations, these have a touch screen with an English language facility, see an illustrated step-by-step guide to using these ticket machines.  The machines will sell both regional and long-distance tickets, including the necessary seat reservation for long-distance trains, for any date you like within the next 90 days.  They take Visa and MasterCard credit cards without a problem, but your card needs to have a PIN code number.

• The trains hardly ever sell out, so finding tickets even on the day of travel isn't a problem unless you hit a major holiday period.  The issue is the price you pay, as long-distance tickets are now significantly cheaper booked in advance, just like air fares.  In 2009 Trenitalia ditched the old 'one size fits all' approach to pricing and introduced cheap advance-purchase fares whilst increasing the fully-flexible base price that you pay on the day.  There are now Super-Economy or Economy fares from just €9.90, €19.90 or €29.90 on most routes if you book ahead and commit to a specific train on a no-refunds, limited-or-no-changes-to-travel-plans basis.  Bear that in mind when anyone tells you you can easily buy at the station on the day at no extra cost, as you can now save money by pre-booking!

• Remember to validate any local or regional ticket by putting it into the small yellow machines at the entrance to every platform - there's a fine if you don't.  However, long-distance tickets for Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca & InterCity trains don't need to be validated in this way as they are for a specific date and train anyway.

Buy Italian train tickets online...

• Booking usually opens 120 days ahead for most high-speed & long-distance trains.  But remember that this can shrink to as little as 30 days for dates immediately after the two annual Europe-wide timetable changes, on the 2nd Saturday in June and 2nd Saturday in December.

  For dates beyond these timetable changes, Trenitalia load trains in blocks, high-speed trains first and regional, InterCity & sleeper trains much later, sometimes only 30-40 days before the timetable change date.  And sometimes they load afternoon trains first and morning trains later.  So if you don't see the normal all-day train service you expect to see, just odd trains, or afternoon trains but no morning trains, don't assume they've cancelled all the trains, just wait until all trains are loaded and booking opens 100%.

• Option 1, buy at ItaliaRail.com:  You can easily buy Italian train tickets at www.italiarail.com in €, £, $ or Au$ - to book in US$ click here.

  ItaliaRail are an online agency who link directly to Trenitalia's ticketing system.  I now recommend them over Trenitalia's own site for domestic Italian train tickets for several reasons.

  First, Italiarail books exactly the same trains at exactly the same prices with exactly the same ticketless or collect-at-station options as Trenitalia's own site, but in plain English with none of Trenitalia's quirky and sometimes confusing translations.  You can use familiar English place-names such as Venice or Florence. 

  Second, Italiarail shows a whole day's trains in the search results and can book up to 20 people at a time.  Trenitalia only shows a couple of hours-worth of trains at a time and can only book up to 5 people at a time.

  Third and most importantly, Italiarail can be cheaper than Trenitalia for 2 or more people travelling together.  They have programmed it to combine (for example) the last remaining €19.90 ticket with a ticket at the next price level up, say €29.90.  Like many airline & rail booking systems, Trenitalia.com cannot mix & match price levels within the same booking, so will offer 2 x €29.90 even if there is one €19.90 fare left.  For family groups the cost saving can be significant.

  Exactly like Trenitalia.com, it's either ticketless so you simply quote your PNR booking reference on board, or you collect tickets from the self-service machines at any main Trenitalia station.

  Italiarail charge a €3.50 processing fee, but they will refund this if you email them at seat61@italiarail.com quoting your booking reference.

  Currently Italiarail may not be able to book international trains, so use www.loco2.com or www.trenitalia.com for those.

• Option 2, buy at Trenitalia.com:  You can of course buy Italian train tickets direct from Italian Railways at www.trenitalia.com, English button at the top.  It's pretty easy to use but you'll need to use Italian-language place names and it has a few quirky translations & processes especially when booking sleepers or international trains so see the step-by-step guide below.

  For domestic Italian trains they have a ticketless system where you book online and simply quote your booking reference on board the train, other tickets can be collected at any main Italian station from these self-service machines.  When booking domestic high-speed trains, you'll normally get a chance to select a specific seat from a numbered seating plan.  Trenitalia used to have problems accepting non-Italian credit cards, but a new payment system introduced in 2010 has resolved this.  For 2 or more people travelling together, you may find Italiarail cheaper, see option 1 above.

• Option 3, buy at www.loco2.com:  You can now also buy Italian train tickets equally easily at www.loco2.com, also in plain English with prices in UK pounds.  Loco2 is a UK-based agency which has also connected directly to Trenitalia's ticketing system to sell the same tickets with the same hassle-free ticketless travel arrangements.  www.loco2.com also connects to the French, German, Spanish, UK and Italo ticketing systems so its major advantage is the ability to sell tickets over much of western Europe, not just in Italy.

Buying international train tickets from Italy...

• www.italiarail.com, www.loco2.com & www.trenitalia.com all sell international tickets from Italy, but I recommend using either www.italiarail.com (in €, £ or $) or www.loco2.com (in € or £) as they're easier to use than Trenitalia.com - Loco2 charges no booking fee, Italiarail charges a €3.50 fee but will refund this if you email your PNR to seat61@italiarail.com.  Here are some important tips:  You can book journeys between Italy & Austria in either direction with print-at-home tickets at the Austrian Railways site www.oebb.at.

  Update:  Italiarail is unable to book international trains to Austria, but can book direct trains to Switzerland and Thello trains to/from France.

  (1) Italiarail & Trenitalia will only book direct trains.  So Milan-Brig is no problem as that is direct.  But if you want (say) Milan to Zermatt, this involves a change in Brig so you need to split the journey, buy a cheap advance-purchase ticket to Brig online, then buy a local ticket Brig-Zermatt at the station when you get to Brig.  Similarly, Venice to Lucerne on the direct Milan-Lucerne train is no problem, but it can't book all the other departures with a change within Switzerland at Arth Goldau - but Swiss Railways www.sbb.ch can.

  (2) Check ticket delivery carefully before booking a journey that starts outside Italy...  Bookings are ticketless for journeys between Switzerland and Italy, or on the Thello sleeper to or from Paris, and the Thello daytime trains to or from Nice and Marseille, so these can all be safely booked on www.italiarail.com or www.trenitalia.com for journeys in either direction.  But tickets to or from Austria or Germany aren't ticketless and can't be printed at home, tickets need to be collected, and they can only be collected from the Trenitalia self-service machines or Trenitalia-staffed ticket offices at Italian stations.  They cannot be collected in Austria!  So only use those sites to book journeys FROM Italy TO Austria- Although www.italiarail.com will in fact courier tickets to you if the journey doesn't start in Italy, just remember that the courier fee is around €25. 

  (3) It won't book the Milan/Turin-Paris TGVs as these are run by French Railways with no Trenitalia involvement, you must book these in either direction at www.trainline.eu or www.loco2.com.  www.loco2.com is ideal as it connects to both French and Italian systems it can book journeys involving both a Paris-Turin/Milan TGV and a domestic Italian sector, for example Paris-Florence or Paris-Venice.

  (4)  You won't find cheap fares for the direct daytime trains to Innsbruck & Munich as these are run entirely by the Germans & Austrians, so book these in either direction at www.bahn.de or www.oebb.at with any connections within Italy booked at www.italiarail.com (though sometimes bahn.de will show prices for a through journey including a Trenitalia sector, for example Munich to Florence with a change at Verona).  However, sleeper trains from Rome, Florence & Venice to Innsbruck, Munich, Salzburg & Vienna can easily be booked at www.trenitalia.com, with ticket collection at any main Italian station.

  (5)  It won't book tickets to or from Nice for the many journeys where a change at Ventimiglia is necessary.  The solution is simply to book a ticket using www.italiarail.com between anywhere in Italy & Ventimiglia on the French border, where the Italian trains start/terminate, with cheap fares from €9.90 if you pre-book.  Then simply buy an open ticket for around €7 for the local train between Nice & Ventimiglia at the station, no reservation necessary for these.  However, there are now 3 daily direct Thello trains between Italy and Nice, and these direct trains can indeed be booked at www.italiarail.com, in either direction.

  More specific help & information on how to book international train journeys departing from: Rome  Naples  Florence  Venice  Milan

Buy tickets by phone in the UK on 0844 248 248 3...

• If you live in the UK or Ireland you can buy Trenitalia or Italo tickets by phone with UK-based train travel specialist International Rail on 0844 248 248 3, lines open 09:00-17:00 Monday-Friday.  From Ireland call +44 844 248 248 3.  Unlike some other UK agencies, International Rail are directly equipped with Trenitalia's own ticketing & reservation system so can sell the full Trenitalia fare range, and they can sell Italo as well.  They charge a £10 booking fee for orders under £100, £20 for orders £100-£300.  Tickets can usually be emailed to you, so there's no delay or extra postage cost.

Italo high-speed trains, competing with Trenitalia...

• Private operator NTV (Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori) operates its Italo high-speed trains on the Turin-Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples and Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples routes in competition with state-owned Trenitalia.  You can check timetables & fares for Italo and buy tickets at www.italotreno.it.  Italo is well worth checking out, see the Italo page for information & photos.

• www.loco2.com sells both Trenitalia and Italo, so shows times and fares for both side-by-side.

Railpasses for Italy...

• A pass is unlikely to make sense:  By all means check out the InterRail pass (for European residents) or Eurail passes (for non-Europeans) at the seat61 rail shop, especially if you are under 26 so qualify for the cheaper youth versions (as the youth passes can indeed make financial sense).  However, for most people railpasses are now the gold-plated expensive option.  They have lost their convenience factor in Italy, as passholders must make a reservation and pay a €10 reservation fee for virtually every fast train they take, and this must be factored into the cost.  Trenitalia's cheap advance-purchase fares from just €9.90, €19.90 or €�29.90 blow railpasses out of the water price-wise if you are prepared to book in advance on a no-refunds, no-changes-to-travel-plans basis.  So passes are only worth considering if you demand the flexibility to go as you please.  Even here, you need to be doing the equivalent of Rome-Venice every pass travel day to make them pay.  If you are only doing Rome-Florence one day, then Florence-Venice a few days later, it's cheaper to buy fully flexible base-price tickets at the station than to use a pass once the reservation fee is added.

• Let's do the maths:  A typical Eurail pass costs maybe €55 per day for first class travel, that's €65 once you add the €10 fast train reservation fee.  A point-to-point ticket from Rome to Florence is only €65 1st class full-price bought on the day at the station with reservation included, and perhaps only €39.90 if you pre-book a Economy or Super-Economy fare.  2nd class is only €45 full-price at the station, and from only €19.90 pre-booked with a Super-Economy fare.  So if you're only going Rome-Florence or Florence-Venice on a typical day, point to point tickets will be cheaper, even on a like-for-like first class fully-flexible basis.  If you're happy pre-booking a cheap no-refunds Economy or Super-Economy fare, or are happy going 2nd class (and why shouldn't you, it's absolutely fine), you can save vast amounts of money over an expensive railpass. 

• How to make train reservations online to go with a railpass:  The easy way to make reservations to go with a Eurail or InterRail pass is to use www.italiarail.com, just tick the 'I have a railpass' box.  This will book the necessary €10 reservation on high-speed Frecciarossa, Frecciargento or Frecciabianca trains or the €3 reservation on InterCity trains, or couchette or sleeper reservations on night trains.  In some cases it's ticketless, you simply quote the PNR number on board, in other cases you simply collect the reservation ticket from one of the self-service machines at any main Trenitalia station.  There's a €3.50 fee, but I have arranged for this to be refunded if you drop them an email to seat61@italiarail.com quoting your PNR.  A slightly more fiddly way, but without any fee, is to book direct with Trenitalia, www.trenitalia.com.  Run an enquiry as if you were buying a regular ticket.  Find the train you want in the search results and click 'select'.  Now select 'View other prices and services' and hit 'continue'.  Now select 'Global Pass' in the drop down box.  Then you'll be booking a passholder reservation.

• How to make train reservations with a railpass at the station when it Italy:  If you have a railpass, the easiest way to make a seat reservation is at any main station is using the self-service ticket machines, see an illustrated step-by-step guide to using these machines.  High-speed Frecciarossa, Frecciargento & Frecciabianca trains cost €10 for passholders, and reservation is compulsory.  Seat reservation is no longer compulsory for passholders on InterCity trains, it's now optional but a good idea, for €3 per seat.  The machines have a touch screen: Click the UK flag for English language, then 'buy tickets' and select 'Global pass' when the choice of fare is offered.  The machines can sell passholder reservations for any mainline train within Italy including sleepers, and for many direct international trains starting in Italy.  You can pay in cash (notes or coins) or by MasterCard or Visa credit card.  If your credit card hasn't got Chip and PIN, this isn't a problem.

Custom-made tours of Italy...

• If you want someone to arrange a tour of Italy by train for you with your tickets, hotels & transfers all sorted in one place, call train travel specialists Railbookers.  They can also arrange tours between Paris & Italy by train or tours combining Switzerland & Italy by train.  They take good care of their clients and it's not surprising they get a lot of repeat business.  They are not a ticket agency, they put together a complete package for you and manage the whole process.

    In the UK call 020 3327 0761, www.railbookers.co.uk.

    In the USA call free 1-888-829-4775, www.railbookers.com.

    In Canada call free 1-855-882-2910, www.railbookers.com.

    In Australia call toll-free 1300 971 526, www.railbookers.com.au. 

    In New Zealand call toll-free 0800 000 554 or see website.

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Frecciarossa - Red Arrows...   Click for Frecciarossa information page

Trenitalia's top high-speed trains are the 300 km/h (186 mph) Frecciarossas, operated by the ETR500 trains shown below which are now joined by the latest Frecciarossa 1000 trains introduced from June 2015.  As with all Trenitalia's long-distance trains, tickets always include a seat reservation - in other words, you can't just turn up and hop on, you need to buy a ticket which will include a seat reservation for a specific train, but you can do this right up until departure using the self-service machines or at the ticket office.  Frecciarossa tickets are only valid on the specific date and train you've booked.  All Frecciarossa services are air-conditioned with refreshments, and most have a waiter-service restaurant car open to all passengers, with the set 3-course menu costing around €33, a half bottle of wine €10, credit cards accepted.  All seats have power sockets for laptops & mobiles (2-pin, 220v).  Railpass holders must pay a €10 reservation fee per trip (1st class pass = Business, 2nd class pass = Standard), which given the fares are relatively cheap anyway (for example, €45 Rome-Florence) doesn't make railpasses very good value in Italy.

4 classes of service:  Frecciarossa trains have now been refurbished with not 2 but 4 classes of accommodation, see the photos below and the Frecciarossa information page for an explanation.

Principal Frecciarossa route:  Turin-Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples-Salerno (Frecciarossas 500 & 1000).  As more Frecciarossa 1000s enter service on the main Turin-Milan-Florence-Rome-Naples route, Frecciarossa 500s are starting to appear on various Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples departures and have now (as of April 2017) taken over most Turin-Milan-Venice departures.  One per day runs Milan-Rimini-Ancona-Bari.  Seat numbering plans.

Watch the Frecciarossa 500 video...  See the Frecciarossa 1000 video

Frecciargento - Silver Arrows...

Next down the pecking order are Trenitalia's 250km/h (155mph) Frecciargento tilting trains.  As with the Frecciarossas, tickets always include a seat reservation, you can't just turn up and hop on.  So you need to buy a ticket which will include a seat reservation for a specific train, but you can do this right up until departure using the self-service machines or at the ticket office.  Frecciargento tickets are only valid on the specific date and train you've booked.  Frecciargento services are operated by pendolino tilting trains of either the ETR450/460/485 or most modern pointy-nosed ETR600 type.  They are air-conditioned with a refreshment trolley and cafe-bar.  All seats have power sockets for laptops & mobiles (2-pin, 220v).  Railpass holders must pay a €10 reservation fee per trip.  The trains reach 155mph on the high-speed lines and use their tilt to cut journey times through curves when running on classic lines.

Principal Frecciargento routes:  Most Venice-Bologna-Florence-Rome trains are Frecciargentos, although a few departures are now run by Frecciarossa 500s;  Verona-Bologna-Florence-Rome;  Rome-Bari.  Seat numbering plans.

Frecciabianca - White Arrows...

One step down from Frecciarossa and Frecciargento, most Frecciabianca (FB) services use locomotive-hauled ex-InterCity coaches which have been refurbished to modern standards and run at up to 125 mph, either hauled by a locomotive or sandwiched between first-generation ETR500 power cars.  They are air-conditioned and have a refreshment trolley, some have a bar counter, but no restaurant car.  Watch the official Trenitalia Frecciabianca video.

As with the Frecciarossas and Frecciargentos, tickets always include a seat reservation, so you can't just turn up and hop on, you need to buy a ticket with a seat reservation for a specific train before boarding, although you can do this right up until departure.  Frecciabianca tickets are only valid on the specific date and train you've booked.  Railpass holders must pay a €10 reservation fee per trip.  The Eurostar City branding has been dropped, although you'll still see it on the side of some Frecciabianca trains. 

Some Frecciabianca trains, notably on the Rome-Pisa-La Spezia-Genoa route are operated by older ETR460 tilting trains bumped from Frecciargento service, rather than the refurbished InterCity carriages shown below.

Principal Frecciabianca routes:  Milan-Rimini-Ancona-Pescara-Bari-Brindisi, some Milan-Genoa-La Spezia-Pisa-Rome.

InterCity trains (IC)...

Next in the pecking order are the InterCity trains, fast trains hauled by locomotives at up to 100-125mph.  Like Le Frecce, InterCity trains are seat reservation obligatory, so you must make a reservation before boarding, you can't just hop on - although there's a concession for Eurail & Interrail passholders, who can just hop on without a reservation or they can reserve a seat for €3.  Tickets sold online or at stations automatically include the reservation free of charge.  Some InterCity cars are open-plan with a centre aisle, others are classic side-corridor-and-compartment cars with 6-seater compartments.  Though you don't always find both sorts in both classes on a given train.  If you book at trenitalia.com and see groups of 6 seats (3 seats facing 3 more seats in each group) with a big grey bar at the bottom, it's a compartment coach where the grey bar is the corridor.  If there's a central aisle with 2-abreast seats one side and 1-abreast (1st class) or 2-abreast (2nd class) on the other, it's an open-plan saloon car.

Principal InterCity routes:  Rome-Naples-Sicily;  Rome-Pisa-Cinque Terre-Genoa-Milan;  Milan-Genoa-Ventimiglia (for Nice).

Regionale Veloce & Regionale (RV, R)...

No seat reservation is necessary, you just buy a ticket at the station from the counter or the multi-lingual self-service machines and hop on, sitting in any free seat.  Luggage goes on the racks or if necessary on the floor.  Remember to validate your ticket at the platform entrance before boarding, your ticket is only valid for 4 or in some cases 6 hours after validation.  There's no supplement for railpass holders, you can just hop on and show your pass.  These trains come in all different shapes and sizes, they operate all over Italy, including Florence-Pisa, Florence-Siena, Florence-Lucca, Venice-Trieste, Rome-Civitavecchia.  Fares for these trains are very cheap, and as there's only one fixed price which you can easily buy at the station on the day (it cannot sell out!), there's no real point in buying online in  advance.

Italo high-speed trains, competing with Trenitalia:  See the Italo information page  Italo video

Private operator NTV (Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori), started operating its Italo high-speed trains on the Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples route in April 2012, and they started a Venice-Florence-Rome service in October 2012, see www.italotreno.it for times, fares & online tickets.  Italo trains have four classes, all with free WiFi and Poltrona Frau leather seats:

• Smart = 2nd class, the cheapest option, with leather reclining seats arranged 2+2 across the width of the car.  Free WiFi, power sockets, small table.  Vending machines for snacks & coffee.

• Comfort = Premium 2nd class, it has exactly the same more spacious1st class seats as Prima arranged 2+1 across the car width, but without the 1st class on-board service.  Free WiFi, power sockets, small table.  Vending machines for snacks & coffee.

• Prima = 1st class, with leather reclining seats arranged 2+1 across the width of the car.  Complimentary alcoholic & non-alcoholic drinks and snacks, free WiFi, power sockets, small table.  At extra cost, you can pre-book lunch or dinner or order it on board, served at your seat.

• Club = Premium 1st class, leather reclining armchairs with 9" touch-screen entertainment system in an exclusive area at the end of each train.  Hostess service, free WiFi, power sockets.  At extra cost, you can pre-book lunch or dinner or order it on board, served at your seat.

• See the Seat61 Italo information page for more information, an illustrated guide and the Italo video guide.

Italian overnight trains...

An overnight sleeper train is often the best way to travel long distances, for example from Milan or Rome to Sicily, or from Venice or Milan to Naples.  It's an experience in itself that's effectively faster than flying, and saves a hotel bill too.  Italian overnight trains have several types of couchette & sleeper.  Some also have seats or reclining seats, but a couchette or sleeper is recommended, as you can lie flat and sleep in a safely-locked compartment.  Yes, they are perfectly safe!

• 6-berth couchettes:  These are compartments with 6 basic flat padded bunks, arranged as upper, middle & lower on each side.  Rug, sheet & pillow provided for each passenger.  Compartments are mixed sex, as you don't normally fully undress.  These 6-berth couchettes are now quite rare, most routes now have the more modern and much nicer Comfort couchettes, see below.

• 4-berth C4 Comfort couchettes:  These are modern air-conditioned couchette cars with eight or nine 4-berth compartments, each with two upper & two lower bunks.  Rug, sheet & pillow are provided for each passenger.  An attendant travels with each pair of cars.  Comfort couchettes are a good economical choice, especially for families, see the photos below.  Couchette compartments are mixed sex (on www.trenitalia.com, select 'Cuccette C4 Comfort - Promiscuo' if booking 1, 2 or 3 tickets), but women travelling alone can book berths in a ladies-only compartment (on www.trenitalia.com, select 'Cuccette C4 Comfort - Donna').  If four of you want a whole 4-berth together, select 'Cuccette C4 Comfort - Compart. intero', where 'intero' means 'whole'.  You'll find it easier to book at www.italiarail.com.

• 1, 2 & 3 berth standard sleepers:  These traditional sleeping cars have twelve comfortable compartments each of which can be used with 1, 2 or 3 beds folded out as 1st class Single (Singolo), 1st class Double (Doppio) and 2nd class Tourist T3 (Compartimento 3 Letti), see the photos below.  Each room has a washbasin and offers fully-made-up beds, convertible to a private sitting room with sofa & coffee table for evening or morning use.  Each car has its own sleeper attendant who can serve drinks, snacks and a light breakfast.  A sleeper is the civilised, recommended option!  Berths are sold individually, in other words one ticket means one bed, if you want a private compartment you simply need to book all the berths in a compartment.  If you don't book all the berths in a compartment, sleepers are single-sex.  For example, on www.trenitalia.com, if you want to book 2 adults in a private 2-bed sleeper, select 'Posto Doppio - Intero' (intero means 'whole') and you'll get two beds together on one 2-berth sleeper.  If you are travelling alone and want one bed in a shared 2-berth (as this is half the price of sole occupancy in a single-berth sleeper) you will need to select 'Posto Doppio - Uomo' (male) or 'Posto Doppio - Donna' (female) and you will then share with another passenger of the same sex.  On their old system, these sleepers were described (confusingly) as 'Single seat compartment', 'Double seat compartment' and 'Tourist 3 bed cabin' respectively, but don't worry, they do indeed have beds!  You'll find it easier to book in plain English at www.italiarail.com.

• 1 & 2 berth T2S sleepers:  On a handful of routes you'll find a type of sleeper with seventeen much narrower compartments, each usable with 1 or 2 beds folded out.  You'll find these listed on www.trenitalia.com as 'Posto Speciale' (single berth) or 'Compartimento 2 Letti' (2-berth), again with Uomo for male, Donna for female or Intero for a whole compartment together if booking 2 tickets.  You'll find it easier to book in plain English at www.italiarail.com.

• 1 & 2 berth deluxe Excelsior sleepers with shower: These have now almost totally disappeared from all domestic Italian routes, but you may still find them on the Rome-Sicily overnight train.  If the booking system offers singolo or doppio excelsior, this means a single-berth or 2-berth deluxe sleeper with shower & toilet en suite.  There are only a handful of such compartments on each train, but if you can get one, they're highly recommended.

Standard 1, 2 or 3 berth sleeper...

4-berth C4 Comfort couchettes...

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	Restaurant cars:  A table for two in the restaurant car of a high-speed Frecciarossa express linking  Venice, Florence, Rome & Naples, and yes, the flowers on the tables are real!  Far more civilised than a flight...
	Multi-lingual self-service ticket machines are found at all main Italian stations.  Click the UK flag on the touch screen for English.  They can sell tickets for both regional & mainline trains, plus some international trains, and can sell seat reservations for railpass holders (look for a 'Global Pass' ticket).  They take cash & credit cards.  Easier than going to the ticket office! How to use these machines
	Medium-sized suitcases & backpacks fit between the seat backs on a Frecciarossa.  There are also racks above your seat, and at the car ends.
	Ticket validation machines:  If you have a ticket for a local or regional train, make sure you validate it by putting it into one of these machines at the entrance to the platform before boarding.  There's a fine if you don't.  Print-at-home regional tickets bought online don't need to be validated, as they are only valid for the train selected and any later train in the next 4 hours.  Train-specific mainline tickets (for example, for Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca & InterCity) do not need to be validated, as they are only valid on a specific date and train in any case.

• Do you need to buy your tickets in advance?  See the how to buy tickets section above!

• Should you go 1st or 2nd class?

  2nd class (called standard class on Frecciarossa trains) is absolutely fine.  It's very comfortable and there's plenty of luggage space, so there is absolutely no need to pay for 1st class (called business class on Frecciarossa trains) if you are on a tight budget.  Be reassured that there are very few peasants & chickens in 2nd class on European trains these days, really...  See the train photos above.

  On the other hand, 1st (or business) class is obviously nicer, with wider, plusher seats and a quieter environment with more laptops tapping and fewer families with noisy kids.  And with all the fast trains dynamically priced, it often costs very little more to go 1st class if you book ahead. 

  1st class seats are generally arranged 2+1 across the car width rather than 2+2, so you get solo seats (ideal for single travellers) and face-to-face tables for two on the 'one-abreast' side of the aisle, ideal for couples as you then face each other and both get a window seat that is also an aisle seat, the best of both worlds. 

  On Frecciarossa & Frecciargento trains you also get a complimentary glass of prosecco and a small packet of pretzels or peanuts in 1st class - but don't assume anything else is included, it's basically just the more spacious seating you get with a 1st class ticket.

• Luggage arrangements - see the luggage section below!

• Ticket validation...

  You only need to validate tickets for regional trains, not fast trains, and even then you only need to validate proper tickets, not print-at-home ones.

  All conventional Italian regional train tickets must be validated immediately before you board your train, by putting them into the small green machines at the entrance to every platform.  There's a fine if you don't.  See the photo below right, so you know what machine to look for. 

  That's because a regional ticket could be used multiple times.  Date-stamping it in the validating machine prevents people fraudulently using it on multiple occasions.  Although from August 2016 even regional tickets bought at the station are only valid on the day you buy them for in any case.

  Print-at-home regional tickets bought online are only valid for the train selected and for later regional departures in the following 4 hours, so don't need to be validated. 

  Though if you buy a collect-at-station regional train ticket from Italiarail that will be a conventional ticket, valid on any train that day, and it needs to be validated.

  Tickets for Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca or InterCity trains don't need to be validated as these are only valid on a specific date & train in any case.

• Language problems...

  First-time visitors often think this will be a problem, but it hardly ever is.  At stations, finding your platform & train using the various departure screens is no different from finding your gate & plane at an airport.  Signs are usually in English as well as Italian, or easy-to-understand pictograms are used.  On high-speed trains, announcements are usually repeated in English. 

  At ticket offices clerks have a pretty shrewd idea you want a train ticket not a packet of washing powder, in fact clerks in popular tourist cities will be used to dealing with Brits, Americans & Australians and will usually know the relevant words in English about one-ways & round trips, first or second class...  The ticket machines at every main station have a touch-screen with an English language facility.

  The one thing that does help is knowing Italian place names:  Rome = Roma, Florence = Firenze, Venice = Venezia, Naples = Napoli, Milan = Milano, Turin = Torino, Genoa = Genova.

• Food & drink on Italian trains...

  Most long-distance trains have a bar or even (on some but not all Frecciarossa trains) a restaurant car.  Eating a meal on the move in a waiter-service restaurant is an experience, and not hugely expensive, either.  However, feel free to bring your own food and drink (even a bottle of wine, if you like) onto the train, there's no rules against that on the rails!

• Bicycles...

  You can take a bike with you on suburban, Regional & InterRegional trains if you buy a bike ticket costing about €4.  On long distance trains including Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca & InterCity, you need to place your bike in a zip-up bike bag, front wheel & pedals removed and handlebars turned, see the bikes by train page.

• Dogs & pets...

  Go to www.trenitalia.com and search for Travelling with your pets.  You can take pets on many trains, but the rules vary slightly by type of train.  Very small dogs, cats & other pets in containers no bigger than 70cm x 30cm x 50cm are carried free on almost all trains & classes.  Larger dogs on a lead & muzzled are allowed on almost all trains but must have a ticket bought for them at 50% of the adult 2nd class fare (whatever class the owner is using) and they are not permitted in Executive or Premium classes on Frecciarossa trains, or in catering cars.  Guide dogs are always free.

• First class lounges at Italian stations...

  Executive class passengers & holders of Trenitalia's special Club Eurostar frequent traveller card can use the Club Eurostar lounges at Trenitalia's main city stations.

  For Club class passengers on Italo, there is a Club lounge in Milan Centrale & Rome Termini - Prima class passengers can also use the lounge for €10 paid at the entrance.

• A train planner app for your smartphone...

  Railplanner is a free offline train timetable app that you can download onto your smartphone to check train times, station departures & train calling points on the move without the need to be on WiFi or to use mobile data.  It's blisteringly quick and covers not just Italy but most of Europe.  It highlights the reservation-required high-speed & InterCity trains in red and the no-reservation-required regional trains in green.  It's created with Eurail & InterRail passholders in mind, but is useful for anyone. Download for iPhone or Android at www.eurailgroup.org/promos/railplanner_app - do let me know if the link stops working.

• Are the trains running on time?

  You can check real-time arrivals and departures at any Trenitalia station or the running of any train by train number at www.viaggiatreno.it.  Most regional trains run more or less on time, and so do most high-speed long distance trains, with perhaps a 10 or 20 minute delay here and there.  However, make allowances for a typical 30 to 60 minute delay when catching the sleeper trains to and from Sicily, for example.

Choosing your seat...

• www.trenitalia.com allows you to choose your exact seats from a numbered seating plan on Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca and InterCity trains within Italy. 

• It's pretty self-explanatory, but as I'm often asked, yes, the grey bars are tables, and no, you can't tell which way seats face - indeed, on many Rome-Venice and Rome-Milan journeys the train changes direction in Florence SMN station, which is a terminus.

• For a couple travelling first class I recommend a face-to-face table for two.

  

Luggage on Italian trains & at stations...

• Luggage is no problem on Italian trains, and it makes no real difference whether you go 1st or 2nd class, there's always room for bags.  You don't check your bags in and there is no baggage car.  You simply take whatever you like into the train with you, and stick your bags on the racks above your head or on the big luggage racks at the end of each car or in the space between the seat backs, wherever.  On regional trains, it just goes on the floor next to you if there aren't any racks.  More information about luggage on European trains.

• There are no baggage fees or weight limits to worry about, for most practical purposes if you can carry it you can bring it.  It's so simple, it hardly needs explaining, yet overseas visitors (especially Americans, it seems) chase their tails trying to find detailed information as they think there must be complex regulations as with air travel.  Don't over-think it, as luggage really doesn't need worrying about, other than not travelling with more than you really need.  Anything up to backpack-sized fits on the racks above your head, only larger items such as bulky suitcases need to go on the racks at the end of the car, or between seat backs. 

• Security is not a real problem, your bags full of clothing are no more likely to be stolen than airline checked baggage.  There's no need to chain your bag to the rack - this gets asked, believe it or not- any more than you'd chain you bags to a plane's luggage bin.  Although like most people I like to use a rack which I can see from my seat, and indeed I always keep cameras, passports and so forth in my daypack with me at my seat.  But I'd have thought that was obvious?

• Porters are generally a thing of the past in Europe along with butlers, valets and ladies' maids.  However, Milan Centrale, Milan Porta Garibaldi, Venice Santa Lucia, Rome Termini, Florence SMN, Turin Porta Nuova are all termini with level access to all trains.  You can just pull your bag on its wheels from street or taxi rank across the station concourse right up to the train door, lift it two steps up into the train, and wheel it to a convenient rack or space between the seats next to your seat.  If you are elderly or heavily pregnant, another passenger will almost always help you get your bags the two short steps into the train.

• Luggage storage at stations:  All main Italian stations including Rome Stazione Termini, Florence SMN, Venice Santa Lucia, Milan Centrale, Naples Centrale, Verona, Turin Porta Nuova have left-luggage facilities, either lockers or a staffed facility.  Information on left-luggage prices & opening times.

Which station in which city?

• The Leaning Tower of Pisa:  Map of Pisa showing tower & railway stations.  Many people do this as a day trip from Florence, using the frequent local trains.  Pisa Centrale station is 2km from the Tower, a 30 minute walk, but if you take a train to Pisa S. Rossore station, that's only a 5-10 minutes walk to the Tower.  Some trains from Florence go direct to Pisa S. Rossore, 1 stop beyond Pisa Centrale, others require a change at Pisa centrale.  Check train times using www.trenitalia.com or www.italiarail.com.

• Which station in Rome?  The main station in Rome is the Stazione Termini, walking distance from all the sights.  Roma Ostiense and Roma Tiburtina are on the outskirts of the city, you'll need a taxi (around €10) or local train into the city centre.  The Vatican has its own suburban station, Roma San Pietro, but it’s easy to reach St Peter’s from the Stazione Termini by bus or taxi.

• Which station in Venice?  The main station in Venice is Venezia Santa Lucia, in the city of Venice itself on the banks of the Grand Canal and walking distance from the Rialto Bridge and St Mark's Square.  Venezia Mestre is on the mainland in an industrial area, a long way from Venice, always book to Venice Santa Lucia unless you have a hotel in Mestre.

• Which station in Florence? The main station in Florence is Firenze Santa Maria Novella, normally abbreviated to SMN, in the city centre easy walking distance from all the sights.  A few trains use Campo Marte or Rifredi stations outside the city centre, linked to SMN by frequent local trains, but avoid booking to these stations, always look for a train direct to Florence SMN.

• Which station in Milan?  Milano Centrale is the main station, a huge and magnificent terminus in the city centre, served by most mainline and international trains.  Milan Porta Garibaldi is also central, used by by the French Railways TGVs to Paris and by some Trenitalia trains, it's a 25 minute walk, 10 minute train ride or 5 minute €6 taxi ride from Centrale.  Some Malpensa airport trains arrive at Milan Cadorna, a small local terminus also located in the city centre, although other Malpensa airport trains run to Milan Porta Garibaldi and Milan Centrale.  Milan's Lambrate station is much less central, and Milan Rogoredo is nowhere near the city centre.

• Which station in Turin?  Torino Porta Nuova is the main station, a big terminus.  However, TGV trains to Paris leave from the other station, Torino Porta Susa, and most trains to Rome, Milan or Venice call at Porta Susa after leaving Port Nuova.  Both stations are in Turin's historic city centre, walking distance from all the sights.

	Sicily Express!  The sleeper train from Milan to Palermo is shunted off the ferry at Messina.  Yes, the trains to Sicily really are direct, they are put on a ferry to cross the straits from Villa San Giovanni to Messina. Photo courtesy of David Smith.
	A Naples-Pompeii-Sorrento train on the Circumvesuviana Railway, every 30 minutes for just a few euros...

How to travel to Sicily...

• The train is a wonderful way to reach Sicily, an experience in itself...

• There are daytime InterCity trains from Rome & Naples direct to Palermo, Catania, Siracuse and time-effective overnight sleeper trains from Milan, Rome & Naples direct to Palermo, Catania & Siracuse.

• If you use the daytime trains, bring a picnic and bottle of wine (it's allowed on trains, and on these trains there's no catering car) and enjoy the ride, much of it along the Italian coast sometimes just yards from the sea towards the toe of Italy. 

• If you use the overnight trains, make sure you book a 4-berth Comfort couchette or a private 1, 2 or 3 bed sleeper as explained here.

• All these trains are shunted onto a ferry at Villa san Giovanni for the 40 minute crossing of the Straits of Messina to Sicily.  It's one of the few places in Europe where trains still go onto a ferry, and it's a unique experience in itself.   Once the train is secured in the ship's hold, steps are placed next to the train doors, and you can either remain on board the train or get off and walk upstairs to the deck to take some sea air, returning to the train as the ship docks on the far side - although as of 2017 they may require you to get off and use the ferry accommodation decks.  Highly recommended!  You can book all of these trains to Sicily as shown here.

• Or reach Sicily by overnight ferry from Naples:  You can sail from Naples to Palermo by comfortable overnight ferry, with a  or shared cabin with en suite shower & toilet, and there are restaurants and bars for an enjoyable evening on board.  Ferries typically sail every day at around 20:00 and arrive around 06:30 in both directions.  See www.tirrenia.it & www.snav.it for times, dates, fares & online booking.

• Traveller Andrew Clayton reports:  "We took the daytime InterCity train from Naples to Siracuse, having first loaded up with essential supplies (water, bread, cheese, wine etc.) as there is no catering on the train.  Rather than buy at Naples Centrale where there's only limited food shopping, we went out of the station and found nearby shops that sold all we needed – at much lower prices.  There was attractive scenery - sea and mountains - almost all the way to Villa San Giovanni where the train is loaded onto the ferry to Sicily in two sections.  We were in the last coach and discovered that, if you went to the end, you could look through a glass door to see the coaches go onto the ferry and be tied down. It is safe to leave large luggage on the train during the crossing when most people go up on deck."

How to reach Herculaneum, Pompeii & Sorrento...

• The railway from Naples to Herculaneum, Pompeii & Sorrento isn't run by Trenitalia, it's the privately-run Circumvesuviana Railway, www.eavsrl.it.  That's why you can't find trains to Sorrento on trenitalia.com or italiarail.com.  Map of Naples showing stations.

• Simply buy a mainline ticket from Venice, Florence, Rome or wherever to Naples Centrale at www.italiarail.com or www.trenitalia.com.  On arrival at Naples Centrale, follow the signs to Circumvesuviana, these will take you downstairs to the adjacent Circumvesuviana station, which has its own ticket office.  Buy a ticket to Ercolano, Pompeii Scavi or Sorrento, go through the automatic ticket gates onto the platform and hop on the next train.

• Trains run to Herculaneum (Ercolano), Pompeii and Sorrento every 30 minutes throughout the day, no reservation is necessary or possible.  Outside the weekday rush hours the trains are not crowded, there are plenty of seats and it's very easy to use.  Luggage goes on the racks or just on the floor, no problem.  This handy video shows you what to expect.

• Naples to Pompeii costs around €3.20 one-way, journey around 40 minutes. 

• Naples to Sorrento costs around €4.50 one-way, journey 55-65 minutes.

• To visit the summit of Vesuvius, two morning buses run from Naples or a more regular bus service runs from Pompeii, both run by EAVBUS, see www.eavbus.it (Italian only) or (more usefully) www.unicocampania.it, click English top right and look for 'Vesuvio Fares' under 'Tourist Info'.

• Day trip to Pompeii?  Easy to arrange a trip to Pompeii yourself by train, see the guide here.

	The SNAV fast ferry from Capri to Naples.

How to reach Capri...

• Buy a mainline ticket from Venice, Florence, Rome or wherever to Naples Centrale at www.italiarail.com or www.trenitalia.com. 

• The island of Capri is just off Sorrento.  You have two options:  You can take a direct ferry from Naples to Capri, journey time around 45 minutes, fare €20.10, or you can take the Circumvesuviana Railway to Sorrento (55-65 minutes) then a shorter ferry crossing to Capri (around 25 minutes, fare €18.10).

• If you choose the ferry from Naples, take a taxi (5-10 minutes) or walk (about 25 minutes) from Naples Centrale to Naples Beverello ferry quay.  Fast ferries taking just 45 minutes link Naples Berevello with Capri every hour or two between 07:00 & 18:00, see www.snav.it for times & fares.  The ferry fare is about €20.10 plus a euro or two per item of large luggage.  You don't need to pre-book the ferry, just turn up, buy a ticket and hop on.  Map of Naples showing station & ferry terminals.

• If you choose to take the local Circumvesuviana Railway to Sorrento, there are many ferries to Capri, no pre-booking necessary.  Just be aware that it's a longish steep walk from Sorrento Circumvesuviana station down the hill to the ferry terminal.

• Ferries from both Naples & Sorrento arrive at Capri's busy Marina Grande, there's a funicular railway up the steep hillside to Capri town itself. Bring plenty of money to Capri, even a small beer costs over €7!

How to reach Ischia...

• Ferries link Naples with Porto Ischia, see either www.caremar.it (sailings every hour or two, crossing time 45 minutes fast ferry or 90 mins conventional ferry) or www.alilauro.it.

	SITA bus on the narrow coast road between Amalfi and Sorrento...

How to reach Amalfi, Positano, Praiano...

• There's no railway to these towns on the famous Amalfi Coast, but buses run Sorrento-Positano-Praiano-Amalfi and other buses run Salerno-Amalfi.  So you can either buy a mainline train ticket to Naples and hop on the Circumvesuviana Railway to Sorrento as above, then take a bus to Positano, Praiano & Amalfi.  Or you can buy a mainline ticket to Salerno, then hop on a bus or ferry to Amalfi.  The Salerno option is the quickest for Amalfi.  Direct high-speed trains run from Milan, Florence and Rome to Salerno.

• Buses between Salerno & Amalfi run hourly or better between 06:00 & 22:30 on Mondays-Saturdays, slightly less frequently on Sundays, journey time 1 hour 15 minutes, fare about €2.20 one-way, you simply buy a ticket on the bus.  The buses are operated by SITA, to check bus times see www.sitasudtrasporti.it (in Italian only, click 'Orari' then 'Campania').  To check fares, you'll need to use public transport site www.unicocampania.it, click English top right then 'Fares & Tickets'.

• Alternatively, you can take a ferry from Salerno to Amalfi or Positano.  See www.coopsantandrea.com for a timetable of small coastal ferries from Salerno (Concordia dock, 800m from Salerno railway station) to Amalfi and Positano.  At the time of writing, they had departures from Salerno at 08:40, 09:40, 10:40, 11:40, 14:10 and 15:30, journey time to Amalfi just 35 minutes, but check their website for current timings.  This is a good option in summer when the narrow coast road is clogged with traffic.

• For buses linking Sorrento with Positano, Praiano & Amalfi, see www.sitasudtrasporti.it (in Italian only, click 'Orari' then 'Campania').  Sorrento-Amalfi takes 1 hour 40 minutes, buses run hourly or at certain times half-hourly 06:30 to 22:00, and the fare is around €2.90.  The journey along the coast road is dramatic, the bus hugging the cliff and it rear end swinging out precariously at every hairpin bend!

• Private transfer from Naples Centrale station to Praiano, Positano or Amalfi hotels?  If cost is no object, a private car transfer from Naples Centrale railway station to Positano or Praiano costs around €95 one-way for up to 3 people, or around €110 to Amalfi.  Try www.amalfishuttle.com or www.positanoshuttle.com (same people - click 'transfer' at the top).  I have not had any reports about them yet, so feedback would be appreciated.  They will also do transfers from Sorrento Circumvesuviana station, which reduces the cost.

	The bus from Rimini to San Marino.

How to reach Elba...

• Travel by train to Piombino Marittima.  Moby Lines (www.mobylines.com) sail every hour or so from Piombino to Portoferraio on Elba, crossing time 1 hour, foot passengers €7 one-way.

How to reach San Marino...

• San Marino has no rail station, but can easily be reached by bus from Rimini.  Buses leave from outside Rimini railway station every hour or so between 08:10 and 19:25 in winter, between 06:45 and 20:30 in summer, less frequently on winter Sundays, journey time 50 minutes, fare around €5.00 one-way.  You can check bus times and fares at the bus company website, www.bonellibus.it (in Italian only).

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Airport train connections

Milan Malpensa airport...

• There are regional trains from Milan Malpensa airport to Milan Centrale every 30 minutes, journey time 52 minutes, fare around €12, no reservation necessary or possible, just buy a ticket at the station and hop on the next train.

  Change at Milan Centrale for high-speed Frecciarossa & Frecciabianca trains to Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples or anywhere else in Italy.  You can check times & fares at www.italiarail.com or www.trenitalia.com.  Reservation is required for Italian long-distance & high-speed trains, make sure you read the tips below.

Rome Fiumicino airport...

• Leonardo Express trains run from Rome Fiumicino airport to Rome Termini in the city centre every 30 minutes, journey time 32 minutes, fare around €14, no reservation necessary or possible, just buy a ticket at the station and hop on the next train.

  Change at Rome Termini for high-speed Frecciarossa & Frecciargento trains to Venice, Florence, Naples or anywhere else in Italy - indeed, there's even a very occasional direct high-speed train from Rome Fiumicino Airport to Florence & Venice.   You can check times & fares at www.italiarail.com or www.trenitalia.com - Reservation is required for Italian long-distance & high-speed trains, make sure you read the tips below.

Pisa airport...

• A people-mover (driverless train) shuttles passengers from Pisa airport to Pisa Centrale in the city centre in just 8 minutes.  Change at Pisa Centrale for hourly regional trains to Florence, and regular regional, Intercity or Frecciabianca trains to Rome, La Spezia and Monterosso in Cinque Terre.  You can check times & fares at www.trenitalia.com selecting Pisa fermata Aeroporto for Pisa airport station - but read the tips below.

Tips for buying plane-to-train tickets... 

• The regional trains from Malpensa into Milan, from Fiumicino into Rome or from Pisa to Florence are no problem - you can turn up, buy a ticket at the station & hop on the next train.  No reservation is possible and no pre-booking necessary.  They cannot sell out.

• But if you intend to catch an onward high-speed train from Milan or Rome to (let's say) Florence, Naples or Venice, remember that Italian high-speed trains require reservation and tickets are only valid on the specific train you book.

• Cheap advance-purchase economy or super-economy tickets become worthless if your flight is late and you miss your train.  Even a flexible 'base' ticket becomes worthless one hour after departure if you can't get to a Trenitalia ticket counter to change the reservation to a later train.

• So when arriving by air at Malpensa or Fiumicino and going to Florence, Naples, Venice and the like, you must choose one of two strategies:

  Option 1, prioritise your budget:  The money-saving option is to buy a cheap Super-Economy fare and commit to a specific train in advance at www.italiarail.com or www.trenitalia.com, but allowing a hefty 3-4 hours between flight arrival and train, to allow for any flight delays or long lines at immigration.

  Option 2, prioritise your time:  The time-saving option is to just buy a ticket at the base price when you get to the airport station.  Then you can buy a ticket for the first train leaving after you have landed, collected your bags and are ready to go.  I know this goes against the grain for overseas visitors desperate to reserve every Starbucks cappuccino 6 months ahead, but unless it's Christmas Eve or the like, you'll always find places available even right before departure as there are so many seats on so many trains, this shouldn't be a concern.  You can check what the base fare is by running an enquiry on www.italiarail.com, clicking on a train then clicking the button marked '+ show flexible fares'.  The flexible fare is what you pay at the station on the day.

  A compromise option?   You may find it cheaper to book cheap advance-purchase tickets on two trains - the train you should easily make if your flight is on time and a back-up train an hour or two later - than to pay the base fare for one train as in the time-saving option above.  Or book one train that you should normally easily be able to make, then just accept that if the plane is significantly late, you'll have to buy another ticket at the base fare.

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How to use Trenitalia.com...

	Video tutorial... Watch me book a simple Florence to Rome train ticket on Trenitalia.com.  (Feedback appreciated, it's the first such video I have made.  Did it help?)
	Troubleshooting:  The usual mistakes with Trenitalia.com... 1. No trains appear in the search results or only 1 or 2 trains at odd times of day.  Reason:  Data isn't fully loaded yet for that date, either because you're looking at a date more than 120 days ahead, or at a date after the twice-annual timetable change, on the 2nd Sunday in June and the 2nd Sunday in December, when they are always late loading the data and the 120 days often slips to 60 day or even less. Solution:  Wait till bookings open! 2. "The travel solution has at least a segment not purchasable."   Reason:  All or part of your journey is on a regional train.  Tickets for regional trains can only be bought 7 days or less ahead, and fares only show up for dates in the next 7 days. Solution:  If your whole journey is on a regional train, for example Pisa to Florence, you can see how much it costs by re-running the enquiry for a date within the next 7 days.  The price is fixed and doesn't change.  Then simply buy at the station on the day, or if you like buy online less less than 7 days before departure. If only part of the journey is on a regional train and the other part on a long-distance train (for example Rome to Siena), split the booking and just book the long-distance part (in this case Rome to Florence) on which reservation is compulsory and cheap fares are available if you pre-book, then simply buy the regional part (in this case Florence to Siena) at the station, no reservation necessary or even possible. 3. Problem:  It says my arrival and/or departure station is invalid.  On Trenitalia.com you now need to use the Italian place name, such as 'Roma Termini' for Rome, 'Milano Centrale' for Milan, 'Venezia S. Lucia' for Venice, 'Firenze' for Florence. 4. Problem:  I want a sleeper and it says 'Double seat compartment'.  This is just a poor translation, this does in fact mean a 2-bed sleeper! 5. Problem:  Pompeii or Sorrento not shown.  That's because you need to travel to Naples Centrale with Trenitalia, then switch to a local private railway, the Circumvesuviana, www.eavsrl.it. 6. Problem:  I have to register but haven't got an Italian address.  No, you don't need to register, you just need to change the default Registered User to Non Registered User, then you can buy without registering. Further problem:  There isn't a 'Non Registered User' option!  Reason:  Part of the journey is on a Regional train.  Solution:  Either just book the high-speed part of the journey and leave the regional ticket until you get to Italy, or simply try www.italiarail.com instead as it doesn't have this problem.

The Italian Railways website www.trenitalia.com is well worth getting to know.  It can sell:

• Domestic Italian train tickets for any train journey within Italy, including couchettes & sleepers on overnight trains, at cheap prices with no booking fee.

• International train tickets for most direct international trains starting in Italy heading for for Paris, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Slovenia, including couchettes & sleepers on overnight trains, again with cheap tickets if you pre-book.  Remember that ticket collection is only possible at stations in Italy!

Trenitalia.com used to be notorious for not accepting non-Italian credit cards.  But after a new payment system was introduced in November 2010, it now happily accepts almost all foreign credit cards.

You can use Italiarail.com instead...  You may find www.italiarail.com easier to use than trenitalia.com for sleeper trains, international trains and passholder reservations.  ItaliaRail is an agency who connects directly to the Trenitalia ticketing system to sell the same trains at the same prices as Trenitalia, but in plain English using English-language place names.  They charge a booking fee of around €3.50, but this will be refunded if you send them an email at seat61@italiarail.com after you book.

How to use www.trenitalia.com

• Go to www.trenitalia.com and click the UK flag top right for English.

• Booking usually opens 120 days before departure.  Looking too far ahead is the most common mistake made by overseas visitors planning a big trip many months ahead.  Europeans tend to book train travel only days or weeks ahead, not months, but of course the further ahead you can book the cheaper it can be.

• Booking may open only 30-60 days ahead for travel immediately after the two annual timetable changes, on the 2nd Sunday in June and 2nd Sunday in December.  Trenitalia is always late loading the data for a new timetable period, especially for regional, InterCity and international trains.  For example, I'm often asked in early May why Trenitalia seems to have cancelled all Venice-Trieste trains in late June.  Of course they haven't, they've simply not got around to loading all the data for dates after the mid-June timetable change so no trains are shown!

• You need to use Italian-language place names.  Firenze for Florence, Roma for Rome, Milano for Milan, Venezia for Venice, Torino for Turin, Napoli for Naples.

• Tutti le Stazione means all the stations in that city, so simply select this if you don't know which station is best.  But for the record you want Venezia Santa Lucia for central Venice, Firenze SMN for central Florence, Roma Termini is best for central Rome and Centrale (obviously) in most other cities.  Remember that Sorrento isn't on the mainline network, you book to/from Naples.

• You can book up to 5 adults at a time.  More than this, and you'll either need to split the booking and make creative use of the choose exact seat feature so you all sit together, or book at www.italiarail.com which can book up to 20 people at a time.

• Infants under 4 go free on all trains, no ticket required, just bring them along.

• Children means anyone under 14 on national trains (= Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca, InterCity, ICN), but only under-12s qualify for child fares on regional trains.  If you are taking a 12 or 13-year-old on a part-Frecciarossa, part-regional journey, split the booking.

• Choosing your fare...

  Base is the fully-flexible fare, what you'd pay at the station on the day.  Refundable, only valid on the train booked but can be changed before departure, or at the station up to an hour after departure. 

  Economy & Super-Economy are Trenitalia's cheap advance-purchase fares, only valid on the train booked, limited refunds & changes, limited availability, these are the fares you want for cheap travel, if you are certain what time train you want.

  Cartafreccia Special fares can only be bought if you have a Cartafreccia card, which you probably haven't.

  Ordinaria is the regular fare for regional trains.  It's fixed-price, you can buy at that price even on the day.  Fares only appear if you look 7 days or less ahead.  In theory this fare is valid on any train but if you buy online rather than at the station it's pre-validated and only valid for 4 hours from the time of the train you book.  Online regional tickets are non-refundable.  You may as well buy at the station which leaves your options open.

  Smart & Smart2 are cheap advance-purchase fares for international journeys, feel free to select those.  No refunds or changes, specific train only, limited availability, must be bought at least a week before departure.

• To make Eurail or InterRail passholder reservations simply run an enquiry and choose a train in the search results by clicking on the fares from....  Now look for an easy-to-miss dark grey button below the list of prices labelled View other offers.  Click this and on the next page change the drop-down box in the Offer column to Global pass.  You'll see the price change to the passholder reservation fee, usually €10 for a high-speed train or €3 for an InterCity, more for a couchette or sleeper.  This sort of shenanigan is why I suggest using www.italiarail.com for these, as it makes booking passholder reservations easier.

• It doesn't translate sleeper & couchette types into English... 

  Posto Doppio - Compart. Intero = books a whole private 2-bed sleeper for 2 people.  If there's 2 of you, this is what you select for both passengers.

  Posto Doppio - Uomo = reserves a bed or beds in a shared 2-bed sleepers, male-only compartments.

  Posto Doppio - Donna = reserves a bed or beds in a shared 2-bed sleepers, ladies-only compartments.

  Posto Singolo = single-bed sleeper, books one private compartment for one person.

  Cuccette C4 Comfort-Promiscuo = bunk in shared 4-berth Comfort couchettes, normal mixed sex compartment.

  Cuccette C4 Comfort - Donna = bunk in shared 4-berth Comfort couchettes, in special ladies-only compartment.

  Cuccette C4 Comfort-Compart. Intero = whole 4-berth Comfort couchette compartment (must have 4 passengers selected).

  Compartimento 3 Letti - Uomo = bed in shared 3-bed sleeper, male-only compartment.

  Compartimento 3 Letti - Donna = bed in shared 3-bed sleeper, ladies-only compartment.

  Compartimento 3 Letti - Intero = 3-bed sleeper, whole compartment (need to have pre-selected 3 passengers).

  To book 2 people together in a 2-bed sleeper you'd select Posto Doppio - Compart. Intero for both passengers.

  On some international routes they use slightly different sleeper terminology:

  Cabina A3 = 3-berth.  Cabina A2 = 2-berth.  Gran classe = deluxe with shower & toilet.

  But again, Uomo means male, donna means female, intera means you want to book a whole compartment.

  You'll see your berth numbers before payment stage, but before you panic that you're not together in the same compartment, remember berth numbers are not consecutive, so for example 21 & 25 are indeed together in the same compartment, with 22 & 26 next door, see how sleeper & couchette berths are numbered on the sleeper & couchettes page.  See the description of Italian couchette and sleeper types above for more information.

• I recommend changing default Automatic assignment to Select seat.  Select seat will be an option if you're booking a Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca or InterCity trains.  You'll then be able to pick specific seats from a numbered plan.  It should be obvious, but the grey rectangles separating some seats are the tables between seats which face each other, see the screenshot here.  You cannot tell which seats face forwards or backwards (indeed, some trains change direction en route, for example Rome-Venice trains reverse at Florence) but in any case if there are two or more of you I recommend seats facing each other across a table as the most natural and convivial way to travel, and you both then get a window seat.

• Select Go on without log in to buy without registering.  You can only register if you have an Italian address, which you probably don't have.  No problem, simply buy without registering or logging on.  You can still retrieve your booking later if you need to, without being registered.

  

• Some people report an error message about incorrectly entered data if they fill in more than names in the 'Passengers' section.  The error went away if they filled in just the names of the passengers, leaving email and phone number fields in the passengers section blank, but completing the name, email and contact number field in the 'Contact-Buyer-Required' section.  I cannot replicate this error, so feedback would be appreciated!

• How are tickets delivered?  On most Italian domestic trains (but not international ones, except for the Thello sleeper trains to or from Paris) you can select the ticketless option, which means you can simply get on the train and quote your booking reference to the conductor when he comes down the train.  Easy!  Alternatively, the 'self service' option means that tickets can easily be picked up from the self-service machines at all main Italian stations, you simply enter your name and booking reference and out come the tickets.  Or they can be picked up from the ticket office at any main Italian station.  Note:  You won't be offered the 'ticketless' option if any part of your journey is on a regional train, so in this case you can split the booking and book the long distance train separately.

• Don't buy international tickets starting in Germany or Austria using Trenitalia.com!!!!  It's OK to book Thello tickets starting in Paris or Dijon or Nice as these are Trenitalia-run trains which are ticketless, and as of April 2015 direct Swiss-Italian trains are also now (at long last!) ticketless.  But most other international tickets booked at Trenitalia.com need to be collected at an Italian station or posted to an Italian address, they cannot be collected at any station outside Italy!!!  So even though Trenitalia will happily sell you a ticket from Vienna to Venice, you can't pick up the tickets in Vienna because (do I really have to spell it out?) Vienna is in Austria and has no Trenitalia staff or ticket machines.  And no, they won't accept the booking printout as a ticket on the train, and no, Austrian Railways staff cannot access a Trenitalia booking and cannot help you!  So you will have wasted you money and will need to buy another ticket.  So don't use trenitalia.com for international journeys heading into Italy, unless it's a Thello sleeper train from Paris or one from Switzerland, or you'll be visiting Italy beforehand, or have an Italian address to which tickets can be sent.  Incidentally, www.italiarail.com can be used for journeys starting outside Italy, but there's a €25 courier fee.  You'll usually find it cheaper to book journeys to Italy starting in Austria or Germany at the relevant Austrian or German railway websites.

• You can book up to 4 journeys as one transaction.  Even credit cards that work can fail to work if used for a second transaction, so book all your trips together (up to a maximum of 4 journeys), by adding each ticket to your basket and paying for them all together.

• Time limit:  You must complete your booking(s) within a rather annoying time limit, about 15 minutes, otherwise the reservations are dropped and you have to start again.  Especially annoying if you are trying to book 4 journeys!

• Passenger names:  Don't worry, unlike airlines, Trenitalia doesn't need passenger names for anyone except the person booking, unless it specifically asks for every passengers' name.  So if it didn't ask, and there's only one name on the booking, that's not a problem.

• Don't worry if your seat numbers aren't consecutive!  The system does normally book all of the passengers on one booking in seats next to each other!  For example, seats 62 & 68 in a 2nd class car on a Frecciarossa are in fact side by side! And in a 2-bed sleeper, berths 21 & 25 are in the same compartment, with 22 & 26 in the compartment next door!  For seat numbering plans for Italian trains, see the train seating plans page.

• Payment problems?  If your card doesn't work, it may be your bank blocking the transaction as possible fraud because it's a 'foreign' transaction.  Call your bank and ask them to unblock Trenitalia.com for you.  In fact, it can be a good idea to call you bank before using Trenitalia.com.  If Trenitalia.com really won't accept any of your credit cards, buy your Italian train tickets from www.italiarail.com instead.

• Other problems?  If you get stuck, you can contact Trenitalia's web team at areaclienti@trenitalia.it to unfreeze frozen accounts and so forth.  They can handle emails in English.  Or you can call Trenitalia telesales on +11 39 06 6847 5475.

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Self-service ticket machines...

How to use Trenitalia self-service ticket machines at stations...

It's easy to buy tickets at the station, or to make reservations to go with a railpass, using the self-service ticket machines at all main Italian stations, as long as you have a credit card with a PIN (4-digit personal identification number).  They have an English language facility, and it's faster and easier than using the ticket office!  The machines are pretty self-explanatory, but to give you confidence and so you know what to expect, here's how to use them.

Incidentally, you'll sometimes find annoying types who hang around offering to 'help' foreigners, just be healthily suspicious of them and refuse all help, you don't need it as the machines are self-explanatory and you certainly don't need anyone near your wallet or pockets while you are distracted.  Italian stations are perfectly safe (I've spent literally hours hanging round them out of professional interest, without any problem whatsoever), but it pays to be streetwise!

There are self-service machines at all main Italian stations, and it's quicker & easier than using the ticket office.  Touch the UK flag on the bottom of the touch-screen for English...

To buy a ticket....

To buy a ticket, touch 'BUY YOUR TICKET'...  You can also collect pre-booked tickets or change an existing booking, if the ticket type allows changes.		Select a destination...  By default, the origin is the station you're at, but you can modify this to buy a ticket for any route in Italy.

Choose a departure from the timetable list...  The system defaults to the immediate departures at the current time, but you can change this to book for later today, tomorrow, whenever...		Choose a class & price, and buy.  Touch Promo to see if there are cheaper fares, but for immediate departure it'll only be the standard Base fare (for mainline trains) or Ordinaria for regional trains.  You probably haven't got a Cartafreccia card, so ignore these fares.

Children under 4 go free with no ticket needed, children under 12 can use a child rate ticket on regional trains, children under 14 can use a child ticket on Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca, InterCity & InterCity Notte mainline trains.

To make a reservation to go with a railpass...

To make a reservation to go with a Eurail or InterRail pass, touch 'BUY YOUR TICKET - FRECCIA CARD HOLDERS, SPECIAL DISCOUNTS, GLOBAL PASS'.		Enter your railpass number...  Then go through the timetable screens to select a departure and buy a reservation.  Easy!

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Guidebooks

Paying for a guidebook may seem an unnecessary expense, but it's only a fraction of what you spend on the whole trip.  If you have a decent guidebook, you see so much more and know so much more about what you're looking at.  I think the Lonely Planets or Rough Guides are the best ones out there for the independent traveller.

Click the images to buy at Amazon.co.uk...

...Or buy in the USA from Amazon.com.

Alternatively, you can download just the chapters or areas you need in .PDF format from the Lonely Planet Website, from around £2.99 or US$4.95 a chapter.

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European Rail Timetable & maps

The European Rail Timetable (formerly the Thomas Cook European Timetable) has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency & climate information.  It is essential for regular European train travellers and an inspiration for armchair travellers.  Published since 1873, it had just celebrated 140 years of publication when Thomas Cook decided to pull the plug on their entire publishing department, but the dedicated ex-Thomas Cook team have set up a private venture and published the first edition of a reborn European Rail Timetable in March 2014.  You can buy it online with worldwide shipping at either www.stanfords.co.uk or www.europeanrailtimetable.eu.  More information on what the European Rail Timetable contains.

A Traveller's Railway Map of Europe covers the whole of Europe from Portugal in the west to Moscow & Istanbul in the east, Finland in the north to Sicily & Athens in the south.  On the back are detailed maps of Switzerland, Benelux & Germany, plus city plans showing stations in major cities.  Scenic & high-speed routes highlighted.  Buy it online for £14.50 + postage worldwide (UK addresses £2.80) at www.stanfords.co.uk/Continents/Europe-A-Travellers-Railway-Map_9789077899090.htm or (in the Netherlands) for €13 + €5.50 postage from www.treinreiswinkel.nl.

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Hotels in Italy

Search all the booking sites at once with Hotelscombined.com...

		◄◄ Hotel search & price comparison.
		www.hotelscombined.com checks all the main hotel booking sites at once to find the widest choice of hotels & the cheapest seller.  It has been named as the World's Leading Hotel Comparison Site in the World Travel Awards and I highly recommend it, both to find hotels in even the smallest places and to check that another retailer isn't selling the same hotel at a cheaper rate. ►► My recommended booking site:  www.booking.com www.booking.com is my favourite hotel booking site, and unless HotelsCombined throws up major price differences I prefer doing my bookings in one place here.  You can usually book with free cancellation - this allows you to confirm your accommodation at no risk before train booking opens.  It also means you can hold accommodation while you finalise your itinerary, and alter your plans as they evolve - a great feature I use all the time when putting a trip together.

Tripadvisor hotel reviews...

www.tripadvisor.com is a good place to find independent travellers' reviews of the main hotels.  It also has the low-down on all the sights & attractions too.

Backpacker hostels...

www.hostelworld.com:  If you're on a tight budget, don't forget the backpacker hostels.  Hostelworld has online booking of cheap private rooms or dorm beds in backpacker hostels in most Italian cities and elsewhere in Europe, at rock-bottom prices.

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City Tours by Open Top Bus

Buy a ticket for the hop-on, hop-off Open Top Bus...

City Sightseeing's red-and-yellow open top tour buses are now a familiar site in 100 major cities on 6 continents.  They do a hop-on, hop-off tour bus ticket for Rome, Florence, Pisa, Naples, Milan, Verona, Sorrento, Turin, Palermo, Genoa, Livorno & Messina.  I find their bus tours a good way to orientate yourself in a city, returning to explore in more depth later.  It's also less wearing on the feet, especially with kids!

Buy your tour tickets online before you go, redeemable on any day you like within 3 months of buying it, see www.city-sightseeing.com.

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Car hire

In Italy, cars and city centres don't mix, so for a city-based tour, stick with the train.  But if you want to get out of the cities and into the countryside, for example Tuscany or the Amalfi Coast, hiring a car can be a good idea.  For an inexpensive hire with a reputable operator, try Holiday Autos.

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Travel insurance & health card

Take out decent travel insurance, it's essential...

Never travel without proper travel insurance from a reliable insurer with at least £1m or preferably £5m medical cover.  It should also cover loss of cash & belongings (up to a limit), and trip cancellation.  An annual multi-trip policy is usually cheapest even for just 2 or 3 trips a year - I have an annual policy myself.  However, don't expect travel insurance to bail you out of every missed connection, see the advice on missed connections here.  Here are some suggested insurers, Seat61 gets a little commission if you buy through these links, and feedback from using insurance for rail & ferry travel is always welcome.

In the UK, use www.confused.com to compare prices & policy features across major insurance companies.

If you have a pre-existing medical condition or are over 65, see www.JustTravelCover.com - 10% discount with code seat61.

        If you live in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland or the EU, try Columbus Direct's other websites.

  If you live in the USA try Travel Guard USA.

Get an EU health card, it's free...

If you're a UK citizen travelling in Europe, you should apply for a free European Health Insurance Card, which entitles you to free or reduced rate health care if you become ill or get injured in many European countries, under a reciprocal arrangement with the NHS.  This replaced the old E111 forms as from January 2006.  The EHIC card is available from ww.nhs.uk.  It doesn't remove the need for travel insurance, though.

Carry a spare credit card, designed for travel with no currency exchange loading & low/no ATM fees

Taking out an extra credit card costs nothing, but if you keep it in a different part of your luggage you won't be left stranded if your wallet gets stolen.  In addition, some credit cards are better for overseas travel than others.  Martin Lewis's www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-travel-money explains which UK credit cards have the lowest currency exchange commission loadings when you buy something overseas, and the lowest cash withdrawal fees when you use an ATM abroad.

 

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