These new Frecciarossa 1000 trains are now running on the Milan-Florence-Rome-Naples route...
	Buy tickets for trains in Italy from €9.90/€19.90/€29.90 from www.italiarail.com who connect directly to the Trenitalia ticketing system.   You can also buy in €, £ or $ at www.raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com.   For buying international train tickets from Italy, see the advice here.   Booking usually opens up to 4 months days ahead for most long-distance trains in Italy, except when the mid-June & mid-December timetable changes intervene. But it varies!  If you don't see the trains you expect to see, assume booking isn't open!   Works for anyone:  All international credit cards accepted, and you either just quote your booking reference on board the train or collect tickets from the self-service machines at all main Italian stations.   No booking fee!  ItaliaRail's €3.50 booking fee will be refunded if you email them at seat61@italiarail.com.   Airports:  You can buy tickets from Rome Fiumicino, Milan Malpensa or Pisa airports to anywhere in Italy.   Pompeii & Sorrento are not on the mainline network, so buy a ticket to Naples Centrale then buy a ticket locally for the Circumvesuviana Railway, www.eavsrl.it.   Alternatively, you can buy tickets from Trenitalia, but see the advice here.   See recommended hotels in Venice, Florence, Rome etc. conveniently located for arrival by train.

Ride the trains in Italy from €9.90

There's no better way to see the cities of Italy than by train, trains link just about every town or city of any size, centre to centre.  Driving & parking in Italian cities is a nightmare and the high-speed trains are now faster, more convenient & more relaxing than flying - Between 2008 & 2018, the airlines' share of the Milan-Rome market dropped from 50% to just 14%, for example.  Rome to Florence 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.  No 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.

About train travel within Italy

  How to check train schedules & fares

  How to buy tickets

  Maps of the Italian rail network

  Railpasses for Italy - Interrail & Eurail

  Railpasses for Italy - Trenitalia Pass

  What are Italian trains like?

  Frecciarossa, Frecciargento & Frecciabianca,

  InterCity, sleeper trains & Italo

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

  Luggage on Italian trains

  Which station to use in which city?

  Luggage storage at stations in Italy

  How to use the Italian Railways website

  How to use self-service ticket machines

  Holidays, vacations & tours in Italy by train

  Hotels in Italy convenient for arrival by train

How to reach specific places

  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 Lake Como

  How to reach Lake Garda

  How to reach San Marino

  How to reach Sardinia & trains in Sardinia

  Airport links: Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino, Pisa

Station guides

  Milan Centrale station guide

  Turin Porta Susa & Porta Nuova stations guide

  Verona Porta Nuova station guide

  Venice Santa Lucia station guide

  Florence SMN station guide

  Rome Termini station guide

  Naples Centrale station guide

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...

  Useful country information - currency, dial code...

  Hotels in Italy

  How to use a Eurail pass - for overseas visitors

  How to use an Interrail pass - for European residents

  An introduction to European train travel

  Nice, Cannes & Monaco to Italy by train

  TGV high-speed trains from Paris to Italy

Useful country information

How to check 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 arrive in Rome on a sleek, high-speed Frecciarossa train...
	The main concourse at Florence's classic SMN station.  The station is walking distance from the famous Duomo or even the Ponte Vecchio...

You can check train times and fares for trains in Italy at the Trenitalia (Italian Railways) website, or at one of the third-party retailer websites which connect to Trenitalia:

• www.trenitalia.com is Trenitalia's own website which gives 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 (= all stations) if you don't know which station to choose.

  It accepts overseas credit cards but has a few quirks, so you'll find tips on using Trenitalia.com further down this page.  You may find www.italiarail.com easier to use.

• www.italiarail.com is easier to use, in plain English using English-language place names.  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$.

  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.

  www.italiarail.com now allows you to choose a seat from a seat map on high-speed & intercity trains.

  In principle, www.italiarail.com accesses the same prices as Trenitalia, but 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 doesn't do this, 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.thetrainline.com & www.raileurope.com are European train booking sites which also connect to Trenitalia to sell Italian train tickets in €, £ or $.  They're also in plain English and also use familiar English place names.  However, they add a small booking fee.

  These sites have two key advantages:  They connect to Italo ticketing system so can compare Trenitalia and Italo prices in the same search, and they connect to the French, Swiss, German, Austrian, Spanish ticketing systems so can book international journeys combining Trenitalia or Italo trains with French, Swiss, German or Austrian trains, for example Venice to Nice, Florence to Salzburg or Rome to Barcelona.

• The Italian 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 in Italy, 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 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. Trenitalia ditched the old 'one size fits all' approach to pricing in 2009 and introduced cheap advance-purchase fares whilst increasing the fully-flexible base price.  So on the day of departure you'd pay the 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!

Buy train tickets online:  ItaliaRail.com, www.thetrainline.com, www.trenitalia.com

• Booking usually opens 4 months ahead for most high-speed & long-distance trains.  But this varies, and it can shrink to as little as 30 days for dates immediately after the annual Europe-wide timetable change on the 2nd Saturday in December.

  Trenitalia loads trains in blocks, usually high-speed trains first and regional, InterCity & sleeper trains much later, sometimes the other way round.  And sometimes they load afternoon trains first and morning trains later.  So if you don't see the normal all-day train service you'd expect to see, afternoon trains but no morning trains, regional & IC trains but no high-speed Frecce trains, don't assume they've mysteriously cancelled all the trains, just assume they haven't loaded all the trains yet and wait a bit.

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

  ItaliaRail are a long-established online agency who link directly to Trenitalia's ticketing system.

  1.  Italiarail books exactly the same trains as Trenitalia's own website, but in plain English with none of Trenitalia's quirky translations.  You can use familiar English place-names such as Venice or Florence.

  2.  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.

  3.  You can choose an exact seat from a graphic seating plan to make sure you're all sitting together.  A face to face table for two is ideal for couples in 1st class, a table for four is ideal for families in 1st or 2nd class.  I recommend avoiding cars 1 & 8 on Frecciarossa trains as Trenitalia have a habit of covering these end cars in advertising vinyls, including the windows which prevents passengers seeing out.

  4.  just like Trenitalia.com, high-speed & intercity trains are ticketless so you simply print out your booking reference or show it on your phone.  For regional trains you usually print your own ticket, or in some cases you collect tickets from the self-service machines at any main Trenitalia station.

  5.  Italiarail can be cheaper than Trenitalia for 2 or more people travelling together as it is capable of combining (for example) the last remaining €19.90 ticket with a ticket at the next price level up, say €29.90.  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.

  Italiarail charge a €3.50 booking 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.thetrainline.com or www.raileurope.com for those.

• Option 2, buy at www.thetrainline.com:  Thetrainline also connects to Trenitalia's system to sell Trenitalia tickets in plain English at the same prices as Trenitalia, in €, £ or ¢, overseas credit cards no problem, small booking fee.  www.thetrainline.com also links to the French, Swiss, German, Spanish, Austrian & Italo rail ticketing systems so you can book train tickets across much of western Europe together in the same place.  When you buy Trenitalia tickets from www.thetrainline.com, high-speed & intercity trains are ticketless so you simply print out your booking reference or show it on your phone, for regional trains you usually print your own ticket, or in some cases you collect tickets from the self-service machines at any main Trenitalia station.  Who are Thetrainline.com?

• Option 3, buy at www.raileurope.com:  You can also buy Italian train tickets at www.raileurope.com, also in plain English with prices in €, £ or $, small booking fee.  It also connects to the French, German, Austrian, Spanish, British & Italo ticketing systems (but not the Swiss) so can sell train tickets for much of western Europe all in one place.  Again, high-speed & intercity trains are ticketless so you simply print out your booking reference or show it on your phone, for regional trains you usually print your own ticket or collect tickets from the self-service machines at any main Trenitalia station.  Who are Raileurope.com?

• Option 4, buy at www.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 Italian high-speed & intercity trains they have a ticketless system where you book online and simply print out your booking reference or show it on your phone, other tickets can be printed or 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.  For 2 or more people travelling together, you may find Italiarail cheaper, see option 1 above.

Buying international train tickets from Italy

• www.italiarail.com, www.raileurope.com, www.thetrainline.com & www.trenitalia.com all sell international tickets from Italy, but I recommend using either www.italiarail.com (in €, £ or $) or www.raileurope.com or www.thetrainline.com as they're easier to use than Trenitalia.com - Raileurope.com & Trainline charge a small booking fee, Italiarail charges a €3.50 fee but they'll refund this if you email them at seat61@italiarail.com.

  Here are some important tips:  You can book journeys between Italy & Austria in either direction with print-your-own tickets at www.thetrainline.com (easiest), which links to the Austrian Railways ticketing system, or at Austrian Railways' own site www.oebb.at (a little more fiddly).

  (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 or France and Italy, 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.

  (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.thetrainline.com, www.raileurope.com or www.sncf-connect.com.  www.raileurope.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, www.thetrainline.com or www.oebb.at with any connections within Italy booked at www.thetrainline.com or 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 as 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 €8 for the local train between Nice & Ventimiglia at the station, no reservation necessary for these.  Or use www.thetrainline.com which can book both tickets, see the Nice-Italy by train page for more information.

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

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 significantly cheaper booked in advance, just like flights.  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 to buy at the station on the day, 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.  Nor do regional tickets, if bought online, as they are already pre-validated for a set 4-hour period.

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.thetrainline.com & www.raileurope.com sell both Trenitalia and Italo, so show times & fares for both operators.

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Railpasses for Italy

Interrail & Eurail passes

• You can buy an Interrail pass (if you live in Europe, including the UK) or Eurail pass (if you live outside Europe) giving unlimited travel on all Trenitalia trains all over Italy.  An Interrail/Eurail global pass covers most of Europe including Italy, or you can buy a cheaper one-country pass just covering Italy.  These cover all Trenitalia trains, high-speed, intercity, sleeper trains and regional.

• The first thing you learn is that passholders must make a €10 reservation for all high-speed & intercity trains in Italy, on top of the cost of the pass.  This must be factored into the cost of a pass when comparing with the cost of point-to-point tickets.  All point-to-point prices include a reservation.

• You must then realise that there are two types of point-to-point fare:  Cheap advance-purchase fares and the more expensive fully-flexible Base fare.

  If all your dates and journeys are set in stone a month or two ahead, it's usually cheaper to buy advance-purchase Super-Economy or Economy fares than to use a pass.  For example Venice to Florence starts at €19.90, Venice to Rome starts at €29.90, seat reservation included.  A typical Interrail or Eurail pass works out at €55 per day for a pass + €10 reservation fee = €65.

  Just remember that advance-purchase fares vary like air fares, rising as departure date approaches, higher for busy or popular days or dates.  So you won't know for sure whether a pass does or doesn't save money until you go online and see what point-to-point prices you get for your specific journeys on your specific dates of travel.

  Then remember that these cheap advance-purchase fares commit you to a specific train with limited or no changes to travel plans or refunds allowed.  A pass gives you the flexibility to go anywhere you like whenever you like for a fixed price, so you should really compare the pass with the fully-flexible Base fare you'd pay at the station on the day.

  Even so, if you only plan to make relatively short hops such as Venice-Florence one day, Florence-Rome next day, Rome-Naples the next, the Base fare is often still cheaper than the per-day cost of a pass.  You basically need to be doing longer trips such as Venice-Rome or Milan-Naples every day, or multiple trips per day such as Rome to Florence and back again, to make a pass pay.  However, passes get cheaper if you are under 28 and children get free passes, so it's still worth doing the maths.  Youth passes can indeed make financial sense for a typical tour of Italy.

• How to make train reservations to go with a railpass:  You can make reservations at stations (staffed ticket offices only, not the self-service machines) or online using the Interrail/Eurail reservation service, see Eurail instructions here, see Interrail instructions here.  Passholder reservations cannot be made at Trenitalia.com.  You can also make reservations for Italian high-speed trains without any added booking fee (just the €10 reservation fee) using the Austrian Railways website (yes, really!), see the advice here.

• Read more about Interrail & see prices here.  Read more about Eurail passes & see prices here.  See more about exactly what these passes cover here.

The Trenitalia Pass

• Trenitalia also sell their own railpass called the Trenitalia Pass.  It can be bought by anyone resident outside Italy.

• How is it different from a Eurail or Interrail pass?

  Unlike Interrail & Eurail, it only covers Trenitalia high-speed, Intercity & Intercity Notte sleeper trains.  It doesn't cover regional trains. 

  Unlike Interrail & Eurail it doesn't give you unlimited travel, you buy a specific number of journeys (3, 4, 7 or 10 trips) where a journey = one ride on one train.  If you went Rome to Florence in the morning and back in the evening, that's 2 trips on a Trenitalia Pass, but would be covered by just one day on an Interrail or Eurail pass.

  However, unlike Interrail & Eurail there are no extra fees to pay for reservations, it's all included.

• Is a Trenitalia Pass cheaper than a Eurail or Interrail pass?

  A Trenitalia Pass for a given number of trips is significantly cheaper than a global Interrail or Eurail pass covering the same number of days.

  A Trenitalia pass is about the same price as a one-country Interrail or Eurail pass for Italy covering the same number of days, but as you don't need to pay €10 for every reservation, the Trenitalia pass works out cheaper.

  That's assuming you only want to use one train per day, as (for example) you only get 4 train rides with a 4-journey Trenitalia Pass, not 4 days unlimited train rides as with a 4-day Interrail/Eurail.  If you're going to use multiple trains per day, an Interrail/Eurail pass is a better deal.

• Is a Trenitalia Pass cheaper than point to point tickets?

  A Trenitalia Pass saves money over the fully-flexible Base fare even for a series of short hops such as Rome-Florence, Florence-Venice, Venice-Milan, especially if you are under 28 so qualify for the youth pass.  But if you can book a few months in advance and don't need any flexibility, a no-refunds no-changes advance-purchase Super-Economy fare can still be cheaper than using a Trenitalia Pass, so check prices before buying a pass.

• Trenitalia passes are available in 4 sizes:

  3 journeys within 7 consecutive days;

  4 journeys within 7 consecutive days;

  7 journeys within 15 consecutive days;

  10 journeys within 30 consecutive days.

• Trenitalia passes come in 3 classes:

  Easy - good for 2nd class, standard class on Frecciarossa, seats or couchettes on Intercity Notte trains.

  Comfort - good for 1st class, business class on Frecciarossa, seats, couchettes or double or triple sleepers on Intercity Notte trains trains.

  Executive - good for 1st class, executive class on Frecciarossa, single, double or triple sleepers on Intercity Notte trains (but not excelsior)

• Trenitalia passes come in 3 passenger types:

  Adult - up to 2 children aged 4 but under 12 can be added to an adult pass for free (infants under 4s go free anyway)

  Youth - anyone under 28 on day of purchase.

  Senior - anyone over 60 on day of purchase.

• For more details and all the small print, see www.trenitalia.com and look for Trenitalia Pass.

• To buy a pass, go to the www.trenitalia.com home page and switch it to English top right.  Then click Others/Best Price just below the journey planner.  Then select Subscription & Carnet.  Then select Trenitalia Pass.  Then select Purchase.

  Tip:  I strongly recommend registering for an account at Trenitalia.com before buying a pass. Log into your account before buying.

• How does the pass work?

  You don't need to specify travel dates when you buy a Trenitalia Pass, you can buy one and use it any time in the next 11 months.

  After buying the pass, you are emailed your pass number.  The pass is entirely electronic.

  When you're sure about when you want to use it and want to start booking your trains, you can activate the pass. 

  Activating the pass means that you can start booking trains and the pass ceases to be refundable.  Do not confuse 'activation date' with 'pass validity start date' as these are two different things.

  If you've registered for a Trenitalia account:  When you're ready to activate the pass, make sure you're logged into your Trenitalia account.  Go to the Customer Area, choose the Activate tab and from here you can choose any validity start date, in other words the first day you intend to travel using the Trenitalia Pass.  You can then go to the booking page where you can book your seats.

  If you've bought a pass without registering for an account, go to the www.trenitalia.com home page and switch it to English.  Then click Others/Best Price just below the journey planner.  Then select Subscription & Carnet.  Then select Trenitalia Pass.  Then select Activate.  Fill in name, pass number, and click Confirm.  You must activate the pass within 11 months of buying it.

  On the next page you'll be asked to choose your desired pass validity start date.  This is the date on which you want the overall 7/15/30 day pass validity period to start.  This must also be within 11 months of buying the pass.  If you're already in Italy and want to start travelling right away, you can leave it set to today's date, or you can set it to any future date as long as it's less than 11 months after the date you bought the pass.

  Do not activate your pass without correctly setting your desired pass start date.  The pass validity start date defaults to today's date and I have known people activate their pass without changing it, thus accidentally starting their pass validity period immediately, months before they actually want to travel, and it cannot be changed.  Pay attention and make sure you set the pass validity start date!  It works better if you activate when you're registered than activating as an unregistered user, hence I recommend getting an account first.

  Reservations are still needed, but they are free and can be made online at Trenitalia.com or at stations.

  To book trains online using a Trenitalia Pass, go to the www.trenitalia.com home page and switch it to English.  Then click Others/Best Price just below the journey planner.  Then select Subscription & Carnet.  Then select Trenitalia Pass.  Then select Book.

  Reservations have the same change conditions as a Base fare.  So you can cancel or change a reservation any time up to 60 minutes after the departure of the train.  If you don't do that, 60 minutes after departure that journey is considered 'used up' even if you missed the train.

  When travelling, the pass can be shown on your phone or printed out.

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Custom-made tours of Italy

• Railbookers are a train travel specialist who can put together a tour of Italy for you as a package, including rail travel, hotels & transfers.  On their website you'll find a range of suggested tours which can be varied or customised to your own requirements.  And as you're booking a package, they'll take care of you if anything happens to one part of the itinerary such as a strike or delay.  They now have offices in the UK, USA & Australia.

    In the UK call 0207 864 4600, 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.

Expert individual trip planning & advice

• DiscoverByRail.com offers expert help in planning trains in Italy & around Europe, with suggestions for routes, trains, hotels to your own specification.  They charge a small fee, around £35 per trip.

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Frecciarossa - Red Arrows.  See the Frecciarossa page

Trenitalia's top high-speed trains are the 300 km/h (186 mph) Frecciarossas, operated by the original ETR500 trains shown below and the latest Frecciarossa 1000 trains introduced from 2015, all with free WiFi.  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 been refurbished with 4 classes of accommodation, see the Frecciarossa page for a guide to these classes.

Principal Frecciarossa routes:  Turin-Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples-Salerno (Frecciarossas 500 & 1000).  Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples (Frecciarossas 500 & 1000) and most departures Turin-Milan-Verona-Venice.  See seat numbering plans.

Frecciarossa 500 train capable of 300 km/h (186 mph) on the new Italian high-speed network.  Above right, business class (1st class).  See photos of all classes on the Frecciarossa page.

Frecciarossa 1000 train.  These are gradually entering service in 2015, partly replacing some Frecciarossa 500s.  Above left, standard class (2nd class) on a Frecciarossa 1000...  See photos of all classes on the Frecciarossa page.

Watch the Frecciarossa 500 video.  See the Frecciarossa 1000 video

Frecciargento - Silver Arrows.  See the Frecciargento page

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 ETR 450/460/485 or most modern pointy-nosed ETR 600 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:  The Venice-Bologna-Florence-Rome route is run with a mixture of Frecciargentos (ETR 600 type), Frecciarossa 500s & Frecciarossa 1000s.  Verona-Bologna-Florence-Rome;  Rome-Bari, plus a few Genoa-La Spezia-Pisa-Rome trains.  See seat numbering plans.

Most Rome-Florence-Venice Frecciargentos are bullet-nosed ETR600 tilting trains...		Second class seats on an ETR600 Frecciargento, with bays of 4 and many unidirectional seats.  Larger photo.

First class seats on an ETR600 Frecciargento, with bays of 4, bays of 2, and many unidirectional seats.  Larger photo.		Other Frecciargento services are operated by wedge-nosed ETR485 tilting trains...

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.

1st class = more spacious.  All seats have power sockets and there's a complimentary coffee from the trolley.  Larger photo.		A Frecciabianca to Venice, about to leave Milan.  A strange train - two modern power cars sandwich former intercity carriages.  This shows the latest colour scheme.

A Frecciabianca train at Milan Centrale...  Frecciabiancas link Milan with Verona & Venice every hour or so, at up to 125 mph.  Many start at Turin...		2nd class seat, most with a power socket for laptops & mobiles.  There's a small bar & a refreshment trolley.  Larger photo.

InterCity trains (IC)

Next in the pecking order are the InterCity trains, fast trains hauled by locomotives at up to 100mph, sometimes 125mph.  Like Le Frecce, InterCity trains are seat reservation obligatory, so you must make a reservation before boarding, you can't just hop on.  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.  In 2018-20, Intercity cars are being repainted in the new red & white colour scheme as shown below, and being given refurbished interiors with similar seating to Frecciabianca.

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

An InterCity train at Milan Centrale in the new red & white colours.  The interiors are now being refurbished with similar seating to the Frecciabianca cars, as shown below...

2nd class on a refurbished Intercity train.  Larger photo.		1st class on a refurbished Intercity train.  Larger photo.

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, validate it in the little green machine on the platform 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.

A typical regional train, in this case Florence to Siena...		2nd class seats on a typical regional train...

Italo high-speed trains, competing with Trenitalia:  See the Italo 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.

Leather seats in Smart class (2nd class) on Italo.		An Italo train at Rome Tiburtina.  See the Italo information page...

Italian overnight trains

An Intercity Notte 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, but a couchette or sleeper is recommended, as you can lie flat and sleep in a safely-locked compartment.  Yes, they are perfectly safe!

• 4-berth 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 sleepers:  These traditional sleeping cars have 12 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 maybe even a hot dish such as lasagne from a simple room service menu.  There are two toilets at one end of the corridor.  A small amenities kits is provided with toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, wet-wipe, cotton buds and cotton pads.  A light breakfast with tea or coffee is included in the fare.  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.  You'll find it a lot easier to book in plain English at www.italiarail.com or www.raileurope.com.

• 1 & 2 berth deluxe Excelsior sleepers with shower:  You may find a few Excelsior sleeper compartments with en suite toilet & shower on one Rome-Sicily overnight train, but this is about the only route on which they operate.  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 the train, but if you can get one, they're highly recommended.

Standard 1, 2 or 3 berth sleeper...

Sleeper set up as 1st class 2-berth (double or doppio).  Larger photo		Sleeper in day mode, beds folded away, washstand closed.  Larger photo		Standard Italian sleeping-car on the Milan-Sicily train, with 12 compartments, each configurable as 1st class Single, 1st class Double or 2nd class 3-berth. Courtesy Marco Bereth

4-berth C4 Comfort couchettes...

A Comfort couchette car in the new red & blue colour scheme.  The economical choice, ideal for families.  Each car has nine 4-berth compartments.  Courtesy Marco Bereth.		4-berth Comfort couchettes.  Sheets, pillow & blanket are provided.  It converts to seats by day.  Courtesy Suzanne Veerman.  Larger photo.

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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.  The machine stamps your ticket with the time & date so it cannot be fraudulently re-used multiple times. You don't need to validate regional tickets bought online & printed out as these are only valid for the train selected and any later train in the next 4 hours.  You don't need to validate tickets for Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca, Italo, InterCity or EuroCity trains as they're only valid on that specific 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 hard copy tickets bought at a station, not print-at-home tickets bought online.

  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. 

  The machine stamps them with the time and date, to prevent people fraudulently using it on multiple occasions.  Although since August 2016 even regional tickets bought at the station are only valid on the day you buy them for in any case.

  You don't need to validate regional tickets bought online and printed out at home as they're only valid for the train selected or for later regional departures in the following 4 hours in any case.

  You don't need to validate tickets for Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca, Italo, InterCity or EuroCity trains as these are only valid on a specific date & train in any case.

  However, if you buy a regional train ticket from Italiarail and collect it from a ticket machine, that's a conventional ticket valid on any train that day, so needs to be validated.

• 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 trains in Italy

  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 under Services for Transport of 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.  You can take a dog in sleepers or couchettes only if your party occupies the whole compartment.  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 phone

  Railplanner is a free offline train timetable app that you can download onto your phone 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.eurail.com/en/plan-your-trip/rail-planner-app - please 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 trains in Italy

• 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 Turin Porta Nuova, Milan Centrale, Verona Porta Nuova, Venice Santa Lucia, Florence SMN, Rome Stazione Termini & Naples Centrale have left-luggage facilities, either lockers or a staffed facility.  Information on left-luggage prices & opening times.

Which station in which city?

• 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 Venice 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.  See the Venice Santa Lucia station information page.

• 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 the French Railways TGVs to Paris and by some Trenitalia trains, it's a 25 minute walk, 10 minute train ride or 8 minute €8 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 5 km from the city centre.  See the Milan Centrale information page.

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

• 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.

• In Siena, the station is at the foot of the hill and used to be a steep trek up to the old town.  However, there's now a series of modern escalators and moving walkways that ferry you almost painlessly to the top of the hill, from where it's just a minute or two's walk to the Porta Camollia at the entrance to the old town.  From the Porta Camollia it's a pleasant 15 minute stroll to the famous Piazza del Campo.

	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.  Watch the video here...
	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 two 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.  See the timetable & information on the Trains to Sicily page.

• 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 just a stone's throw 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 - watch the video here.   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.

How to reach Herculaneum, Pompeii & Sorrento

• Naples to Herculaneum, Pompeii & Sorrento by Circumvesuviana train...

  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 Circumvesuviana station.

  The Circumvesuviana station has its own ticket office, either buy a ticket to Ercolano, Pompeii Scavi or Sorrento there or use the ticket gate that allows you to touch in with a contactless bank card.  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.

• Naples to Sorrento by ferry...  You can also travel from Naples Beverello ferry terminal to Sorrento by fast ferry with around 5 departures a day, journey time 45 minutes, fare around €13, bags €2.10, see www.alilauro.it.  You can buy online or just buy at the ferry terminal on the day.

• To the top of Vesuvius...  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

• Option 1, by bus from Salerno...

  There's no railway to these towns on the famous Amalfi Coast, but buses run from Salerno to Amalfi.  So buy a train ticket for one of the many high-speed trains from Milan, Florence and Rome direct to Salerno, then hop on a bus to Amalfi.  This Salerno bus option is the quickest way to Amalfi.

  Buses link Salerno & Amalfi every hour or better between 06:00 & 22:30 on Mondays-Saturdays, slightly less frequently on Sundays, journey time 1h15, fare around €2.20 one-way, you buy a ticket at the tobacconists shop inside Salerno station.  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'.

• Option 2, by ferry from Salerno...

  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.

  Option 3, by bus from Sorrento...

  You can also buy a train ticket to Naples, hop on the Circumvesuviana Railway to Sorrento as shown above then take a bus to Positano, Praiano & Amalfi.  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!

• Option 4, a private transfer from Naples 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 Lake Como

• Como San Giovanni is the mainline station for Como, it's on the Zurich-Milan main line and linked to Milan Centrale by frequent regional train.  Check times as above.

• Lecco, Varenna  & Bellanoare on the eastern side of Lake Como, there is a station at Lecco & Varenna-Esino (for the ferry to Bellagio) and Bellano on the local line linking Milan Centrale with Tirano (near the Swiss border, for the fabulous narrow-gauge Bernina route to Chur & Zurich).  Check times as above

How to reach Lake Garda

• The station for Lake Garda is either Desenzano del Garda-Sirmione or Peschiera del Garda.  Both stations are on the Milan-Verona main line.  As well as regional trains, some fast Milan-Verona-Venice trains call at Peschiera or Desenzano.

• Alternatively, take a train to Verona Porta Nuova.  Buses run frequently times an hour from outside the station to the eastern shores of Lake Garda including Lazise, Bardonlino & Garda, see the bus company website www.atv.verona.it.

• You can also travel to Brescia, then take frequent buses to the western shore of Lake Garda, see the bus company website brescia.arriva.it.

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).

How to reach Sardinia

• Ferries to Sardinia...

  Ferries sail from Civitavecchia, Livorno, Naples & Palermo to various ports on Sardinia including Olbia & Golfo Aranci in the north and Caligari in the south.  Operators include Tirrenia, Grimaldi Lines, Corsica-Sardinia Ferries, use Direct Ferries to check and book all ferry routes & operators.

  The shortest ferry crossing is Civitavecchia (just north of Rome) to Olbia where the daily daytime ferry takes 5h30, and an overnight ferry with cabins takes 7h.  A daily ferry with cabins links Naples with Caligari overnight.

• Trains between major towns on Sardinia...

  Regional trains run by a division of Trenitalia link the major centres and ports:  Golfo Aranci, Olbia, Sassari, Porto Torres, Oristano, Cagliari.  You can check train times at www.trenitalia.com although as trains are classed as regional you may as well just buy tickets at the station on the day.

  In addition to the main Trenitalia routes, tourist services called the Little Green Trains run on two or three very rural routes, see www.treninoverde.com (in Italian only, use Google Chrome translation feature).  These trains are run by transport authority ARST, a company formed by merging the urban transport authority with Sardinian Railways.

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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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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 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 4 months before departure, though this can vary.  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 1-2 months 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 7 adults at a time.  Up to 5 adults on the main page, click Advanced search and you can select up to 7.  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.  Indeed, for any small group it's worth checking www.italiarail.com as it can be cheaper because of the way it handles multiple passengers.

• 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, it's 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.  The base fare was originally one fixed-price for a given journey, but as from late 2017 the base fare for Frecciarossa & Frecciargento trains can vary slightly by day of the week or the popularity of each particular train.

  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.  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.

• 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 using the Choose seats toggle.  You'll see a Choose seats toggle at the bottom of the page when selecting a fare for Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca or InterCity trains.  You'll then be able to pick specific seats from a numbered seat map.  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 usually 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 Continue without logging in to buy without registering.  You can register if you like - if you don't have an Italian address, tick the I don't have a tax code box and select your country (UK = Regno Unito, Unites States = Stati Uniti).  You can still retrieve your booking later if you need to, even if you don't register.

• 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 other than to/from Switzerland) you can select the ticketless option, which means you can simply print out your booking reference or show it on your phone.  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.

• Don't buy international tickets starting in Germany or Austria using Trenitalia.com!!!!  It's OK to book Switzerland-Italy trains and Paris or Lyon to Italy trains as these are ticketless.  But most other international tickets booked at Trenitalia.com such as tickets from Germany or Austria to Italy 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 one from Switzerland, or you'll be visiting Italy beforehand, or have an Italian address to which tickets can be sent.

• 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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It's easy to buy tickets at the station 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.

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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 set up a private venture and resumed publication of the famous European Rail Timetable in March 2014.  You can buy it online at www.amazon.co.uk (UK addresses) or www.europeanrailtimetable.eu (shipping worldwide).  More information on what the European Rail Timetable contains.

Rail Map Europe is the map I recommend, covering all of Europe from Portugal in the west to Moscow & Istanbul in the east, Finland in the north to Sicily & Athens in the south.  Scenic routes & high-speed lines are highlighted.  See an extract from the map.  Buy online at www.europeanrailtimetable.eu (shipping worldwide) or at www.amazon.co.uk (UK addresses).

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Recommended hotels

• Near Milan Porta Garibaldi (used by the TGV to/from Paris), the AC Milano Hotel (a Marriott Lifestyle Hotel) is just 350m from the station and gets good reviews.  Also try the Holiday Inn Porta Garibaldi, which offers family rooms.

In Verona

• Hotels near Verona Porta Nuova station with good or great reviews include the Corte Merighi Rooms & Breakfast, Novo Hotel Rossi, Guesthouse Verona or (a little closer to the centre, but with fab reviews) the Relais Empire.

In Venice

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