How to Travel Italy by Train Its Easy, We Promise. At Walks of Italy, were passionate about enriching your travels. If you find our travel guides helpful, youll love our expert guided walking tours. Check them out over at walksofitaly. Pst Weve got a secret The best way to get around Italy is by train. Cinque-Terre-seaside.jpg' alt='Cinque Terre Travel Guide Pdf' title='Cinque Terre Travel Guide Pdf' />The Italian rail network connects just about every major city in Italy, runs like clockwork, and often includes spectacular views of the countryside. If you know a few simple tips about how to use it its an absolute breeze. First, a quick look at the other options. Driving in Italy, particularly in Italian cities, can be confusing, chaotic, stressful and, for the uninitiated, even dangerous. But if you do want to drive, you should definitely read our top 6 tips for driving in Italy. Between the cost of car rental and gas its often cheaper to go by rail. Meanwhile, with all of the hassles of flying and the time required to get out to the airport, a flight often winds up taking as long, or longer, than the train and, again, is often more expensive. Of course, we know its easy for us to say that taking a train is easy. The best 20 Restaurants in Florence listed in one handy guide Dont miss the best restaurants rated by Italy travelers, food critics and locals. If you dont speak Italian, even figuring out the train schedule can be tricky. Thats why well walk you through how to book, and take, a train right now. How to find an Italian train schedule. Travelers can choose between Trenitalia, or for high speed routes they can check out Italys new private high speed trains at Italo Treno. Take a look at both to compare dates, times and prices. Trenitalia is the national rail service, so it includes all of the national routes. Small, local trains, like the Circumvesuviana that goes from Naples to Sorrento and Pompeii, arent included, but you dont need them for most major destinations. At the website, click the button that says English at the top. Then, on the left, youll see your options for searching routes. You can opt for one way or for return, and you have to put in your starting point, destination, and date. For example, lets say you want to visit St. IMG_6844.jpg' alt='Cinque Terre Travel Guide Pdf' title='Cinque Terre Travel Guide Pdf' />The latest travel news and active European holiday inspiration brought to you by the Sherpa Expeditions team, guides, travellers guest writers. The walks on this tour are as varied as Sardinia itself including a guided morning walk through Cagliaris old town spectacular walks along the islands peerless. The Cinque Terre, Portofino The Italian Lakes. Past Customer Satisfaction Score for this holiday 86 as measured from holiday questionnaires see FAQ for details. Peters Basilica in Rome then pop over to Naples for a jaunt through Pompeii. When you enter your options and click Send, the next page will show you a list of options around the time, and on the date, you selected. Cinque Terre tinkwe tr E. C525&ssl=1' alt='Cinque Terre Travel Guide Pdf' title='Cinque Terre Travel Guide Pdf' />You might notice that under Departure, though, it doesnt say Rome. It might say Roma Te. Thats because Italians call Rome Roma, and the Te is short for Romes main train station Termini. IMG_6855.jpg' alt='Cinque Terre Travel Guide Pdf' title='Cinque Terre Travel Guide Pdf' />Similarly, instead of Naples, itll often say Na C. Napoli Centrale. We know this can be confusing, so heres a list of Italys major train stations and how theyre abbreviated on the Trenitalia site Rome Termini central station ROMA TENaples Centrale central station NA C. LEFlorence Santa Maria Novella central station Fl. SMNVenices Santa Lucia train station. Venice Santa Lucia on the island VE. S. L. Venice Mestre on the mainland MESTREMilan Centrale central station MI C. LEGenova Piazza Principe central station GE P. P. Genova Stazione Brignole GE BRIGLa Spezia Centrale central station SPEZIAPisa Centrale central station PISA C. Sometimes, you might notice that one train station name at the top will be black, followed by a number of others in red. That means that theres more than one station in the city youve picked, and the train stops at all of the stations on the list. Figuring out the differences between Italian trains. The Frecciarossa train is one of the fastest in Italy. Once youve got your destination and date down, youll often still have a number of options for exactly which train to take. Youll notice clear differences under length of journey, with some more expensive trains being much faster than the other trains. You can also look at train category. The Frecciarossa, Frecciargento and Frecciabianca trains are the fastest, with speeds of up to 2. The Eurostar trains are also very fast. Projects/cms/production/000/018/216/large/324fab9646590d17477b4195c8747f70/italy-manarola-view-from-path.jpg' alt='Cinque Terre Travel Guide Pdf' title='Cinque Terre Travel Guide Pdf' />These are also the most expensive trains, and they connect only Italys most major cities. The most economical option tends to be the Intercity trains, which connect everywhere else, make more stops, and are slower, or the Regional local trains. What are the price and speed differences, exactly Well, lets take our Rome to Naples journey as an example one way. On a weekday, leaving around noon, a Frecciarossa train takes only 1 hour 1. It costs 4. 5 2nd class, or 5. Then theres the Intercity train, which takes 2 hours 1. Finally, theres the regional train, which takes 2 hours 3. What train you pick, of course, is up to you. But because the Eurostar and Frecciabiancaargentorossa trains tend to be not only faster, but more comfortable and cleaner, if weve got a little cash to spare, theyre our transport of choice. Thats especially true when there are discounts on those trains as there often are. Taking advantage of Trenitalias promotional fares and discounts. When youre looking at tickets online, dont forget to check out Trenitalias deals yes, thats the link to their current promotional fares. You can see that right now, for example, children under 1. Bimbi Gratis Offer. How can you actually book one of these promotional fares When you get to the page with all the train options and times, select the one youd like to take, then click Continue. Your various options, like a base or flexible ticket, will show up along with any promotional fares, like the Bimbi Gratis offer, if theyre available. Booking your train ticket online or at the station One benefit to booking your ticket online train stations can be crowded and there can be lines, even for the automatic ticket machinesYou can either book, and pay for, your ticket online, or, if youre feeling a little more spontaneous, wait until you get to the train station. Waiting has a major benefit If you buy a ticket online, you then have to be on that exact same train if youre late or miss it, you have to change your reservation online. That can be a hassle, so if you cant be quite sure when youll make the train, sometimes its best to wait. That said, if you book in advance, you can change your ticket if you miss the train. For the base tickets, which are cheapest, you can change your reservation only one time, and it has to be done within the hour after the booked train has departed you can do it either online, at an agency or at the station, and you have to pay the extra amount if the new train is pricier you can also get money back if its cheaper, but, as to be expected, that procedure is a little trickier. The flexible tickets let you change your reservation an unlimited number of times, but that costs you 2. Of course, the downside to buying your ticket at the station right before departure is that, often, its too late to take advantage of any promotional fares. And, very occasionally, particularly popular trains might even be sold out completely. The Amazing Spider Man Game Highly Compressed on this page. So if you really want to take advantage of a discounted fare, or if youre on a tight schedule, it might be worth booking online or buying your ticket at the train station a couple of days in advance. Finally, be aware that, if you book your ticket online, you dont need a printer to print it out. Instead, Trenitalia has electronic tickets, either via email or sms text message on your phone. Once you board, simply show the email with the PNR number to the conductor or the sms from your phone and youre good to goSmithsonian Journeys 2. Worldwide Tours Cruises by Smithsonian Enterprises. Smithsonian Journeys 2. Worldwide Tours Cruises   Published on Jun 1. The Smithsonian Institutions official travel program.