There's no better way to see the great cities of Italy than by train.  The trains link just about every Italian town or city of any significance, centre to centre, with advance-purchase fares from just €9.  Driving and parking in Italian cities is a nightmare and the new high-speed train network is now faster, more convenient and more relaxing than flying.  For example, Rome to Florence takes just 1 hour 30 minutes at up to 175 mph, Rome to Venice 3 hours 45 minutes, Rome to Naples 1 hour 10 minutes, Rome to Milan 2 hours 40 minutes.  Zero check-in, no need to get to and from remote airports, no baggage fees or weight limits.  Journeys to and from Sicily can be made overnight on a time-effective sleeper train or leisurely daytime InterCity train.

Information on this page...

How to check Italian train schedules & fares

How to buy train tickets for Italy - online or at the station...

Railpasses for Italy - a warning...

What are Italian trains like? - Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca, InterCity...

Travel tips: Do trains run on time, ticket validation, luggage, bikes, catering & more...

Which station in which city?  The best station to use in Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan

How to use trenitalia.com, the Italian Railways website

How to use self-service ticket machines at stations for tickets or reservations.

Useful country information currency, tourist info, dialling code, links

Hotels & accommodation in Italy

City tours by Open Top Bus - hop on, hop off.

Tailor-made tours of Italy - train travel & hotels to your specification

On other pages...

Getting from the UK to Italy by train - take an afternoon Eurostar to Paris, then a direct sleeper train to Rome, Florence or Venice.  Easy!

Train travel from Italy to other European cities

Train travel from other European cities to Italy

Eurail passes - the railpass for overseas visitors

InterRail passes - the railpass for European residents

General European train travel information - luggage, bikes, maps, timetables and advice.

The Thello sleeper trains from Paris to Italy - Paris to Venice, Florence, Rome by direct train...

The TGV high-speed trains from Paris to Italy - Paris to Turin & Milan

Map of Milan showing stations - Map of Venice showing stations

Map of Florence showing stations - Map of Rome showing stations

Sponsored links...

Useful country information

Italian train schedules & fares...

	There's no check-in, and no hassle. You simply walk straight from the city centre onto the station concourse, look at the indicator board to find your train and hop on, any time up until departure.  Here, passengers board a sleek, high-speed Frecciarossa train in Naples Centrale...
	The main concourse at Florence's classic SMN station.  The station is walking distance from the famous Duomo or even the Ponte Vecchio...

You can check train times and fares for any journey in Italy at the Italian Railways (Trenitalia) website.  But confusingly, they now have two online booking systems, one new, one old!

• www.trenitalia.com is the official Trenitalia website which will give times & fares for most Italian routes and trains, including sleeper trains, most international trains, and regional trains to smaller places.  English button at the top.  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.  However, it can be a bit fiddly to book some international routes or overnight trains, so you may find it easier to use www.italiarail.com for these.  You'll find detailed tips on using Trenitalia.com further down this page.

• Their old system is still there, difficult to find now, but try http://orario.trenitalia.com/b2c/npp_price_input_it.jsp?lang=en.  If you don't find the train you want on trenitalia.com, try this instead, as it often works better (example:  trenitalia.com steadfastly refused to find any trace of the Rome-Vienna sleeper train, but their old system found it first time).  Their old system recognises English language place names, books all routes and trains, including sleeper trains, international trains, and regional trains to smaller places.  The only drawback is that the results initially only show expensive full-price fares, but if you select a train and hit continue you'll be able to access all the fares including the cheap Smart, Economy and Super Economy ones.  You'll find detailed tips on using this older system further down this page.

• The new high-speed network links Naples, Rome, Florence, Milan, Turin & Venice, with trains hourly or better.

• Rome-Florence takes 1 hour 35 minutes, Rome-Milan 2 hours 59, Rome-Venice 3 hours 45, Rome-Naples 1 hour 10, Florence-Naples 3 hours.  Faster than flying.

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

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

• Map of the Italian railway network

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

• Child age limits:  Trenitalia changed its child age limits from 9 December 2012.  On all trains, children under 4 go free with no ticket required.  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.  Train travel with children page.

• Circumvesuviana Railway to Pompeii & Sorrento:  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.vesuviana.it.  This is a local railway, you just buy a ticket at the ticket office and hop on the nest train.

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

• Private operator NTV runs its new Italo trains in competition with Trenitalia on the Milan/Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples route, see www.italotreno.it.  Positano, Praiano and Amalfi don't have stations, you can reach them by bus from Salerno.

Do you need to buy tickets in advance?

• Regional trains, no. For example, Pisa to Florence, Milan to Como or Tirano, Florence to Siena.  There's absolutely need to pre-book and no advantage in doing so other than saving time going to 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'.  Just buy a ticket at the station or from the self-service machines when you get there, validate it in the machines and hop on the next train.

• 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, although in practice there's almost always places available on most trains even just before departure so yes you can buy at the station on the day if you really want.  The issue is price, as on the day of departure the expensive 'base' fare applies, but if you pre-book you can buy a cheap economy or super-economy fare from as little as €9.

Buying tickets at the station, the easy way...

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, even if your card hasn't got chip and PIN.

The trains hardly ever sell out, so finding tickets even on the day of travel isn't a problem unless you hit a major holiday period.  The issue is the price you pay, as long-distance tickets are now significantly cheaper booked in advance, just like air fares.  In 2009 Trenitalia ditched the old 'one size fits all' approach to pricing and introduced cheap advance-purchase fares whilst increasing the fully-flexible base price that you pay on the day.  There are now Super-Economy or Economy fares from just €9 on most routes if you book ahead and commit to a specific train on a no-refunds, limited-or-no-changes-to-travel-plans basis.  Bear that in mind when anyone tells you you can easily buy at the station on the day at no extra cost, as you can now save money by pre-booking! 

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

Buy Italian train tickets online...

Booking opens 120 days ahead for most high-speed trains, 90 days ahead for other trains.  Just remember that this can shrink to as little as 60 days for dates immediately after the two annual Europe-wide timetable changes, on the 2nd Sundays in June and December.

Option 1, using Trenitalia.com:  You can buy Italian train tickets direct from Italian Railways at www.trenitalia.com, English button at the top, it's pretty easy to use but you'll need to use Italian-language place names and it has a few quirky translations & processes especially when booking sleepers or international trains so see the step-by-step guide below.  For domestic Italian trains they have a hassle-free ticketless system where you book online and simply quote your booking reference on board the train, other tickets can be collected at any main Italian station from these self-service machines.  When booking domestic high-speed trains, you'll normally get a chance to select a specific seat from a numbered seating plan.  Trenitalia used to have problems accepting non-Italian credit cards, but a new payment system introduced in November 2010 has resolved this.  Bookings open 90 days or for some high-speed trains 120 days before departure.

Option 2, using ItaliaRail.com:  You can easily buy Italian train tickets using English-language place names at www.italiarail.com, the same trains at the same prices, but in plain English with fewer quirky translations and odd processes that trenitalia.com - and if you'd prefer to book in US dollars, use this Italiarail US$ link.  ItaliaRail are an agency who link to Trenitalia's ticketing system, there's a €3.50 booking fee but this will be refunded if you email seat61@italiarail.com quoting your PNR.  www.italiarail.com can be a lot simpler to understand than trenitalia.com especially when booking sleeper trains or international trains from Italy to neighbouring countries.  Exactly like Trenitalia.com, it's either ticketless so you simply quote the PNR number on board, or you collect tickets from these self-service machines at any main Trenitalia station.

Buying international train tickets from Italy:  www.italiarail.com & www.trenitalia.com both sell international tickets from Italy, but I recommend www.italiarail.com as it's significantly easier to use and they'll refund your booking fee if you email your PNR to seat61@italiarail.com.  Important tips:  (1) It 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.  (2) Tickets can only be collected at Italian stations, so only book tickets starting in Italy.  The Italian-run Thello sleeper trains to & from Paris are an exception, these can safely be booked in either direction at www.italiarail.com.  In other cases, use www.italiarail.com to buy tickets starting in Italy, but use Swiss Railways www.sbb.ch to book southbound tickets starting in Switzerland, Austrian Railways www.oebb.at to book southbound tickets from Austria, www.bahn.de to book southbound tickets from Germany.  Although www.italiarail.com will in fact courier tickets to you if the journey doesn't start in Italy, just remember that the courier fee is around €25.   (3) It won't book the Milan/Turin-Paris TGVs as these are run by French Railways with no Trenitalia involvement, you must book these in either direction at www.tgv-europe.com.  (4)  You won't find cheap fares for the direct daytime trains to Innsbruck & Munich as these are run by the Germans & Austrians, so book these in either direction at www.bahn.de or www.oebb.at with any connections within Italy booked at www.italiarail.com.  However, sleeper trains from Rome, Florence & Venice to Innsbruck, Munich, Salzburg & Vienna can easily be booked at www.italiarail.com.  (5)  It won't book tickets to or from Nice.  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 if you pre-book.  Then simply buy an open ticket for around €7 for the local train between Nice & Ventimiglia at the station, no reservation necessary for these.

Now running Milan-Florence-Rome Naples - Italo high-speed trains, in competition with Trenitalia...

Private operator NTV (Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori) has now started operating Italo high-speed trains on the Turin-Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples route from 28 April 2012 and added Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples trains from October 2012, in competition with state-owned operator Trenitalia.  You can check timetables & fares for Italo and buy tickets at www.italotreno.it.  Which stations?  In Milan, Italo uses the lesser-known (but still central) Porta Garibaldi station, not Milan's main Centrale station.  Italo uses Bologna Centrale, Florence SMN & Naples Centrale, the same as Trenitalia, but in Rome it calls at the less-than-central Rome Tiburtina station, not the main Rome Stazione Termini.  Rome Tiburtina is a €10 taxi ride from central Rome.

Railpasses for Italy...

• A pass is unlikely to make sense:  By all means check out the InterRail pass (for European residents) or Eurail passes (for non-Europeans) at the seat61 rail shop, especially if you are under 26 so qualify for the cheaper youth versions (that can make passes worthwhile).  However, for most people railpasses are now the gold-plated expensive option.  They have lost their convenience factor in Italy, as passholders must make a reservation and pay a €10 reservation fee for virtually every fast train they take, and this must be factored into the cost.  Trenitalia's cheap advance-purchase fares from just €9 blow railpasses out of the water price-wise if you are prepared to book in advance on a no-refunds, no-changes-to-travel-plans basis.  So passes are only worth considering if you demand the flexibility to go as you please.  Even here, you need to be doing the equivalent of Rome-Venice every pass travel day to make them pay.  If you are only doing Rome-Florence one day, then Florence-Venice a few days later, it's cheaper to buy fully flexible base-price tickets at the station than to use a pass once the reservation fee is added.

• Let's do the maths:  A typical Eurail pass costs maybe €55 per day for first class travel, that's €65 once you add the €10 fast train reservation fee.  A point-to-point ticket from Rome to Florence is only €63 1st class full-price bought on the day at the station with reservation included, and perhaps only €39 if you pre-book a Economy or Super-Economy fare.  2nd class is only €44 full-price at the station, and from only €9 pre-booked with a Super-Economy fare.  So if you're only going Rome-Florence or Florence-Venice on a typical day, point to point tickets will be cheaper, even on a like-for-like first class fully-flexible basis.  If you're happy pre-booking a cheap no-refunds Economy or Super-Economy fare, or are happy going 2nd class (and why shouldn't you, it's absolutely fine), you can save vast amounts of money over an expensive railpass. 

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

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

Tailor-made tours of Italy by train - click here

Frecciarossa (Red Arrows)...    Frecciarossa information page    Watch the video

Trenitalia's top high-speed trains are the 300 km/h (186 mph) Frecciarossas.  Higher fares are charged for these trains, and 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.  Frecciarossa services are operated by high-speed ETR500 trains like the one shown below.  All Frecciarossa services are air-conditioned with refreshments, and most have a waiter-service restaurant car, a pleasure to use, with the set 3-course menu costing around €32, a half bottle of wine €9, credit cards accepted.  All seats have power sockets for laptops & mobiles (2-pin, 220v).  Railpass holders must pay a €10 reservation fee per trip, which given the fares are relatively cheap anyway (for example, €43 Rome-Florence) doesn't make railpasses very good value in Italy.

Principal routes operated by Frecciarossa:  Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples;  Turin-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples.  Seat numbering plans.

NEW!  4 classes of service...  Frecciarossa trains are being progressively refurbished with not 2 but 4 classes of accommodation: Standard (2nd class), Premium (premium 2nd class), Business (1st class) and Executive (premium 1st class), the the Frecciarossa information page for details.  Premium & Business classes include snacks and non-alcoholic drinks, Executive includes hot or cold meals and soft and alcoholic drinks.  Originally, only Premium, Business and Executive passengers were allowed to use the restaurant car, but after a public outcry all passengers can now use it.  Unfortunately, the free WiFi fitted to these trains requires an Italian +39 mobile number for registration, so is of no use to non-Italians.  The photos below show the original two-class Frecciarossa still used on most services.

A Trenitalia Frecciarossa ETR500 train capable of 300 km/h (186 mph) on the new Italian high-speed network.  The name means red arrow.		1st class seating.  All seats have power sockets for laptops & mobiles.  A complimentary drink of coffee, juice or sparkling prosecco is served at your seat...

2nd class on a ETR500 Frecciarossa train.  All seats have power sockets for laptops & mobiles.		On the Milan-Florence-Rome-Naples route there's a restaurant car.  A 3-course lunch costs €32, half bottle of wine €9, credit cards accepted.

Frecciargento (Silver Arrows)...

Next down the pecking order are Trenitalia's 125 mph Frecciargento tilting trains.  As with the Frecciarossas, higher fares are charged for these trains, and tickets always include a seat reservation, 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.  Frecciargento tickets are only valid on the specific date and train you've booked.  Frecciargento services are operated by 125mph 'pendolino' tilting trains of either the ETR450/460/485 or most modern ETR600 type.  They are air-conditioned with a refreshment trolley and cafe-bar.  All seats have power sockets for laptops & mobiles (2-pin, 220v).  Railpass holders must pay a €10 reservation fee per trip.

Principal routes operated by Frecciargento:  Venice-Bologna-Florence-Rome;  Verona-Bologna-Florence-Rome;  Rome-Bari.  Seat numbering plans.

The most modern Frecciargento services are operated by bullet-nosed ETR600 tilting trains...		First class seats on an ETR600 Frecciargento.  There are bays of 4, bays of 2, and many unidirectional seats...

Second class seats on an ETR600 Frecciargento.  There are bays of 4 and many unidirectional seats.		Other Frecciargento services are operated by wedge-nosed ETR485 tilting trains...

Frecciabianca (White Arrows)...

One step down from Frecciarossa and Frecciargento, Frecciabianca (FB) services use locomotive-hauled coaches which have been refurbished to modern high-speed 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 there's no restaurant car.  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 now been dropped, although you'll still see it on the side of most Frecciabianca trains.

Principal routes operated by Frecciabianca:  Venice-Verona-Milan-Turin;  Milan-Rimini-Ancona-Pescara-Bari-Brindisi.

A Frecciabianca at Milan Centrale...  Frecciabianca trains link Milan with Verona & Venice every hour or so, at up to 125 mph.		2nd class seating, most seats with a power socket for laptops & mobiles.  There's a small bar car, and a refreshment trolley comes down the train...

This is 1st class, more spacious and less crowded.  All seats have power sockets for laptops or mobiles, and there's a complimentary coffee from the trolley...		A Frecciabianca to Venice, about to leave Milan.  A strange train:  Two first-generation ETR500 power cars sandwich former intercity carriages...

InterCity trains (IC)...

Next in the pecking order are the InterCity trains, fast trains hauled by locomotives at up to 100-125mph.  Except for railpass holders, InterCity trains are 'seat reservation obligatory', so you must make a reservation before boarding, you can't just hop on.  Tickets sold at stations or online automatically include the reservation.  However, a concession introduced for railpass holders in 2010 is that passholders don't need to reserve places on InterCity trains, they can just get on and travel without any supplement or reservation.  Passholders can make an optional seat reservation if they like, for a €3 fee.

Principal routes operated by InterCity:  Rome-Naples-Palermo/Catania/Siracuse;  Rome-Pisa-Cinque Terre-Genoa-Milan;  Milan-Genoa-Ventimiglia (for Nice).

An Italian InterCity train...		2nd class 6-seat compartment.  Some InterCity cars have open-plan seating.		1st class seating on an InterCity train.  Some cars have 6-seater compartments.

Espresso, Regionale & local trains (E, R)...

No seat reservation is necessary (or, in many cases, possible), you just buy a ticket and hop on.  Remember to validate your ticket at the platform entrance before boarding.  There's no supplement for railpass holders, you can just hop on and show your pass.  These trains operate all over Italy, including Florence-Pisa, Florence-Siena, Florence-Lucca, Venice-Trieste, Rome-Civitavecchia.  Fares for these trains are cheap, but remember that prices for local trains are only shown on the Trenitalia website if you pick a date within the next 7 days.

Italo high-speed trains, competing with Trenitalia since April 2012:  Italo information page  Italo video

Private operator NTV (Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori), started operating its Italo high-speed trains on the Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples route on 28 April 2012, and they started a Venice-Florence-Rome service on 3 October 2012, see www.italotreno.it.  Italo trains have three 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.

• Prima = 1st class, with leather reclining seats arranged 2+1 across the width of the car.  Complimentary 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.

• Which stations?  In Milan, Italo uses the lesser-known (but still very central) Porta Garibaldi station, not Milan's main Centrale station.  In Rome it calls at Rome Tiburtina station, a €10 taxi ride from central Rome.  However, Italo uses Bologna Centrale, Florence SMN & Naples Centrale the same as Trenitalia.

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

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

Italian overnight trains...

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

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

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

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

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

• 1 & 2 berth deluxe Excelsior sleepers with shower: These have now disappeared from all domestic Italian routes.

Standard 1, 2 or 3 berth sleeper...

Standard Italian sleeper on overnight train.  It has 12 compartments, each of which can be used as 1st class Single, 1st class Double or 2nd class 3-berth. This is the Naples to Milan sleeper, arrived at Milan Centrale.

Standard sleeper in evening/ morning mode, with beds folded away.

1st class double.  If the third berth was folded out, it would be 2nd class 3-berth.

4-berth C4 Comfort couchettes...

A Comfort couchette car.  A good, economical choice.		A 4-berth Comfort couchette compartment in night-time and daytime modes.

Watch the Frecciarossa video...

A video guide to Trenitalia's premier high-speed train, and its four classes of accommodation...

	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!  So much more civilised than a flight...
	Self-service ticket machines are found on all main Italian stations.  They have a touch screen, click the UK flag for English.  They can sell tickets for both local trains and Frecciarossa/ Frecciargento/ Frecciabianca/ InterCity 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 & faster then going to the ticket office!
	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. The new type is green (above). There's a fine if you don't.  Train-specific mainline tickets (for example, for Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca & InterCity) do not need to be validated, as they are only valid on a specific date and train in any case.

• 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.

• Ticket validation (only for regional tickets):  All Italian regional and local train tickets must be validated immediately before you board your train, by putting them into the small yellow or 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.  This is to prevent people using an 'open' local ticket valid for 2 months from being used fraudulently for more than one journey.  You do not need to validate Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca or InterCity tickets as these are only valid on a specific date and train in any case.

• Language problems:  First-time visitors often think this will be a problem, but it hardly ever is.  At stations, 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.  The one thing that does help is knowing the Italian version of place names:  Rome = Roma, Florence = Firenze, Venice = Venezia, Naples = Napoli, Milan = Milano, Turin = Torino, Genoa = Genova.  The ticket machines at every main station have a touch-screen with an English language facility.

• Food & drink on Italian trains:  Most long-distance trains have a bar or even (on 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!

• Luggage on Italian trains:  Luggage is no problem whatsoever on Italian trains, in either 2nd class or 1st class.  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 seats, wherever.  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.  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 really not a big problem, 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 isn't that obvious?  More information about luggage on European trains.

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

• 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 (in this case it's currently the trenitalia.com web address you need), search for 'animal transport'.  You can take dogs on many trains, but the rules vary by type of train.  On Frecciarossa & Frecciargento trains, only guide dogs and very small dogs in containers are carried.  On regional, InterRegional, InterCity & Frecciabianca trains, small dogs go free, larger dogs go travel for a 5 euros fee.

• First class lounges at Italian stations:  Only holders of Trenitalia's special 'Club Eurostar' frequent traveller card or full-price 'Executive' class tickets 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 Porta Garibaldi, at the back of the Casa Italo on the lower level.

Which station in which city?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Direct trains to Sicily...

• There are direct InterCity trains from Rome & Naples to Sicily (Palermo, Catania, Siracuse) & direct overnight sleeper trains to Sicily from Milan, Rome & Naples.  All of 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 ship, and it's an experience in itself.  Once the train is secured in the ship's hold, steps are placed next to the train doors, and you can 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.  Highly recommended!  You can book all of these trains to Sicily as shown here.

Places not served by the main rail network...

• Sorrento, Pompeii:  The railway from Naples to Pompeii & Sorrento isn't run by Trenitalia, it's the Circumvesuviana Railway, see www.vesuviana.it.  The Circumvesuviana Railway runs every 30 minutes throughout the day.  No reservation is necessary, just buy a ticket at the station and hop on.  From Naples to Pompeii the fare is 2.30 euros one-way, 4.50 euros day return, journey time around 40 minutes.  From Naples to Sorrento, the fare is around 3.20 euros one-way, 6.40 euros day return, journey time 55-65 minutes.

• Capri:  The island of Capri is just off Sorrento.  There are various ferries and catamarans for the short hop from Sorrento to Capri, crossing time about 25 minutes.  Alternatively, there are ferries or catamarans direct from Naples (journey 40 minutes).

• Amalfi, Positano, Praiano:  There's no railway to these towns on the famous Amalfi Coast, but buses run from Sorrento & salerno.  Buses between Salerno & Amalfi run hourly or better between 06:00 & 22:30 on Mondays-Saturdays, slightly less frequently on Sundays, journey time 1 hour 15 minutes, fare about 1.80 euros one-way, you simply buy a ticket on the bus.  The buses are operated by SITA, so see www.sitabus.it to confirm exact bus times.  At the time of writing, the English version of www.sitabus.it doesn't work, so leave it in Italian and under 'Scegli la Regione' select 'Campania' (the name of this region).  On the next page, select 'Orari linee Campania'.  On the next page, look for Quadro 14 & 15 and click for a .pdf format timetable.  To check fares, you'll need to use public transport site www.unicocampania.it, though it can take some time to work out how to use it!  For buses linking Sorrento with Positano, Praiano & Amalfi, see www.sitabus.it.  Sorrento-Amalfi takes 1 hour 30 minutes, buses run hourly or so, and the fare is around 2.40 euros.  The journey along the coast road is dramatic, the bus hugging the cliff and it rear end swinging out precariously at every hairpin bend!

• 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.

• 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.

	Troubleshooting:  The usual mistakes with Trenitalia.com... 1. No trains appear in the search results or only 1 or 2 trains at odd times of day.  Reason:  Data isn't fully loaded yet for that date, either because you're looking at a date more than 90 days ahead, or at a date after the twice-annual timetable change, on the 2nd Sunday in June and the 2nd Sunday in December, when they are always late loading the data and the 90 days often slips to 60 day or even less. Solution:  Wait till bookings open! 2. "The travel solution has at least a segment not purchasable."   Reason:  All or part of your journey is on a regional train.  Tickets for regional trains can only be bought 7 days or less ahead, and fares only show up for dates in the next 7 days. Solution:  If your whole journey is on a regional train, for example Pisa to Florence, you can see how much it costs by re-running the enquiry for a date within the next 7 days.  The price is fixed and doesn't change.  Then simply buy at the station on the day, or if you like buy online less less than 7 days before departure. If only part of the journey is on a regional train and the other part on a long-distance train (for example Rome to Siena), split the booking and just book the long-distance part (in this case Rome to Florence) on which reservation is compulsory and cheap fares are available if you pre-book, then simply buy the regional part (in this case Florence to Siena) at the station, no reservation necessary or even possible. 3. Problem:  It says my arrival and/or departure station is invalid.  Trenitalia.com used to accept English language place names with no station specified, but they've been fiddling with the way their site(s) work recently.  On some of their sites you may now need to use the Italian place name with station name, such as 'Roma Termini' for Rome, 'Milano centrale' for Milan, 'Venezia S. Lucia' for Venice, 'Firenze' for Florence. 4. Problem:  I want a sleeper and it says 'Double seat compartment'.  This is just a poor translation, this does in fact mean a 2-bed sleeper! 5. Problem:  Pompeii or Sorrento not shown.  That's because you need to travel to Naples Centrale with Trenitalia, then switch to a local private railway, the Circumvesuviana, www.vesuviana.it.

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

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

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

• Trenitalia.com used to be notorious for not accepting non-Italian credit cards.  However, a new payment system was introduced in November 2010, which happily accepts almost all foreign credit cards and seems to have finally solved the credit card acceptance problem.

Trenitalia originally had just one website, but recently they've been upgrading and they now have two systems in operation, one new, one older:

(1) www.trenitalia.com which uses their new improved booking engine, with the choice of fares much better laid out.  Easy to use, but it still sometimes has to divert you to their old system for some international or sleeper trains which the new system can't yet handle.

(2) http://orario.trenitalia.com/b2c/npp_price_input_it.jsp?lang=en is their old system which was originally featured on trenitalia.com, it still recognises English place names and can book all routes and trains including regional/InterCity/sleeper/international trains as well as high-speed ones.  However, it's a bit clunky to use so needs more explanation.

Which website should you use?  I recommend starting with www.trenitalia.com, but if you can't find a sleeper train or international train, try www.italiarail.com instead.

Or use Italiarail.com:  You may find www.italiarail.com a lot easier to use 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 I've arranged for this to be refunded if you email your PNR to seat61@italiarail.com.

Why use www.trenitalia.com not an agency in your own country?

• Booking online at Trenitalia.com is the cheapest way to buy Italian train tickets because all the advance-purchase cheap deals available, with no booking fees & no mark-up.  Overseas agencies can often only sell full fare tickets without discounts, usually with a mark-up or booking fee & postage to pay.

• Trenitalia.com sells buy tickets for all Italian trains & routes, not just selected routes. 

• There's a hassle-free ticketless option for many Italian trains, much easier than paying an agency to send tickets to you, or having to queue up at the ticket office.  You just breeze onto the train.

How to use www.trenitalia.com (their new & main system)

• Using the new system at Trenitalia.com is now pretty self-explanatory, I'm pleased to say.  However, here are a few tips:

• You'll 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 and is the best option to select 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, and Centrale (obviously!) in most other cities.

• It doesn't translate sleeper & couchette types into English.  Cuccette of course means couchettes, with C4 Comfort the most modern 4-berth type.  Select Cuccette C4 Comfort - Promiscuo to book 1, 2 or 3 people in a shared mixed-sex 4-berth compartment or Cuccette C4 Comfort - Intero if you are booking 4 people in one whole 4-berth compartment.  Women travelling alone can book a berth in a ladies-only compartment by selecting Cuccette C4 Comfort - Donna.  Alto and basso are of course upper & lower berth positions.  Intero means 'whole' or 'entire' compartment, so if there are two of you and you want a private 2-bed sleeper, select posto doppio - intero (if it's a standard size sleeper) or Compartimento 2 letti - intero (if it's the more compact type of sleeper still found on a few trains).  If you are a man who is travelling alone and you want one bed in a shared males-only 2-bed sleeper (as this is half the price of a sole occupancy single-bed sleeper!) you'd select Posto doppio - uomo (uomo means man), if you are a lady you'd select Posto doppio - donna.  Posto means place or 'berth', Letti means beds.  You'll see the 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, 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.

• It may still need to divert you to their old booking engine for certain trains:  If you try and book certain international or sleeper trains on trenitalia.com it may say To purchase solution please click on 'Go'.  When you do this, it opens up their old system.  This is less intuitive than the new system used at trenitalia.com, so read the section below to understand how to use it.

• Registration:  You can now buy without registering.  Though it can be good to create an account, a simple enough process.  After you register they will email a password to you.  The email may arrive within minutes or may take a few hours, but it will come.  When you go to login using this password, you'll first need to change it to a new one.  If it says this new password failed, don't worry, click 'logout' then log in again using the new password and it should work fine.

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

• Remember that tickets cannot be collected at stations outside Italy or sent outside Italy, and the ticketless option is only for Italian domestic trains, not international ones (except for the Trenitalia-run Thello sleeper trains to or from Paris).  So even though trenitalia will happily sell you a ticket from Zurich to Milan, you can't pick up the tickets in Zurich (do I really have to spell it out?) because Zurich is not in Italy and not a Trenitalia-staffed station...  And no, they won't accept the booking printout as a ticket on the train!  So you will have wasted you money and will need to buy another ticket.  So don't use trenitalia.com for international journeys heading into Italy, unless it's a Thello sleeper train from Paris, or you'll be visiting Italy beforehand, or have an Italian address to which tickets can be sent.  Incidentally, www.italiarail.com can be used for journeys starting outside Italy, but there's a €25 courier fee.  You'll usually find it cheaper to book journeys to Italy starting in Switzerland, Austria or Germany at the relevant Swiss, Austrian or German railway websites.

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

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

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

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

• Payment problems?  If your card doesn't work, it may be your bank blocking the transaction as possible fraud because it's a 'foreign' transaction.  Call your bank and ask them to unblock Trenitalia.com for you.  In fact, it can be a good idea to call you bank before using Trenitalia.com.

• You can contact Trenitalia's web team at areaclienti@trenitalia.it  to unfreeze frozen accounts and so forth.  They can handle emails in English.

• If Trenitalia.com really won't accept any of your credit cards, buy your Italian train tickets from the one of these agency websites:  www.italiarail.com (anyone from any country) www.italiarail.com, www.internationalrail.co.nz (New Zealand) or www.internationalrail.com.au (Australia).  All of these agencies' websites are directly connected to Trenitalia's ticketing & reservations system, so can sell all Trenitalia's routes, trains and fares, including the cheap Economy and Super-Economy fares.  Note that at the time of writing, some of Rail Europe's websites aren't directly connected to Trenitalia, so Rail Europe UK (for example) can only sell full-price tickets for main Italian routes, they cannot sell Trenitalia's full range of discounted fares and routes.

• Other problems?  If you get stuck, you can call Trenitalia telesales on +11 39 06 6847 5475.

How to use their old system, still in use to book some trains...

• Step 1:  Go to http://orario.trenitalia.com/b2c/npp_price_input_it.jsp?lang=en.

• Step 2:  Enter your journey details in the journey planner and click 'SEND'.

• Step 3, train selection:  You'll now see train times and full-price fares.  The cheap 'Economy', 'Super-Economy' or 'Smart price' fares won't appear yet, be patient, they will appear on the next page.  Select a service and click 'continue'.

What type of train should you choose? 

For domestic Italian daytime journeys, the best trains are the high-speed Frecciarossa & Frecciargento and Frecciabianca trains (look for the ES* or ES AV logos).  They are the most modern trains, all fully air-conditioned, using the new high-speed lines where available.  InterCity (IC) trains are the next best, also air-conditioned, but slower, using the conventional lines not the new high-speed lines.  Reservations are compulsory for all these trains, and cheaper fares are available if you pre-book.  Espresso, Diretto & Regional trains are much slower, seat reservation is not necessary or even possible for these trains.  Fares for regional & local trains will only appear if you pick a date within the next 7 days, but that fare is a fixed price, it doesn't change, and is what you'll pay even on the date of travel at the station.

• Step 4, fare selection:  You'll now see any cheap fares which are available, such as 'Economy' and 'Super-Economy'.  You'll also see a drop down box marked 'More fares'.  If you have a railpass, select 'Global Pass' and make a 'reservation only' booking to go with your pass.  For international journeys, use the drop down box to select cheap offers such as Smart, or if that's sold out, Smart 2.

Which fare to choose?

'Flessible' or 'Flexi' is the most expensive option, really only for business travellers.  It allows unlimited changes to travel plans, even after departure of your booked train.  It's 20% more expensive than the 'base' fare but more flexible and not really necessary for most people.  A 1st class Flessible ticket (or any Executive class ticket) allows you to use the first class lounge. 

'Base' or 'Standard' is the normal full-price fare.  It's the price you'd pay at the ticket ticket office on the day of travel, although a 5% discount on the base fare is available if you book online and use the ticketless option.  It's only valid on the specific train you've booked, but you can change your travel plans at least once with a 'Base' ticket, up to 1 hour after the departure of the train you're booked on (handy if you miss it!). 

'Economy' & 'Super-Economy' are cheap advance-purchase fares which save you money if you're happy to book in advance on a 'no refunds' basis.  Economy & Super-Economy fares vary like air fares, so book early to get the cheapest price.  Economy and Super-Economy fares are only valid on the specific train you've booked.  Economy allows a change of reservation before departure, Super-Economy does not allow any changes.  If you miss your booked train, the ticket becomes worthless.  Note:  You won't see any 'Economy' or 'Super-Economy' fares if part of your journey is on a regional train, e.g. Pisa to Venice changing at Florence.  Split the journey, and you'll see Economy and Super-Economy fares for the long-distance part, in this example the Florence to Venice part.

'Smart' (Smart 1 or Smart 2) is the fare to look for on most international journeys.  It's a cheap advance-purchase fare, non-refundable, no changes to travel plans.  You may also see 'MOOVE' or 'GO' fares, which are pretty much the same as 'Smart price' so you can also use these, and may have to if you want a 2-bed sleeper.

'Global Pass' is what you should select to make a 'reservation only' booking to go with a railpass.

Ignore the other discounted fares (including student & senior fares) which are normally only for people the Italian Railways 'Cartavaggio' railcards.

• If you see a note saying "Reservations must be made in Italy", all it means is that seat reservation is compulsory for that train for any part of the journey within Italy.  It's poorly translated into English, it does not mean you can only make reservations on this train when you get to Italy!

• "Seat near to...".  You can ignore this.  All it's asking is whether you want to book a seat near another specific seat that a friend of yours has already booked, for example if your granny is already booked on the same train is car 12, seat 56, you can ask for a seat near her.  If granny isn't on the train, just ignore this bit, leaving the coach and seat number boxes blank.

• "Seats Salottino Business". You can ignore this.  It's an option given under 'mandatory reservation' when booking 1st class on Frecciarossa trains, it means seats in an enclosed business meeting compartment with 4 leather seats.  Unless travelling on business in a small group, you won't want this.

• Booking sleepers & couchettes on overnight trains...

  When booking Italian sleepers, the translation to English is poor and can be confusing.  'Single seat compartment' & 'Double seat compartment' in fact mean single bed & 2-bed standard-size sleeper compartments.  '3-bed compartment' means a bed in a 3-bed standard-size sleeper compartment.  See the photos above.  There is another type of sleeper with very narrow compartments (17 compartments instead of 12 in the same length of sleeping-car), listed as 'Special seat compartment' for sole occupancy or '2 bed compartment' for 2-berth occupancy, at cheaper fares than the single or 2-bed rooms in the standard sleeper.  I recommend the larger standard-size sleeper, especially if you have lots of luggage or like your space, and don't mind the extra few euros.  On a handful of routes (for example Milan-Naples), there is a deluxe Excelsior sleeping-car with 1 & 2 bed compartments with private shower & toilet, it even has one 'matrimonial suite' with double bed, see the photos above.

• Registration:  You can now buy without registering.  Though it can be good to create an account, a simple enough process.  After you register they will email a password to you.  The email may arrive within minutes or may take a few hours, but it will come.  When you go to login using this password, you'll first need to change it to a new one.  If it says this new password failed, don't worry, click 'logout' then log in again using the new password and it should work fine.

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

• Remember that tickets cannot be collected at stations outside Italy or sent outside Italy, and the 'ticketless' option is only for Italian domestic trains, not international ones (except for the Trenitalia-run 'Thello' sleeper trains to or from Paris).  So even though trenitalia will happily sell you a ticket from Zurich to Milan, you can't pick up the tickets in Zurich (do I really have to spell it out?) because Zurich is not in Italy and not a Trenitalia-staffed station...  And no, they won't accept the booking printout as a ticket on the train!  So you will have wasted you money and will need to buy another ticket.  So don't use Trenitalia.com for international journeys heading into Italy, unless it's a Thello sleeper train from Paris, or 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 yourself.

• 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.

• If you have difficulties you can also buy Italian railway tickets online at www.italiarail.com.

How to use the self-service ticket machines at main Italian stations...

It's easy to buy tickets at the station, or to make reservations to go with a railpass, using the self-service ticket machines at all main Italian stations.  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:

Self-service machines are installed at all main Italian stations, and it's quicker and easier than using the ticket office.  Touch the UK flag on the touch-screen to switch it to English...

To buy a ticket, touch 'BUY YOUR TICKET'. To make a railpass reservation, touch 'BUY YOUR TICKET'. To collect pre-booked tickets touch 'COLLECT YOUR TICKET'.		To collect tickets booked with Trenitalia or Italiarail.com, enter your PNR & follow instructions to enter the lead name & print your tickets.  Obviously, if your booking is 'ticketless' there's no need to collect any tickets, just quote the PNR on board!

To buy a ticket or make a railpass reservation, enter your destination. The station you're at is pre-set as the departure point, touch 'modify' top right if you want to change this. Enter date & time.		Now select a train from the list of departures.  Ideally, look for a fast one with no changes.  Touch 'SELECT'...

To buy a ticket, you should usually select 'BASE' for immediate departure, as 'FLESSIBILE' is really only necessary for business travellers and Economy and Super-Economy  (Promo) fares are only available in advance, not on the day of travel.  Enter the number of passengers.  Children under 4 go free with no ticket needed, children aged 4-11 (inclusive) can use a child rate ticket, 12 and over must pay the adult fare. To make a railpass reservation, select 'GLOBAL PASS'.  This makes a reservation to go with a Eurail or InterRail pass.

On long-distance trains you can even select your seat...		Pay with cash or card.  Chip & PIN not essential.

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...

The Thomas Cook European Timetable

The Thomas Cook European timetable has train & ferry times for every country in Europe plus currency & climate information.  Published since 1873, it costs £14.99.  It's essential for any serious traveller and an inspiration for armchair travellers.  Still not convinced you need one?  More information on what the Thomas Cook Timetable contains.  You can buy the latest monthly edition online at www.thomascookpublishing.com with worldwide delivery or buy it in person from selected UK branches of Thomas Cook (ask at the bureau de change), or from W H Smiths in Victoria station in London.  Or buy the twice-yearly independent traveller's edition with laminated cover from Amazon.co.uk:  Winter/Spring 2012/13 edition (Dec 2012 to June 2013) or (when available) Summer/Autumn 2013 edition (June to Dec 2013)

The Thomas Cook Rail Map of Europe is the best and most comprehensive map of train routes right across Europe, from Portugal in the west to Istanbul, Moscow & Ukraine in the east, from Finland in the north to Sicily & Crete in the south.  High speed & scenic routes are highlighted.  Highly recommended!  Buy online at www.amazon.co.uk (worldwide delivery).  See an extract from the map.

Hotels in Italy

Find Italian hotels & guesthouses on www.venere.com...

I find that www.venere.com is usually the best website for hotels in Italy, as they're an Italian-based company and have places in even the smallest towns.  I also like the fact that the price you see is the price you pay, no hidden extras, and you just pay the hotel when you get there.  After booking, you can change or cancel your reservation in line with the hotel's own change and cancellation policy.  Try these direct links:

Rome   Florence   Venice   Verona   Naples   Milan   Siena  Lucca   Bologna   Pisa   Sorrento   Genoa   Ancona   Other Italian towns & cities

If you need something special...

www.mrandmrssmith.com (no relation!) is the place to start if you want something special for an anniversary, honeymoon, romantic break or other special occasion.  www.mrandmrssmith.com lists hand-picked boutique hotels in Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan, Tuscany, Sicily, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast and several other locations in Italy.

Tripadvisor hotel reviews...

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

Backpacker hostels...

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

City Tours by Open Top Bus

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

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

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

Car hire

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

Tailor-made tours of Italy

Tailor-made tours of Italy by train...

If you want to tour Italy by train, with all your train reservations and hotels sorted for you to your own specification, contact rail travel specialists Railbookers and they'll create the best rail holiday for you, hassle-free.  Unlike some overseas travel agents, they really do know all about train travel in Italy and right across Europe, and they know some excellent hotels, too.  They take good care of their clients and it's not surprising they get a lot of repeat business, so I have no hesitation in recommending them.

  UK call 020 3327 0761, www.railbookers.com. 

Call toll-free 1-800-408-3280 or www.us.railbookers.com.

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

  New Zealand call toll-free 0800 002 034 or see website.

Travel insurance & health card

Get travel insurance, it's essential...

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

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

If you have a pre-existing medical condition or are over 65 (no age limit), see www.JustTravelCover.com.

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

   If you live in the USA or Canada, try Travel Guard USA.

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

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

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

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

You can avoid ATM charges and expensive exchange rates with a Caxton FX euro currency Visa Card, or their multi-currency 'Global Traveller' Visa Card, see www.caxtonfx.com for info.

Get an international SIM card to save on mobile data and phone calls...

Mobile phones can cost a fortune to use abroad, and if you're not careful you can return home to find a huge bill.  Consider buying a global pre-paid SIM card for your mobile phone from www.Go-Sim.com, which can slash costs by up to 85%.  Go-Sim cuts call costs in 175 countries worldwide, and you can receive incoming calls and texts for free in 75 countries.  It's pay-as-you-go, so no nasty bills when you get home.  It also allows cheap data access for laptops & PDAs.  A Go-Sim account and any credit on it doesn't expire if it's not used between trips, unlike some others, so a Go-Sim phone number becomes your 'global phone number' for life.

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