Italy by train

Travelling on Italian trains has its quirks, particularly if you want to travel at the cheapest possible price, but it can also be a magical experience; a feast for those who appreciate great design and/or travelling through stunning landscapes.

Italy has a primary high speed railway line that runs down the middle of the country on a Torino / Turin – Milano – Bologna – Firenze / Florence – Rome / Roma – Napoli / Naples – Salerno route.
A new high speed line has also opened between Milano and Brescia (the first stage of a Milano – Venezia high speed railway).

Multi-lingual announcements are made on the majority of trains, though the list of stations, which a train will be calling at, always switches back to Italian.

More information about how to board and use these trains is available on the Italian Trains guide.

Not all trains in Italy are operated by the national train operator, Trenitalia; the five main exceptions are;

(1) The Italo services - which offer an alternative to travelling by Trentalia's high speed Frecce services.
Tickets for journeys by Italo services are not sold on the Trenitalia website and similarly tickets for the Frecce services are not available on the Italo website.
The Italo services share stations with Trenitalia's trains but they have separate facilities; ticket machines, info desks, business lounges etc.

(2) Many of the local/regional trains in northern Italy, including those in Lombardy, as well many local/regional trains to/from Milano are operated by Trenord.

(3) The trains between Napoli/Naples and Sorrento.

(4) Many of the local trains in south east Italy including most of those from/to Bari and Lecce.

(5) Some of the local trains in South Tyrol on routes around Bolzano and Brennero.

What is comparatively unusual about train travel in Italy is the high likelihood of being able to choose between different train services when taking a journey.

If you will be travelling between towns and cities during the day there can be a choice of up to four different Trenitalia train services, from slowest to fastest they are;
(1) Regionale
(2) Regionale Veloce
(3) Intercity
(4) Frecce

So if you are happy to plan in advance and book ahead, then there are big savings to be made by booking in advance online for the express trains; the Frecce and Intercity trains, which are operated by Trenitalia, OR the Italo trains operated by NTV.

Or if you would rather be spontaneous and buy tickets last minute at the station, you'll pay the same price as you would online if you take the Regionale or Regionale Veloce train services.

Going long-distance by day:

If you will be travelling long-distance you can also usually choose between travelling on the high speed Frecce trains and Italo trains, OR the slower Intercity trains, which still take the parallel, conventional older lines.
So will often have a choice between:
(1) faster, more frequent, but more expensive trains, OR
(2) slower, less frequent, but cheaper trains.

Intercity (IC) trains are slower (and generally cheaper) than Frecce trains because they're conventional express trains and very rarely use the high speed lines.
But because they don't take the high speed lines, a journey by Intercity trains can be more scenic.

Going long-distance by night:

Trenitalia operates 'Treno Notte' overnight trains on these routes; the ↔ symbol indicates which part of the journey is overnight:

(1) Roma ↔ Trento - Bolzano
(2) Roma ↔ Venezia/Venice - Treviso - Udine - Trieste
(3) Roma - Napoli ↔ Messina - Palermo and Siracusa
(4) Torino - Genova - La Spezia - Pisa - Livorno ↔ Messina - Palermo and Siracusa
(5) Milano - Bologna - Firenze ↔ Messina - Palermo and Siracusa
(6) Torino - Milano ↔ Napoli - Salerno
(7) Torino - Milano - Bologna - Firenze - Roma ↔ Villa San Giovanni - Reggio di Calabria
(8) Torino and Milano - Piacenza - Parma - Modena - Bologna - Rimini ↔ Bari - Lecce

More information is available on our Italian Trains guide.

All of the train services which use the high speed lines for all OR part of their journey are designated as AV services

AV services are operated by Trenitalia
the **Frecciarossa 1000**
the Frecciarossa 700
the Frecciarossa 500 and
the Frecciargento
in effect compete with Italo trains operated by NTV.

Many AV services also have their journeys extended to more distant destinations not served by the high speed lines.
You won't be travelling on a high speed line if you take an AV service between these destinations:

• Venezia/Venice and Brescia
• Venezia/Venice and Bologna
• Bolzano and Bologna
• Salerno and Regio di Calabria
• Lecce and Bologna via Bari and Rimini.

Trains also have to divert off the high speed lines in order to call at the main stations in Milano, Florence/Firenze, Roma and Napoli; meaning that the trains which stick to the direct route are faster.

Choosing between the high speed AV trains:

If you want to make a high speed journey, you can nearly always choose between a Frecce train service operated by Trenitalia, or an Italo train service operated by NTV.

Trenitalia uses four types of Frecce train on the high speed lines – Frecciarossa 1000, Frecciarossa 500, Frecciarossa 700 and Frecciargento trains.
On some routes there is a choice between different types of Frecce trains.

The journey times will be similar and it won't affect the ticket prices either, but the on-board ambiences can be different, particularly in the premium classes.
If you will be travelling in the premium classes and have a choice between travelling by a Frecciarossa 1000 train or a Frecciargento train; ShowMeTheJourney's recommendation is to take the Frecciarossa 1000 train.

On the Italo trains, the Frecciarossa 1000 trains and the Frecciarossa 500 trains, you can choose between travelling in four classes of accommodation.

Also worth knowing is that Trenitalia's Frecciabianca trains are given AV train numbers, but they don’t travel on the high speed line (usually).

On your ticket the 'carrozza' number is the coach/car number and the 'posti' is the seat number

As all seats are reserved on Frecce and Italo services, the stations between which seat is reserved is not indicated on the trains.
You will only need to look for the seat number(s).

When boarding, if you want to change seats ask the conductor first; don't assume that a spare seat will be available for your entire journey.

If you prefer to face forwards, note that all trains reverse direction when they call at Firenze S.M.N., Milano Centrale, Napoli Centrale, Roma Termini and Venezia S. Lucia.

Regionale Veloce (RV) and Regionale (R) are similar, but different train services.
Regionale (R) trains are predominantly local trains, while Regionale Veloce (RV) trains link towns and cities over longer distances and skip some stations.

So when travelling between larger towns, Regionale Veloce (RV) trains CAN be faster, but tickets cost the same price as the slower as Regionale (R) trains.
So look for RV/RGV trains heading to your destination on the departure screens.

Many destinations in Italy most popular with tourists are only served by these trains; on which you can't save money by booking in advance.
Though Italia in Tour Passes are available for 3 or 5 days of unlimited travel by the R and RV trains operated by Trenitalia.

Standard (non-folding) bicycles, which haven't been disassembled, can only be taken on board the Regionale and Regionale Veloce trains - bike tickets are required.
More info is available here.

Italian stations are bi-lingual, all signage is in English and Italian and ticket machines have excellent English translation.
At major stations the announcements re: train departures are in Italian and English; the English announcements always follow the Italian announcements.
However, Italian place names aren’t translated into English, Florence is always Firenze etc

More information is available on our Italian Stations guide.

Many Italian cities, including Genova, Firenze, Milano, Roma and Venezia, have more than one station that long distance express trains call at; and the names of these stations are often more fanciful than logical.
So when planning a journey, booking a ticket or before boarding a train, try to work out which station suits you best for accessing your final destination.

Trains reverse direction when calling at these main city centre stations, when on route to other destinations - Firenze S.M.N., Milano Centrale, Napoli Centrale and Roma Termini.

The type of train you will be travelling by matters when booking tickets at the station.

Because tickets for the Regionale and Regionale Veloce trains are cheaper they CAN'T be used to travel on Intercity or Frecce trains.
So once you have booked the ticket(s) valid for the Regionale trains, you can't just hop on any next train to your destination.
If the next train to leave isn't one of the two Regionale services, you will have to hang back and wait until a Regionale or Regionale Veloce train service will be departing.

Similarly tickets booked at the station for Intercity trains can't then be used to travel by Frecce trains.

The Italo trains:

Italo trains have their own ticket desks and branded ticket machines.
Trenitalia branded ticket counters and machines don’t sell tickets for Italo trains and vice versa.

Trenitalia's ticket machines can be a good alternative to the queues that can build up at the ticket office.
They have excellent English translations and are comparatively easy to use, though watch out for the fact that some machines are cash only, others are card only and some are both.

When there is a choice of different train services, and therefore different tickets prices, these options are clearly shown on the machines.
The departure times, arrival time and journey time are shown, so you can work out which train will get you to your destination faster - and decide if the time saving is worth the extra cost.

Also be aware that only journeys by Trenitalia trains WITHIN Italy can be purchased from the machines.

Each individual train service has a unique 4-digit 'TRENO' number that is preceded on departure screens with an abbreviation of the type of train service - AV, IC, RGV or REG.

These train numbers are used on the departure information at stations - and if you have booked a ticket for a specific Frecce or Intercity departure, then this TRENO (train) number will be printed on your ticket.
The easiest means of working out the specific departure details of your train can be matching the train number on your ticket with the train number on the information screens.

At major stations red electronic screens are being installed along the length of the platforms/binari that are used by the Frecce and Intercity and Italo trains.
Around 5-10 mins before departure, these screens will display the numbers of the carrozza/coach, which will be located beside each screen when the train arrives.
So use them to know where to wait on the binario/platform for ease of boarding into the carrozza/coach in which your assigned seat is located; match the number on the screen to the carrozza number on your ticket.

When these screens aren’t available it can be best to wait in the middle of the platform and then make a dash towards the coach that your seat is located in – but don’t delay, if need be, board the train by the nearest door and walk through to find your seat.

More information, including how to make sense of the departure screens is available on the guide to using Italian stations.

Italian stations don't have left luggage lockers, instead some* of the larger stations have staffed left luggage offices.
*Stations with no left luggage facilities include Torino Porta Susa, Messina Centrale, Roma Tiburtina, Modena, Brindisi, Lecce, SanRemo and Milano Porta Garibaldi.

You hand your bags to the staff and then pay in advance when depositing your bags - pay attention to the opening times, you will only be able to return and retrieve your luggage when the office is open.
If you subsequently leave your bag for longer than planned, you can pay the balance when you collect it.

However, be aware that because you will receive a personal service, long queues can build up at busy times at the popular stations - we have waited more than 45 mins to deposit bags at Venezia S. Lucia and Firenze S.M.N. stations.
The queues tend to move quicker when collecting rather than depositing, but be at the station a minimum of 30 mins before your train leaves, if you have bags to retrieve.

The Trenitalia website does not sell tickets for the Italo trains or show their train times and in turn, the Italo website only sells tickets for its trains and has no information for the Frecce trains.

The Trainline and Omio booking sites enable comparison between Frecce and Italo trains - find the links to both of these services in the detailed train ticket guide below.

The full price tickets are the 'Base' tickets - and these can be refunded if you subsequently change your travel plans.
They will also be the only tickets for sale when both the cheaper types of 'Economy' and 'Super Economy' and 'Special Frecce' tickets have sold out.

If you will be booking last minute at station for journey by Frecce or IC trains, you will in effect be purchasing a 'Base' ticket.

Tickets for journeys by Frecce (AV) trains are now typically made available online up to 6 months ahead of the travel date.
However, tickets for journeys by Intercity trains are typically made available online up to 4 months ahead of the travel date.
Tickets for journeys by the InterCity Notte night trains can be placed on sale between 3 and 4 months ahead of the travel date.

Also keep in mind that the booking windows can be shorter when searching for journeys for travel after the second Sunday in December (all routes and trains) - and for journeys by the IC trains, this also apply to some routes when travelling after the second Sunday in June.
Timetables are updated on both of these days and tickets can't be placed on sale until the new schedules are confirmed.

Trenitalia.com also sells tickets for international trains to/from Italy, but only for DIRECT trains.

Limited numbers of discounted tickets are made available online for journeys by Frecce and Intercity trains and by Italo trains.

The discounted tickets on TRENITALIA are:
(1) 'Super Economy; the cheapest tickets of all, and
(2 'Economy' tickets.

Neither 'Super Economy' or 'Economy' tickets can be refunded if YOU subsequently abandon your travel plans completely
Though reservations can be transferred to an alternative departure if you have booked 'Economy tickets', but NOT if you have booked 'Super Economy' tickets.
If you are travelling 'Super Economy' and miss the train you are booked on for any other reason than a delayed connecting Trenitalia service, you will have to buy new tickets.

On popular departures, 'Super Economy' tickets can sell out more than 2 months ahead; particularly in the summer.
Also 'Super Economy' tickets are now only available up to midnight on the fifth day before the departure of your selected train.

Reservations are compulsory on IC trains and the AV trains - both the Frecce trains operated by Trenitalia and the Italo trains operated by NTV.
Seats are automatically assigned when booking tickets online and at stations.
On your ticket the 'carrozza' number is the coach/car number and the 'posti' is the seat number.
Rail pass users will need to reserve prior to boarding a Frecce services, but in contrast to ticket holders, rail pass users only have to reserve on IC services from May to September inclusive and around public holidays at other times of year.
Rail passes are not accepted on Italo services

Tickets for local and longer distance journeys by Regionale Veloce (RV) and Regionale (R) trains are not discounted online; so if you want to travel by these trains, the price will be the same if you buy tickets last minute at the station.
Tickets purchased for journeys by either type of Regionale train (RV and R) cannot subsequently be used for journeys by Intercity or Frecce train.

Tickets have to be stamped in machines before boarding Regionale REG/RGV trains – but not when boarding express trains.

Seats cannot be reserved on either type of Regionale train service, so the availability of seats is not guaranteed on these trains.

on Trenitalia trains:

On Italian trains operated by Trenitalia (most trains):

• Children aged 3 and under travel for Free.
• Children aged 4 - 11 receive a 50% discount on Regionale (REG) and Regionale Veloce (RGV) trains.
• Children aged 4 - 14 receive a 50% discount on long distance express trains including any journey by Frecce or Intercity trains and on the 'Treno Notte' overnight trains.

However, on the Frecce and IC trains, the 50% child rates are calculated against the 'Base' ticket price - the most expensive tickets.
But the cheapest 'Super Economy' tickets for journeys by these Frecce and Intercity trains can often be discounted by more than 50% - so if these tickets are still available for your journey, it can be worth paying the adult rate for children aged 4 - 14.

Look up the longer distance journeys by express trains on Trenitalia.com, reservations are included for journeys by Frecce and Intercity trains.
However, before making a booking for a journey by Frecce or Intercity train, it's worth considering Trenitalia's 'Children Free' offer.
For family groups of 2 to 5 people, composed of at least one adult and one young person under the age of 15, the children aged under 15 travel free of charge.
However, the adults in the 'family' must pay the full 'Base' ticket price, so it's worth taking the time to look up the journey and work out the cost of 3, 4 or 5 'Super Economy' tickets, if they're still available - and then compare this to the total offer price.

For overnight journeys within Italy, Trenitalia has a 'Famiglia offer', with discounts for both adults and children in the travelling party.

on NTV trains:

NTV operates Italo trains, which compete with Trenitlia's Frecce trains on Italy's high speed rail lines.
However, the only child ticket discount that is available on these trains is the Italo Family offer.
Children under 14 years of age travel free of charge with their family in the Smart (2nd class) ambience, but to access the offer the Adults have to purchase a Flex ticket – the most expensive type of ticket.

Trenitlia.com does NOT seemingly discount child tickets when booking train journeys by daytime express trains to and from Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

(1) So if you will be taking the Railjet or EC trains between Italy and Austria, you will make big savings if you book with OBB (the Austrian national rail operator's) booking service
If' Sparschiene' tickets are still available, and they usually are, up to four children aged 14 and under to travel for free with each adult booking.

(2) Children aged 4-11 pay half fare on the TGV France-Italy services if you book with book with Oui.SNCF
Though the half fare rate is applied to the more expensive 'Leisure' tickets, even when cheaper adult 'Prems' tickets are still available for a journey.

(3) For journeys by EC train between Italy and Germany - book Europa Spezial tickets on DB and children and grandchildren aged 14 and under travel for free when accompanied by a parent or grandparent .
In other company, or when travelling alone, children aged 14 and under pay 50% of the regular fare.

(4) For journeys by EC train between Italy and Switzerland, a €14 flat rate is charged for accompanied children aged 6 -15 if you book tickets with Swiss national rail operator SBB.

Rail pass users always need to book reservations (seats) on Frecce trains before boarding.
Rail pass reservations are also required on the Intercity trains during May to September; and it is also mandatory on and around public holidays.
These can be purchased at stations from the Trenitalia ticket machines or ticket counters, or online on the ItaliaRail website.

The Trenitalia ticket machines do not sell rail pass reservations on the international trains from Italy – these can purchased from ticket counters (with no booking fees).

Much more information, including step-by-step instructions for booking reservations online, is available on the guide to using rail passes in Italy

Rail passes cannot be used on Italo trains.

Of the routes that SMTJ has been fortunate to travel along, our favorite Italian journeys are:

1. Salerno <> Reggio Calabria
2. Brennero <> Verona
3. Genova <> La Spezia
4. (Milano) - Lecco <> Tirano
5. Domodossola <> Locarno (The Centovali Railway)
6. Messina <> Taormina
7. (Milano) > Arona > Domodossola > The Simplon Tunnel
8. Rimini <> Bari
9. Genova <> Ventimiglia
10. Messina <> Palermo

Though we have yet to travel on these routes:

• Ventimiglia > Cuneo > Torino
• Torino <> Aosta
• Bolzano <> Merano
• Taranto <> Reggio di Calabria
• Siracusa <> Gela
• Fortezza <> San Candido

Videos captured on Italian travels have been added to the ShowMeTheJourney channel on YouTube.

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