Italy Travel Tips: Rail Edition

Welcome back to our Italy Travel Tips Series focused on Transportation. In our first instalment we shared how to master Italian air travel. Today’s guide complete with Italy travel tips: rail edition aims to equip you with practical tips and local insights to become experts of the Italian train system.

Italy is definitely a country that’s best explored by train. While flying is the best solution for reaching certain locations, trains offer a more immersive experience, especially for travelers looking to find and live the true essence of the country. All aboard!

Traveling Around Italy by Train

Traveling by train in Italy allows passengers to traverse stunning parts of the country while experiencing one of the world’s most impressive rail networks.

Trains cover most of the territory, snaking through breathtaking landscapes, the thick network of railways connects regions steeped in history and charm. This Italy travel tips: rail edition guide is your go-to resource for train travel in Italy. We love to share practical tips, local insights, and recommendations to help you plan your trip.

Why travel by train?

If you are visiting more than one city/region in Italy, our recommendation is traveling around by train rather than flying. Train stations are smack in the heart of each city, while airports are almost always miles outside town, and you have to give yourself time to allow for check-in and security procedures, which eat a big chunk of time out of your travel day.

There is however one caveat: if you’re including Sicily and/or Sardinia to your travel itinerary, it’s best to fly. The train from Rome to Palermo in Sicily takes around 12 hours. The ferry from Civitavecchia (or Naples) to Olbia in Sardinia takes 6-8 hours.

Train operators in Italy: Trenitalia and Italo

Italy’s rail landscape is run by two passenger train operators: Trenitalia and Italo. Here are some facts and helpful hacks to make the best of both.

Trenitalia

Trenitalia is the main operator of rail services in Italy, formed by the Italian government and entirely state-owned. The types of trains can be split broadly into three categories – high-speed trains (called Frecce), Intercity trains, and regional trains (Regionale or Regionale Veloce).

Italian high-speed trains are some of the fastest trains in Europe. These trains connect major cities and run on special rail lines designed to facilitate speeds of up to 400 km/h (248 mph). High speed trains in Italy have modern interiors, comfortable seating, vending machines and WiFi.

Intercity trains don’t run on high speed rail lines and have frequent stops. Regional trains are the slowest, they stop much more frequently and serve smaller stations in towns and villages.

High-speed trains are more expensive. Tickets for regional and Intercity trains are more affordable, but the onboard facilities are extremely basic. On Regional trains there is normally only one “class” and seat reservations are not mandatory, and seating is first-come-first-served. Note: air-conditioning is not always guaranteed on older Regional trains…

Regional Train Check-in

Note: If you do choose to travel on Regional trains you will need to validate your paper tickets before boarding. On the other hand, regional train tickets purchased through the Trenitalia App or through the Trenitalia website are automatically validated.

• Validating a printed ticket: You must validate it using a validation machine. These are small green and/or yellow electronic stamping devices that look like parking meters mounted on station or platform walls. To validate your printed ticket issued by a ticket booth or a vending ticket machine, insert it into the slot and wait for the machine to stamp it. This will mark the date and validation code on the ticket. At that point, the ticket is valid for the next four hours.

Italo

Italo is the name given to the trains run by the private train operating company Nuovo Treno Veloce (NTV). Italo runs exclusively on high-speed routes connecting main cities, like Milan to Salerno or Turin to Venice.

Italo competes with Trenitalia’s flagship high-speed Frecce for speed and comfort. Italo offers 3 ticket fares – Low Cost, Economy and Flex. With these tickets you can travel in all classes (Smart, Comfort, First and Executive) at any date and time. Ticket prices may vary based on the class, travel date and number of seats available. Seat reservations are required only on high-speed trains. You do not need to validate Italo tickets.

Which company you choose is a personal preference. Verify fares on both websites/Apps and choose the one that best suits your itinerary.

Casa Mia hack: Italy is known for its random transportation strikes. Since Italo is privately owned, their trains do not adhere to many of the protests, and will stay on schedule even during most nationwide strikes. However, stranded passengers from Trenitalia will flood Italo, so it’s best to book in advance. Sign up for both rail company loyalty programs, and stay informed of when strikes may happen.

Train & Station Safety

Trains are a very safe option for traveling around Italy. As long as you follow common sense, such as not leaving your luggage unattended and keeping your valuables with you at all times, you shouldn’t run into any problems. Here are a few pointers:

• Keep an eye on your luggage when navigating your way through busy train stations to avoid pickpockets, as you would in any large city.
• Sleeper cars and overnight trains can be a little sketchy, unless you book a first class cabin which gives you privacy and a door that you can lock from the inside.
• Busy train stations like Rome, Milan, Florence, Bologna and Turin are open 24/7 and are monitored by CCTV or onsite security. Be aware of your surroundings at all times nonetheless.
• Should you have any concerns or problems, there’s usually a police presence in every station. In larger cities there’s an information desk with English-speaking staff for assistance.

Italian Train Station Dos and Don’ts

1. Walking across the tracks is severely forbidden. Train stations in Italy are designed in two fashions: either as a cul de sac, meaning the platforms all end in a perpendicular area in the main body of the station; or they are with an open platform plan. This means that the ticketing, facilities and waiting area are located adjacent to platform 1. In order to reach the other platforms passengers are required to take escalators/stairs down to the pedestrian walkway under the tracks, and then back up to their platform. Not all stations have elevators. Platforms in both types of stations are clearly numbered. Passengers walking across the tracks will be fined.
2. If you’re planning to travel on high speed trains, whether Trenitalia or Italo, you should always purchase a ticket that automatically includes a reservation. Tickets for high-speed trains and some non-high speed trains include a train number, a carriage number and seat reservation. This means that you will have to catch the exact train which you have booked. You can’t simply turn up and jump on the first train that serves your needs. Regional trains, on the other hand, are like subways, and you can board any you like, provided you purchase a ticket and check-in before boarding.
3. You catch trains and planes at the very last minute? You are always late? For train travel in Italy it’s wise to bend this habit. Arrive at the station early. Learning to read the monitors, managing the crowds and understanding the track assignment system may take a little time, so don’t reach the train station at the last minute. Familiarize yourself with the station and the communications through the departure monitors. This is particularly important if you are traveling to or making a connection in the Bologna Centrale station, which is fantastic, but also one of the most complicated train stations in Italy!

Read the Monitors!

Train Arrivals and Departures monitors are your friends. They are located in train station waiting areas, all along the platforms or at the head of the tracks in bigger stations like Roma Termini, Firenze Santa Maria Novella, Napoli Centrale, Torino Porta Nuova, Venezia Santa Lucia and Milano Centrale.

How to decipher the monitors to find your platform, delay updates and all other information pertaining to your train ride?

Monitors list information in columns: the train company (Trenitalia/Frecciarossa or Italo), the train number (very important!), the type of train (“AV” for high speed, “R” for Regional train, etc.), departure time, final destination, any estimated delays, which stops your train will make along the journey, and what platform the train is departing from.

The train number is important because one or more trains to different destinations may be departing at the exact same time. The final destination is where the train ends its journey. Along the way the train stops at various stations.

Here’s a scenario:

You are traveling from Bologna to Reggio Emilia at 5:40 PM with high speed train number AV 9584. There are multiple trains departing from Bologna at 17:40 (that’s 5:40 p.m. – Italy and most of Europe use military time format), so this is where the train number is important when locating yours on the monitors.

Your train AV 9584 stops in Reggio Emilia along the journey, but its final destination is Milan. The train is 10 minutes late, departing from platform 1. On the monitor you will see something like this:
Trenitalia AV – 9584 – Milano C.le – 16:40 – 10′ – 1

Finding Your Train Carriage and Seats

1. On platform number 1, which is clearly visible, and where your train is due to arrive there will be a large electronic screen listing the number of your train (9584), the departure time (17:40), train company (Trenitalia AV) and the final destination (Milano Centrale). Below this info there may be a crawl line listing all the stops your train makes on the way with arrival time in parentheses. Very rarely there can be a last-minute platform change, so don’t look down at your phone and instead keep your eyes on any changes on the monitor to avoid missing your train. Don’t ask how I know this.
2. If the train does not originate where you are boarding, and you’re unsure of where your carriage will be when the train will eventually pull up at the platform, check your ticket and find the icon of the train carriage number and your seat number. Some stations will announce where certain classes will be (whether at the head or the tail of the train), in certain others there are overhead monitors with a red screen and white numbers all along the platform. These will be as many as there will be train carriages. These monitors predict (quite accurately) where each carriage will be stopping so you don’t have to race down the platform to catch the train. High-speed trains are long and sometimes will have as many as 15-18 carriages.
3. Worst case scenario if you are running late and there are no monitors, our advice is getting on the train before it takes off. Then you can lug your bags through crowded aisles and reach your carriage and seats from inside the train. But at least you’re on it!
4. Once you’re on the train in your carriage as listed on your ticket, find your seats and store your luggage in the overhead compartment. Note: bulkier luggage will not fit overhead and will have to be stored in the luggage rack between carriages, outside the passenger seating area. Some of the more modern high-speed trains these racks will be equipped with locks operated by inserting a coin. If you are uncomfortable not having eyeballs on your luggage at all times, our suggestion is… pack smaller bags that will fit in the overhead space. Traveling light, especially if you plan to use many trains, is always the easiest solution.

WiFi on Italian Trains

To take advantage of onboard free WiFi – available on all high-speed trains – you will be asked to register with your email in the carrier’s internet portal. Sometimes you’ll be asked to include your six-letter reservation code, which is the largest number on your ticket/e-ticket/train voucher. If your train journey includes going through many tunnels, you may have to refresh that internet sign-up page, as connection may be iffy in low signal areas like tunnels.

Casa Mia hack: Register and login to use WiFi the minute you are settled in and seated. The longer you wait the harder it will be to “compete” for the signal with other passengers boarding the train at your same stop.

Dining on Italian Trains

When I was a small child, my mom would purposely book train travel during meal times. This is because sitting in the vagone ristorante on old Italian trains was the epitome of luxe adventure.

We would sit in a special restaurant car where tables were fitted with white tablecloths, china plates, silverware and adorable salt and pepper shakers that I gawked, trying to slip them in my pocket, only to be met with the laser glare of my mom’s disapproving gaze. We would order from a menu soon after boarding, and were served our steaming plates of puttanesca and scaloppine, along with half-liter bottles of wine for the adults, minutes after being seated at the table with a view of the Italian countryside changing outside our window.

This was surely not an Orient Express level of luxury, but it felt so special, I loved those in-transit feasts. Nowadays restaurant cars on Italian trains are no longer what they used to be. On Italo trains, boxed meals are eaten at your seat but there is a car where there are vending machines for snacks and cold or hot beverages.

On Trenitalia Frecce trains only the Executive and First classes are served meals, again at your seat, rarely in a dedicated restaurant car.

Disembarking the Train

If you are not familiar with train travel in Italy, you may not know that there is a protocol. Trains that continue on to other cities stop for at least 5-7 minutes in each station to allow passengers to disembark and for others to get on the train. Some high-speed trains have monitors in each carriage and speakers announcing the upcoming stop in Italian and English. As the train pulls into the station and starts to slow down, passengers are prompted to gather their things and stand in the area of the carriage near the doors.

Note: Some larger cities have multiple train stations with slightly different names, like Florence, Venice and Rome, for example. Don’t assume you are getting off at the very first train station in the city! Check the name of your train station before disembarking the train.

When the train stops, the doors need to be opened manually (see below). Disembarking passengers have precedence over those getting on the train. Anyone getting on the train patiently waits for everyone to get off before climbing in. If you miss this window, you will be stuck on the train in crowded aisles with passengers finding their seats, and could potentially risk missing your stop

Train Doors Don’t Open Automatically!

This is something many foreign train passengers struggle with in Italy. Even my Dad, who lived and traveled all across Italy for many years, fell into the train door-opening trap. The train he was on pulled into the Santa Margherita Ligure station, and he and his friends just stood there waiting for the door to open like on a subway. After 5 minutes, with nobody behind them egging them on, or anyone on the platform boarding through their same door, the train slowly left the station. The episode was henceforth known as the Portofino Drama.

Train doors on Italian trains do not open automatically like those of a subway train: passengers have to push a button (or use a handle on smaller trains) to activate the door opening mechanism. On the right or left side of each carriage near or on the actual train door there is a large green, red or white button.

Some trains have a sign in 2-3 languages + Braille, that reads, “push to open the door” or a pictogram of a finger pushing the button. Some buttons don’t have any signage but rather arrows pointing outwards for ‘open’, and inwards for ‘close’. These large buttons should be a telltale sign that you actually have to push the button to open the door of the train.

But in the frenzy of disembarking with strollers, kids and way too much luggage, sometimes the button goes unnoticed. Especially if you’re the only passenger getting off from that particular carriage door. Once the train has come to a complete stop, the button will light up, some may also make a beeping sound to get your attention, but not on all trains. At that point you can press the button and get off the train.

Are you also traveling around Italy by boat? Check out our Sea Travel Tips and Hacks!

Need more inspiration or assistance with planning your trip? Don’t hesitate to contact us. We’re here to help you create the perfect Italian travel adventure. Including on Italian trains!