After spending a week in Italy with my mom and traveling only by train to the various cities, I came up with some tips that will hopefully make your train experience a little better than some of ours!
Types of Seats (Premium vs Standard)
- Premium – more space for you & your luggage, as well as the ticket includes a snack & drink
- Standard – smaller seating area with not much luggage space, which is near the entrance to the car
- worth the $$ for the premium seats
Traveling to Various Cities
- My mom and I stayed outside of Venice and easily took the train to/from the city
- Train stations are easily within walking distance of numerous hotels, like ours in Florence (even with luggage)
- Train to Naples had a 30+ minute delay (be aware…this happens a lot)
- Another train to Naples didn’t have any delay and in reality should have left after us, but we had gotten our tickets before getting to the train station with an E-ticket
E-Ticket
- you CAN use an E-ticket…just make sure that the conductor (when they come around) can see the PNR code
- sometimes it is better to just wait to get to the station to print off a ticket, in case of any delays…then you’re able to choose a different train without having to wait
Approximate Travel Time between Cities
- From Venice –> Florence: 1.5 hours
- From Florence –> Naples: 3 hours
- From Naples –> Rome: ~1.5 hours
WIFI
- just prepare for it to suck and if you’re like my mom and I, then you won’t be able to access it unless you can accept SMS messages (which we couldn’t….without wifi)
Traveling by train is definitely the easiest way to get around a country, especially Italy, and can be so much better than driving (hello speed traps!).
If you have any questions or even your own tips/advice, please comment below!!
