{"id":12587,"date":"2017-02-13T07:50:00","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T06:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arttrav.com\/?p=12587"},"modified":"2017-02-03T14:18:52","modified_gmt":"2017-02-03T13:18:52","slug":"train-travel-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arttrav.com\/it\/train-travel-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Everything you ever wanted to know about train travel in Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trains are one of the best ways to get around Italy<\/strong> once you\u2019ve arrived from abroad. Between major cities, they are fast and efficient; anywhere north of Naples it makes more sense to take the train than to drive. Trains can also be good for getting around within a region for day trips<\/a> to other towns or cities. But navigating the system requires familiarity with the processes of how to buy train tickets, how to find your train and more.<\/p>\n

\"I
I wrote this article about train travel in Italy while… on a train!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Trains between major cities in Italy<\/h2>\n

I\u2019m actually writing this blog post while taking a fast train from Florence to Milan, which we do relatively often because my brother and sister in law live there. On weekdays these trains are packed with businessmen going up for meetings, and the same can be said for most of the stops on this line. The high speed train line runs right down the center of Italy. The main stops are Salerno – Naples \u2013 Rome \u2013 Florence \u2013 Bologna \u2013 Milan – Turin (be familiar with their Italian names Salerno – Napoli \u2013 Roma \u2013 Firenze \u2013 Bologna \u2013 Milano – Torino). Another line takes you over to the East coast of the peninsula; for example, you change at Bologna to go to Venice (Venezia).<\/p>\n

There are two companies that run trains on this line and you can buy tickets from either: Trenitalia<\/strong> (called Frecciarossa, FrecciaArgento or FrecciaBianca depending on the line) or Italo<\/strong>. Italo is the new entry that has provided competition and has forced pricing and options similar to low-cost airlines. Each train company has their equivalents of economy and business classes, as well as some special cars like the silent one (my fave!) or the movie one. Pricing also varies depending on how much flexibility you need for cancelation etc. When making this choice, consider that you generally can only make those changes online, so if you\u2019re traveling and cannot easily access the internet, that can be a challenge.<\/p>\n

\"A
A view of Trenitalia’s Executive class new train<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here are a few things that are nice to know about taking these trains.<\/p>\n