Tips for traveling by train in Italy
First time going to Italy and worried about how to commute via trains? Here are some tips to make your life easier when you’re in Italy.
Nearly all off Italy connects by train so it is important to understand how they work and how to get to and from stations. Italy offers the standard “regionale” train which you can refer to as the standard or cheaper option, and they also offer a high speed train. The most popular is by Trenitalia called the “Frecciarossa” and there is also another company called “ITALO.”
High speed trains are very convenient and comfortable but buying tickets last minute can be very costly to your trip; I would recommend purchasing weeks in advance to save a lot of money. For example, a trip from Torino to Milano, Italy; with a high speed train only takes 58 minutes but costs $60 if I buy it for today, but $18 for a train next week.
Outside of differences between regional and high speed trains, you have to be certain you’re going to the right train station. For example Torino has two main stations, Torino Porta Nuova, and Porta Susa, and it is really easy to misread a station name.
Along with Italy works on military time, so if you’re train is at 4:00 pm, it will display as 16:00. I remember a couple of my friends on their first time in Italy bought a 08:00 am flight thinking it was pm, but pm would’ve been displayed as 20:00. This is a very important detail to be aware of.
Another fun fact about train stations in Italy is that they typically will charge you $1 to use the bathroom. To avoid this, use a bathroom at any American establishment such as McDonald’s or Starbucks within the station as they typically don’t require purchase. You could also board a train and use the bathroom on a train if you’re not scared it’ll take off with you on it.
The last pro tip I could give for someone un familiar with public transportation is, if you’re using an iPhone, you can use Apple Maps, and put in your destination, for example Rome to Naples. It will give you the time if you drive which is standard, but there is also the walking, biking, and public transportation feature, represented by a bus. If you click the bus it will provide all the options of trains and buses that you could take. It will give the times and lines of whatever it is you’re taking. This is also a very helpful tip for those unfamiliar with public transportation. You can be in the city and want to get back to your hotel, you could click the public transportation feature and it could provide you a metro, bus, or tram that you could take to where you’re going. A lot of Americans are not familiar with this features as public transport is less common in America but this is a very useful feature abroad that I use daily while traveling.
Article by JohnnyViaggi