How can I buy a train ticket from Venice to Rome, Italy?

Question

I'm planning to travel from Venice to Rome on Sunday, June 2. The problem is, I've been trying to buy my train ticket through Trenitalia.com, but the website has cancelled my payments each time I try to make one. My credit cards are valid, though. Has anyone else been able to buy tickets through Trenitalia.com? Is there another way to reserve a seat ahead of time?

Should I just wait until I get to Venice (i.e. two days before) to buy the train ticket? Will the train likely be full? I know it's a Sunday and it's the high season. And will the price of the ticket go up if I wait until the day before to buy it?

And if you feel like it, any recommendations for spending 2 days each in Venice and Rome? Cheers!

Answer 1

Buy it at the station in venice.  If it's full ask an attendant if there's a connection thru Bologna - major hub close to Venice.  There are machines at the station that are easy to use, so don't stress if attendant's english isn't so hot, but try to memorize enough Italian to make it look like you're trying and they will try harder to help you.

Answer 2

A lot of people have trouble using credit cards to purchase tickets on the trenitalia website - especially if you're from the US. Sometimes, it works, other times not - it seems to be a problem with the service provider in Italy rather than the bank rejecting the purchase most of the time (see: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthrea...

From outside Italy you can call [phone] for help with reservations.

If the Amica discounted fare is available now, it may not be available if you end up waiting, but there usually isn't a problem getting tickets a couple of days in advance. I usually just show up at the station and buy tickets when I want to go. There are some exceptions - during the Easter you need to have reservations and if you're trying to get to Munich during Octoberfest, you need reservations. I can also just go to one of the travel agencies near my house and buy tickets here in Italy - there's no extra charge.

You can book point-to-point tickets on alternative sites like Rail Europe http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fares_... but you'll pay extra for the service.

Answer 3

Hello,

The trenitalia site has a coding problem when it comes to credit cards from the U.S. or Canada.  Most of the transactions will not go through.  You can use a service such as raileurope but they will charge a fee, often up to twice what you would pay on trenitalia.  

My suggestion is to wait until you get to Italy to purchase your tickets.  You can go to the station or to a travel agent to get them.  Travel agents don't mark up the price of the tickets and if you go a day before your travel date you can get the amica fare which is 20% less than the standard fare.  There are many trains a day that go from Venice to Rome so you shouldn't have any problems getting a ticket.  

As for spending two days in Rome and Venice-

Venice-  see St. Marks square, the bell tower, the ducal palace, the Rialto bridge and the grand canal.  Just wander through some of the neighborhoods.  One of the nice, untouristy neighborhoods is the Dorsoduro area.  Take a stroll through there for a mostly tourist free day.

Rome- day 1- colosseum, forums, palatine hill, circus maximus, Santa Maria in Cosmedin and the mouth of truth, Capitolini hill and musuems and Trajans markets.  These are all in the same area and you can just go from one site to the next.  

Day 2-  Borghese gallery is a must.  You must make a reservation for this gallery but it is easy to do and well worth it.  Depending on the time of your visit to the borghese you can also see the pantheon, piazza navona, the trevi fountain, the spanish steps and the piazza del popolo and the twin churches inside.  

You might want to get the romepass while in Rome.  It is valid for three days and gives you free entrance to your first two sites and use of the transportation system in Rome.  If you use the pass on the colosseum/palatine hill/forum combo and the borghese gallery the pass will pay for itself.  The reason I suggest the pass is that for the colosseum you will be able to bypass the line which can be quite long.  If you decide to bypass the Borghese gallery and see the vatican instead, I would not get the pass as it doesn't work at the vatican.  You can check out the site for the romepass at romepass.it.

Donna