Im new here..Need help pls! Im going to Italy on May 1,but Im still confused about the European rail system..?

Question

-We're going from Rome->Pisa->Florence->Venice->Milan within six days.

-Im planning to buy the tickets when I get to the station,is it better to purchase a ticket for every city or buy a pass instead?

-Which is the best and cheapest train to take, the InterRegional, Regional, EuroCity or Eurostar?

-Im 25 yrs old, and want to know about the Youth discount card?

-How does the kilometric work in trenitalia?

Answer 1

I agree with Pinguino. For the type of travel you're doing, go with point to point tickets. When you use the Italian train website, be aware that you can use the Amica fare if seats are available at the discounted price. This only applies to the more expensive trains and there are a limited number of seats at that price on any given train, but sometimes it can make the prices competitive with the cheaper regional train fares.

You can also find more options for regional trains by breaking up the trip. For example, if you enter Milan and Venice as the endpoints of the trip, most of the options presented are more expensive trains. If you enter Milan to Verona and then Verona to Venice, you get more options for regional trains. The total travel time is longer because the trains stop a lot and you have a train change that ou don't have to make on the direct trains.

Personally, I prefer the faster trains, but if price is your objective, the regional trains aren't bad.

Answer 2

Regionale: route inside a region, stops in most railway stations, even smaller ones, slow.

Interregionale, the same, but between two or more regions.

Intercity/Eurocity: faster, stops in main cities.

Eurocity/Eurostar: fast trains, stop in big cities.

Alta Velocità: the fastest available (works in progress, rails are going to be adapted or built on new routes)

Cisalpino: like Eurostar, but is an Italian-Swiss firm; usually people choose a Cisalpino because is fast as a Eurostar but it cost less.

I suggest you to buy the ticket on the railway station: for Eurostar and above, where booking is mandatory, do as soon as possible (for instance the day before).

Anyway, look at Trenitalia site for more information

Answer 3

Buy a pass. My friend and I are going to Milan in a few weeks and are planning on doing the same with travelling around to different cities.

We bought a pass that you can use 4 times in a month and it's for any destination and we're saving about $300 compared to if we bought each ticket individually.

Have fun!!!!