Our first trip to Italy, we'll be taking a shuttle service from the airport to Roma Termini, and then the ES train to Florence. How much time do we need to give ourselves to catch the train? We are scheduled to arrive FCO airport at 11 a.m. Also, I assume we should book a Standard fare (not Amica, and Flexi shouldn't be necessary), correct? Thanks.
Harry
Posts: 5 | Location: BC Canada | Registered: 29 December 2007
You can jsut buy a tciket when you get there. This is what I did when I took the train to Naples. This assures you that you don't miss the train. The self-serve ticket machines have English translations on them and they take credit cards.
Posts: 3681 | Location: St Paul, MN | Registered: 10 February 2006
we'll be taking a shuttle service from the airport to Roma Termini, and then the ES train to Florence.
This is exactly what we did just about 3 weeks ago.
I agree with Dragonpat - wait until you get there to purchase your ticket. You never know if your plane will be late or if traffic will be bad in to Rome. If you purchase your ticket in advance and don't get there in time you may have to hassle with having to go to the ticket window to get a new one.
Our flight arrived at 8:00 a.m., our driver from Rome Limousine was there waiting for us. We left the airport at about 9:00 a.m. (had to wait for checked luggage and then wait in line at the bancomat to get Euros), got to the station about 10:00 and purchased a ticket from one of the self-service kiosks for the 10:30 ES to Florence. It was all so simple.
There are several kiosks at the station so you shouldn't have to wait in line at all. One thing is that there was no binario number on our ticket but we just had to look at one of the many departure lists in the station to figure it out.
Since it was mid-week and still off-season we had an entire car to ourselves. It was great!
Posts: 920 | Location: North of Seattle | Registered: 28 February 2003
It really depends on what time of year you will be in Italy. During high season, the Euro Star from Naples to Milan (with stops in Rome, Florence and Bologna) can sell out as it is a popular train. If you are going to be there during high season, I would buy my ticket ahead of time, but leave plenty of time to get to the train station from the airport.
On the other hand, if you are there during low season you should be able to buy it from the machine without problems.
Why don't consider the express-train service from Fiumicino to Rome, instead of a shuttle? It's a bit more expensive, but you will not need to walk a lot with luggage, as you will already be inside Termini station.
For your ES tickets: during high season some of them can be full, but there are many trains between Rome and Florence, at leaste one every hour, so I suggest you to buy tickets once in Rome, at the automatic machine.
Originally posted by HAUnruh: We'll be there on May 9 which I assume is high season.
It's absolutely NOT. As you arrive at the airport walk to the station (there is a station INSIDE the airport) and buy both the tickets for the airport shuttle and the train to Florence. In the worst case, you will have to spend an hour at the station, which would be fijene since termini has a huge number of "amenities" (lots of cafes, eateries, shops etc.) and a couple confortable ret area where you could just sit down if you are too tired.
You can see this page for more on booking the ticket at the airport station. Let's say you're in time to catch the 12.06 Leonardo Express (but I think you'd need to be lucky); to give yourselves more than the 18 minutes sometimes offered to make the connection at Termini, you can select the 12.36 departure, you'll be booked on the corresponding train to Florence, but still take the 12.06 train from the airport, because it isn't reserved (just be sure to stamp the ticket before you board). More likely, you'd select at the kiosk the 13.06 departure but really take the 12.36 Leonardo Express, being booked to leave Termini for Florence at 13.55.
I understand that this is a topic from a while back, but I was reading the forum for the first time and am concerned about my pending trip in September.
I arrive in FCO on September 2nd at around 11:30 AM. Should I buy the flexi ticket in advance in case of delays or wait until I arrive in Roma Termini to buy the Eurostar ticket to Florence? Do you guys think that by waiting I may not get a seat on any of the trains and it would be wise to get ticket in advance?
How were you going to buy a ticket ahead of time? The Trenitalia web page is notorious for not working with outside Italy credit cards.
I think that the worst that could happen is that you might have to wait an hour at Termini if you don't buy your ticket ahead of time. trains leave for Florence almost every hour from Termini. At worst you might get on a train that makes stops between Rome and Florence.
There is also a chance that customs takes longer than you think, and you are delayed. Then you have to rebook your flexiticket at a window at Termini if you can't make you scheduled train . Andrew or GAC could tell you more. With a flexiticket it's not like you jsut board the next train ticket in hand.
Posts: 3681 | Location: St Paul, MN | Registered: 10 February 2006
Welcome to SlowTrav. The Rome-Florence trains are so frequent that you should be fine buying tickets at the airport station; see the tip in my message above yours to give yourself more time to connect at Termini if you want.
Welcome! Rather than add extra pressure/stress to yourself by trying to make a certain train time, just relax, get off the plain, get the Leonardo Express to main train station and follow the advice about self serve tickets for the train to Florence......that is slow travel and so easy!
Can anyone tell me about booking a "round trip" ticket on the Trenitalia website, is it even possible? I have read so many conflicting things about the paper-less ticket and just handing the conductor an email paper. Sort of worried about that, but I want to believe it can be done. Can anyone provide me some assurance? Thanks in advance MC Mone
It's very much hit-or-miss whether you can complete a booking on the Trenitalia site with a non-Italian credit card. If you can, yes, a ticketless booking with just a confirmation code is possible (with certain restrictions), but they don't really offer round trip bookings, and there's no price benefit to it. You would just book two one-ways. If you can't book online, you can book at a station or travel agency once you're in Italy
I always take the Leonardo Express train from the airport to Roma Termini (purchase tickets at airport ticket window). Then if going directly to Firenze, I use the self-service ticket machines to purchase tickets for the next departing train. I have learned that it's best to purchase the tickets at the station instead of in advance in the event the departing signboard indicates the train is late ("in ritardo"), which gives me the option of selecting another train. I only purchase tickets in advance if I must take a particular reservation train at a certain time.
I will be there from the 11th to the 24th of July traveling Milan -> Venice -> Florence -> Rome. We are planning on traveling mid-morning between cities. Is this considered high season and should I try and book in advance?
It's a time to book 2-3 days in advance rather than one day. If Milan-Venice is right after a flight arrival, those trains are frequent enough that you should be able to find room on some train when you get there if you can go in either class. You can book the rest of your trips at one time.
