Helping travelers to Italy since 2008

Train Travel Italy: 12 tips for using the Italian rail system with confidence

Train travel Italy - Updated March 2026

Do you want to get out of the main tourist areas and see the beautiful Italian countryside? The answer - go by train!

So you're in Rome or Venice and you'd like to get outside the city and see something of the country?

Or you're planning a trip to various parts of Italy and you don't want to drive? (Good call!).

There's an answer which is much simpler - and much more fun - than you might think. Easy to organize, easy to do. And it allows you to share experiences that people on arranged tours can only dream about...

Let the train take the strain!

Train Travel Italy

Be a traveler, not a tourist - travel like an Italian! Like many Italian people, we travel by train in Italy all the time.

The trains are clean, spacious, inexpensive - especially if you book in advance - and they mostly run on time. Some of them even give you free soft drinks and snacks to make the journey pass more pleasantly.

And while you're waiting you can enjoy the stunning architecture - and great coffee bars - of many of the stations.

What's not to like?

The benefits for you as a traveler are obvious. You'll leave when you expect to leave and get to where you want to go quickly. You'll be comfortable and, if you want it, you'll have the company of your dog and your bike.

And best of all are your Italian co-travelers, who like nothing better than to share a good chat with people from other countries - even if they don't speak your language!

The downsides? The train won't wait if you're late, and because of their popularity, the cheaper seats sell out very quickly. Leave it until the last minute and you could find yourself having to pay a business or first class rate at a price three or four times that of a pre-booked ticket.

Train Travel Italy:
How to use this page

There's a lot of information here, all based on our own experience of using trains in Italy extensively. That makes this a long page.

If you have a particular issue you need help with and you don't want to spend time looking at other information, use these links to jump down to the different sections :

Booking your tickets online

Buying your tickets at the station

Concessionary fares

Different classes

Finding your train

Validating your ticket

On board information

Food and drink

Disabled travellers

Travelling with dogs (including service dogs)

Check availability and current special offers on Tours in Italy now!!

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #1: Buying tickets online

As soon as you know what your planned dates are - book! The best fares sell out very quickly - on popular routes often within hours of going live. Seat prices for high-speed trains are generally released 4 to 6 months before the date of travel.

There are a few ways of doing this.

1. You can book online directly with Trenitalia (the national operator) or Italo (Italy's excellent private high-speed competitor).

Both have English websites. Enter your start and ending destinations, date and preferred time of travel and number of passengers to see all the possible solutions.

Highly recommended: download their official mobile apps! The apps are essential for storing digital tickets and tracking live platform changes and delays.

2. You can book with ItaliaRail. This company uses TrenItalia's information, but presents it in a much more user-friendly way. For example, you'll see all the information for one day on one page! They also have excellent customer support, and you'll be able to pay in Dollars, Pounds, or Euros. Just be aware that as a third-party reseller, they do charge a small booking fee.

On some trains you'll be offered the option of booking a seat.

Do it. It doesn't cost any extra, and can spare you from spending long journeys standing in corridors.

Some journeys, notably on fast trains between the larger cities, require you to book a seat anyway.

A Tren Italia Frecciargento high speed train.

High speed trains like this Frecciargento require you to book a seat.

Make your choice, pay with a card and print out your vouchers. No need to have them pre-stamped at the station.

It really is that easy.

Top Tip: Whoever you book through, do it as soon as possible after you have your travel dates, for the best prices.

Italians love traveling by train and the entire train can be booked up if you leave it too late. Once it's gone, it's gone, as they say - seriously!

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #2: Buying tickets at the station

Of course, it's possible to buy tickets at the station, too.

It's easily done by the 'Fast Ticket' machines you'll see in all the larger stations, or in the ticket offices. Use the ticket office if you're not sure about times, or in smaller towns where there are no machines.

On the machines, payment can be made using cash, or international credit or debit card. The machines are very straightforward to use and operate in a variety of languages.

Also, in many major stations and regions, you can now use contactless credit cards or digital wallets directly at the turnstiles for local transit, bypassing ticket machines entirely!

Fast ticket machine at an Italian railway station

Look out for the ticket machines - simple to use and in multi-languages.

Top Tip: The drawback of not booking in advance is that you will find the less expensive seats are sold out, particularly if you're traveling between cities and / or at weekends. Sundays are especially busy times as people travel back from the seaside, or from their family towns to their places of work.

You then have a choice to pay the full economy, business or first class rates which will be far more expensive. Or you can travel on a slower train, or at a different time.

But once the seats are all sold that's it - there's no overcrowding here!

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #3: Concessionary fares

Top Tip: Children can travel at a reduced rate. Look out for these at the time you book.

However, don't assume you can easily claim a student or pensioner discount as a tourist. To get senior or youth discounts on Trenitalia, travelers typically must purchase a specific discount card first, such as the Carta Verde for youths or Carta d'Argento for seniors. These cards cost money upfront and are rarely cost-effective for short-term international tourists.

Don't try to claim a concession to which you're not entitled. There's a very tight inspection system on trains in Italy and you may well be asked to provide proof of age or to show your student card either when you book or on the train.

Fines for improper use are steep.

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #4: Traveling classes

The type of "class" you travel will largely depend on the train you book.

Local trains in Italy don't have different classes - the seats are all the same, and there's no food or drink served. Crucially, regional trains do not have assigned seating at all. You simply sit in any available seat.

Local trains in Italy are being modernised over time.

Like many other countries, high-speed inter-city trains are split into different classes. Trenitalia's high-speed Frecce trains feature Standard, Premium, Business, and Executive classes. Italo trains feature Smart, Prima, and Club Executive.

The difference between them is what you'd expect: seats are slightly wider as you upgrade, they're not generally as crowded, they're quieter and you can choose to travel in a 'quiet compartment' on some business class trains.

There's also free wifi access on most high-speed routes, and you'll get more individualised treatment in premium classes, including a good selection of free soft drinks and snacks.

Top Tip: To get premium class tickets at the cheapest rate, book seats as soon as they're released - generally 4 to 6 months before the date of travel.

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #5: At the station - finding the right train

Top Tip: All trains in Italy have a number. You'll find it on your voucher or ticket, and you need to look for the corresponding number on the departures board.

Don't just look for your destination name and assume that's your train. Quite often trains will leave within minutes of each other for the same destination, or for different stations within the same city.

So look for the correct train number!

Train departures board at Termini station, Rome.

See how several trains leave at almost the same time for Napoli? So look for the correct train number in the second column.

Once you find your train's number on the notice board, look for the platform number to the right of the destination - most notice boards, certainly in larger cities, are now in English as well as Italian.

If not, find the word "binario" which means platform.

Train movements board, Termini station, Rome, Italy.

The platform number is often not notified until very shortly before the train is due to leave, particularly if you're joining at a destination in the middle of a long journey.

If you're boarding at the start of the journey or at a smaller station, the platform will be on the timetable notice board which may be electronic or, in the case of small stations, is usually to be found as a noticeboard near the station entrance and on platforms.

Finally, information about the number of the train, its final destination and when it's due is to be found on the platform itself. Look out for the black sign at the start or in the middle of the platform.

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #6: Validate your ticket!

If you have a ticket for a fast train with pre-booked seats, it is valid for one train only and does not need physical validation.

But if you have a PAPER ticket for a local or regional train bought at the station, you must make sure you validate it before you get on the train. You'll find machines in every station and at the start of platforms.

However, if you bought a DIGITAL regional ticket online or via the app, the rules have changed! Digital regional tickets are automatically validated at the scheduled departure time of your chosen train. You no longer need to check-in or physically validate them.

Ticket validation machines at an Italian train station.

Top Tip: Not validating tickets can result in a heavy fine - and being a tourist will not be accepted as an explanation! Make absolutely sure you validate before you travel!

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #7: Carrying luggage on trains in Italy

Be aware of the rules! While you used to be able to bring as much as you wanted, Trenitalia recently introduced new luggage rules for their high-speed Frecce trains. Passengers are now limited to a maximum of two pieces of luggage, plus a personal item, with specific size limits depending on your ticket class.

There are left luggage counters at all major stations, although the process of checking bags in and out can be long and tiresome. Allow plenty of time.

There are no separate luggage compartments - your luggage travels with you in your carriage. On larger trains you'll find space for the luggage on racks at either end of every carriage. Don't worry about leaving it unguarded - thefts are really extremely rare.

Luggage on an inter-city Italian train, stored in a rack at the end of a carriage.

If you'd prefer, most trains also have luggage racks both above and between seats. You won't fit large suitcases there but smaller, hand luggage size will fit in very easily.

If your case doesn't fit there and there's no space for it elsewhere, just keep it in the aisle next to you. Everyone does!

Luggage kept in the aisle of a local train in Italy.

Many trains in Italy are a long way off the ground! We've found the best way of getting all our luggage safely on board is for one person to climb on while the other stays on the platform to hand the luggage up.

If you're traveling alone you'll find that other people are very willing to help.

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #8: Welcome on board - now find your seat!

Welcome sign on an Italian train from Rome to Venice.

Welcome on board - the Frecciargento high speed train from Rome to Venice.

This can often be a bit of a hit and miss affair. If you've booked online you'll find the seats you chose are the ones showing on your voucher.

Booking at a station, however, is not as reliable and although you'll be asked which seats you would like to choose, you won't necessarily find those same numbers on your ticket, particularly if the train is nearly full.

Check your voucher or ticket for the carriage number (Carrozza) and seat allocated (Posti).

The machine gives out whichever seats it knows are available and they won't necessarily be next to each other. We've even had seats allocated two carriages apart! Another good reason to book online.

This ticket shows carriage (Carrozza) 3, seat number (Posti) 5D - a window (Finestrino) seat.

Once you've found your carriage and seat, you may well find someone else sitting in it - sometimes because people are confused about the numbers, sometimes because of an innate dislike of being told what to do and where to sit!

You can, of course, insist that whoever is in your seat leaves it - after all, everyone will have an allocated number. The flip side of the 'I'm not being told where to sit' story is that if you have seats apart, more often than not an Italian traveler will vacate the seat you would really like and go to sit in the one you were allocated.

We've been on a number of journeys where this has happened so although our seats were miles apart, accommodating Italians have let us sit together and wandered off in search of our seats.

The one exception to this 'musical chairs' game is on the high-speed Frecce and Italo trains. For some reason people traveling on these premium services tend to stick with their own places, and expect other people to do the same.

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #9: On board information

Even on smaller, local trains in Italy, you'll find constant information about your trip relayed on monitors above your head - speed, name of next station, time of arrival, even what the weather's like!

Travel information on a local train in Italy.

Detailed information even on one of our little local trains.

Some older local trains don't have the same luxury. On those, you'll need to make a note of which station is the one before yours, and how long between that station and your own so that you're ready to begin getting your belongings together in time to get off.

Top Tip: Try using an app like Google maps - add your starting point and destination and choose public transport option. It shows exactly where you are as you move along the journey.

Also, use the official Trenitalia or Italo apps to track your train's live progress and any delays.

If you don't have access to a mobile device while you're traveling and you're not sure when your station is, do it the old fashioned way - ask. People are always very willing to help.

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #10: Food and drink

Again there's a difference here between the different types of train. Large, inter city trains will have a buffet serving typical train fayre - sandwiches, coffee and so on.

Some also have a trolley service with soft drinks and snacks and on the main routes, traveling premium class (ie Business or Executive) you'll be offered a free drink and nibbles.

Local trains don't have that luxury. If you're going on a longer journey expect your Italian traveler friends to offer you some of their home made picnic - otherwise, buy sandwiches and drinks before you board.

Mike buying breakfast at one of our favourite train station bars.

Mike buying breakfast at Foligno - one of our favourite train station bars.

Top Tip: All but the very tiny rural stations have platform buffets where you can buy food and drink before you travel or to take with you.

The food tends to be excellent. Leave plenty of time to buy, because queues are often long - particularly during rush hour.

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #11: Travelers with reduced mobility

Travel for disabled people on trains in Italy is very hit and miss. The train system is extensive and parts of it, very old. Station platforms tend to be low down and train entrances, high up. It's not ideal, but it's improving and there are always staff on hand at stations to assist.

New stock is being introduced with mobility issues in mind and even some smaller, local trains now have designated places for wheelchairs, including adjacent seats for carers.

Wheelchair-designated space on a regional train in Italy.

The best point of contact for anyone requiring help with reduced mobility - defined as "physical, sensory or motor impairment" is the "Sala Blu" (Blue Room) at larger stations.

Top Tip: It's a good idea to contact Sala Blu staff at least 24 hours before your train is due to depart to check the mobility access at the stations you're traveling to and from.

You also need to arrive at the Sala Blu at least 30 minutes before departure so that employees can help with platform and train access.

Train Travel Italy:
Tip #12: Traveling with dogs

Trains, like most places in Italy, are very dog-friendly. Dogs can travel with you but they must be microchipped and immunised, and you must carry with you the 'pet passport' or, in the case of Italian dogs, the dog registration certificate.

Failure to be able to produce this can mean you're asked to leave the train at the next stop.

One small dog per person can be carried in a pet carrier or as part of your luggage in a bag free of charge. No one is fazed when a tiny dog pokes its head out - and it's often the start of a long and friendly conversation about dogs in general.

At Milan station - a dog unwilling to go into her carrier.

Small dogs must travel in a carrier - whether they want to or not!

Large dogs which can't fit into a carrier can also travel by train and are allowed to sit with you, but by law they should be muzzled and on a leash. They must also be in possession of a ticket!

Standard pet tickets are often a flat fee, such as 5 Euros (or even 1 Euro on weekends). Even better, Trenitalia frequently runs summer promotions where dogs and cats can travel completely free of charge on Frecce and Intercity trains!

Service dogs of any size can be carried on trains in Italy at no cost.

Remember to visit our page on facts about Italy for more information!