Travel by train in Italy

This is your guide to buy train tickets in Italy. Lean back and enjoy the ride!

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There are luckily many advantages to using the trains in Italy, as it is both cost effective and time saving compared to renting a car for example.

In this article you will find advice and tips for buying your train tickets in Italy, either before you travel to Italy, or when you are on location and ready to board the train.

You will also find practical advise and a very important bit to remember!

3 Advantages of taking the train in Italy

Avoid the queues

First of all you will eliminate the risk of running into queues on the highways and roads leading into the larger cities, which at all times of year are under a lot of pressure as they are filled with cars, trucks and more.

You will experience the worst traffic during the busy season, and if you are holidaying at one of the popular lakes in Northern Italy, you will often experience so much traffic that you will need to dedicate a significant amount of time to queueing, because of the heavy traffic.

When traveling by rail you just board the train, and all together avoid the long queues on the roads. As a bonus you will exit the train right in the middle of the city you are visiting.

Avoid fueling and tolls

Another advantage is that you only pay the price for your train ticket itself. If you are going by car you will have to pay for fuel which is similarly priced as in Scandinavia, and you will also pay a toll for driving on the highway.

Avoid parking

You will also be pleased to avoid having to find parking spots for your car, something that can be quite difficult, especially in the larger cities, as well as near the popular attractions and areas in general.

The advantage of using the train here, is that you will not need to spend an hour or more in order to find a parking spot. Nor will you need to pay for the parking, which in some areas costs upwards of 2-3 euro for one hour. And if you choose to park in a questionable spot, you might have to pay a parking ticket that tends to be in the size of around 40 to 99 euros.

Buy a ticket online

If you buy your train ticket online, you will not need to feel the pressure of time as you are standing in an unknown train station, looking for the ticket offices for your respective destination.

There is a QR-code on your electronic ticket, which the train conductor will need to scan in order to verify your ticket is genuine.

Buying a ticket in Italy

If you buy your train ticket in Italy, you will do so by using one of the many automated machines.

You can pay with both cash and credit cards, but you should be aware that some only accept cards. They accept all types of cards here.

Once you have your ticket in hand, it is very important to get it stamped in one of the automated machines that can be found on the tracks.

REMEMBER: You will be fined if you do not stamp your tickets like this!