Amalfi Coast Transportation

[JJH]

Hi all,
I will be traveling to Italy in May (Amalfi Coast and Emilia-Romagna). Very much looking forward to this trip! I have a few questions for the more experienced travelers.

In my previous trips to Italy, I always purchased train tickets at the station; which worked out fine because I utilized Regionale trains. On the day that I travel from Salerno to Bologna, it will be a two-leg trip (with a change in Roma or Napoli). It looks like many of the options include Le Frecce or InterCity trains. So I think I should reserve these tickets in advance. Is that correct? And if I book the tickets in advance (not having done this before), I assume you can swipe your credit card at the self-service kiosk or give your confirmation number at the ticket counter to get the tickets when I get to the Salerno station.....is this correct?

My other question is concerning the Amalfi Coast bus schedule (SITA SUD). The categories on the schedule are:
F - Weekday routes
H - Sundays and Holidays
G - Daily
L - From Monday to Friday
S - School bus
N - Non-school bus

Does the F category include Saturday? Is the G category seven days a week? Can I get on the S (School bus)? I remember riding a couple buses in Umbria that were mostly school kids. I assume this is the same circumstances and I can get on the bus.

Thanks in advance for any assistance,
John

 

[GAC]

1. It is useful to purchase tickets (electronic or paper) in advance for the RESERVED trains (Trenitalia Frecce or Intercity; all Italo trains) in order to secure a cheap fare. Otherwise, for travel in May, you don't need to buy in advance in order to assure a seat. For the UNRESERVED regionale trains, it's best NOT to buy in advance, as there is no price advantage and only additional restrictions (as well as a forfeiture risk if you cancel or need to modify your trip on the day of travel itself). An exception is if you are CONNECTING TO an unreserved regionale train from another train and do not have a great window of time to be able to buy the second ticket at an electronic ticket machine in the connecting station. If you do purchase an ELECTRONIC ticket for an UNRESERVED regionale train in advance, be aware that you must board the train (or a later regionale train for the same destination) no more than FOUR HOURS after the stated departure time on the electronic receipt. This gives you a generous margin of time to use the ticket in case you MISS your designated regionale train. If you purchase a PAPER ticket for an UNRESERVED regionale train, you may board ANY regionale train to your destination departing no later than 12 midnight of the travel date shown on the PAPER ticket. However, the ticket cannot be used on a different day (either before or after the stated day). The rules for "regionale" and "regionale veloce" trains are identical.

2. If you purchase an ELECTRONIC ticket from either Trenitalia or Italo Treno (for ANY category of train), you do NOT need to obtain a paper ticket at the train station. Instead, you simply board the correct railcar of the correct train and take your designated seat. If your ticket is for an UNRESERVED regionale train, you can board any railcar for your class of service and take any available seat. Your electronic ticket will be scanned by the ticket controller during the trip. However, a PAPER ticket for the UNRESERVED regionale train MUST be validated before boarding. This requirement affects only Trenitalia, not Italo Treno (which has no unreserved trains). "Validation" means inserting the ticket in the little date/time stamping machine at the head of the rail track. The validation should be on the face (not back) of the paper ticket (either side is fine).

3. On the SITA bus schedules, "F" means Monday through Saturday. "G" means seven days per week. "S" buses can be used by anybody, not just students. Some travelers prefer to avoid "S" buses because children can be noisy, others don't mind at all.

 

[JJH]

GAC,
Thank you very much. This is very helpful.
John