How to find train schedules for Italy?

[Pauline]

We are planning to meet up with a Santa Fe friend in September after she does a walking tour in the Dolomites and have a week together somewhere. I am trying to figure out trains from Bolzano, near where she is staying, and from Verona, where her tour can drop her off.

Man in Seat 61 has some good advice for Italy trains. I tried TrenItalia and Italia Rail, but it is not that easy searching for routes and times.

This page has a good map showing the main train lines in Italy. So does this page. It all starts to make sense when I see those maps. Trains go from Bolzano, through Verona to Bologna. From there you either go to Florence and along the eastern edge of Tuscany to Rome or along the east coast.

Should she wait until she is in Italy to book and pay for her train?

For trains between countries (if we were to meet her in France) I am using Rail Europe. Is this the best way to find routes and fares?

Advice needed for figuring out trains in Italy!

 

[Heidi]

Pauline, I've traveled by train rather infrequently over the years, as we have often rented a car to meander back roads. I do love Rail Europe, however. For me it is easier to use - checking times and routes. I've purchased from them several times, traveling to Austria and Italy with my ticket in hand. It's more expensive to purchase through Rail Europe before you leave home BUT the "piece of mind" was worth it for me. It also *saved* us several times - once when there was a strike on another route and everyone was pushing to get on "our" train. We had tickets! We had seats!

I've also purchased tickets while in Italy and, again, Austria. These were always short trips and rather spontaneous. These were a bit more stressful because of language issues - mine, of course!

 

[Valerie]

In mountainous areas, you might also want to check into bus schedules. There are companies that offer "pullman" or "autobus" connections among towns that sometimes are more expedient than the train. (That's the case here where we live.) Just a thought to look into depending on what cities you're trying to connect.

 

[Heidi]

Should she wait until she is in Italy to book and pay for her train?

It occurred to me that your friend may have "issues" ~ credit card rejection ~ buying train tickets in Italy if she were using a ticket kiosk because chances are, being American, she will not have a chip 'n pin credit card. Much has been written about this problem for Americans abroad on several travel forums.......Many American credit card companies are oh so slowly changing over because it is a known fact that chip 'n pin technology is safer than our magnetic stripes. We've had too many costly, really high profile data breaches in the US, which is finally moving us toward change. Here's an NPR piece on this issue.....

 

[Pauline]

In the UK if you don't have a chip and pin credit card you can't use the ticket machines but you can go to the ticket booth. This same friend ran into that problem when she visited us in the UK. I will remind her of this.

It looks like she can get a transfer from the Dolomites to Verona with her walking group, then train to Bologna, then change to a train to the coast where we can meet her in the car.