Do Italian trains need reservations?

EuroCity, InterCity, and international trains: Reservations are required, and cost about $10 if you have a rail pass. Regional trains: Most trains that aren't on the main lines, such as connections to Assisi, as well as most Florence–Pisa–Cinque Terre service, don't require (or even offer) reservations.



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We highly recommend that you book out as far in advance as possible, especially for popular and high-speed routes between major cities, such as Rome to Milan, Bologna to Milan, Naples to Rome, or Florence to Rome.

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"Seat Reservation" is an additional service offered by Trenitalia and is offered on a voluntary basis and not required to complete the train booking.

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In most circumstances, you must purchase a ticket before you board a train. Most trains require reservations and you should not board reserved trains without a reservation. Passengers who do so are not guaranteed a seat and may be instructed to get off the train at the next station stop.

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In most cases tickets are sold in unlimited numbers so the train can't sell out, although regional trains on a few routes now have limited numbers.

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Available up to and including the day of travel. Low Cost tickets can be purchased in any class on high-speed Italo trains in Italy.

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Italiarail shows a whole day's trains in the search results and can book up to 20 people at a time. Trenitalia's own website only shows a couple of hours-worth of trains at a time and can only book up to 5 people at a time.

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Reservations are often required in France, Italy and Spain. Trains in these countries are popular and will quickly get full, especially during the summer months. In many other countries, like Austria, the Benelux and Germany, you can usually get by without reservations.

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Some trains require seat reservations, and on other trains it's optional. If you're riding a train on which reservations are only recommended or completely optional and you don't have a reservation, you can sit in any available seat in the appropriate class you have booked.

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If you board a train without a ticket in situation 1, you will not pay any additional fee on top of the price of the train ticket. If you board a train without a ticket in situation 2 you will have to pay a fee, which is computed as three times the value of the lowest class/fare ticket.

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Food & drink You can buy food and drink from the cafe-bar. Or you can bring your own picnic and even a bottle of wine if you like. Business class includes a 'welcome' drink of coffee, juice or prosecco, and a snack.

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You can buy your train tickets roughly 2 months ahead of when you'll need them, and can even book them the day before your train trip. Once you're in Italy, you can buy tickets just before you get on a train.

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Like I mentioned above, Italo is usually cheaper than Trenitalia but because the cabins on lower-class tickets aren't the most comfortable, I'll usually consider Italo only for trains that are less than 2 or 3 hours long unless the Comfort ticket class is cheaper than Trenitalia.

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In fact, most regular airlines now charge for seat selection anyways. It's often around $10-$30 per seat per flight segment, so if you cave in and pay for that, it can add up quickly. You shouldn't do it. No matter which airline you're flying on, don't ever pay to select a seat.

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Advance tickets can be an especially smart buy for popular high-speed trains (such as France's TGV trains and Italy's Le Frecce trains), which frequently sell out.

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Skipping seat selection doesn't mean you won't get a seat on the flight. You might get stuck in the middle seat if you don't pay for one. Even if seat selection is free, you might want to skip it if only lousy seats are available (see the upgrade hack” below).

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As a general rule, it's a good idea to arrive 20-30 minutes before your train's scheduled departure time so you can get familiar with the station, find the information monitors as well as find your platform without being in a rush.

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Because these train trips are all about the view, cars with wrap-around windows are common. Perhaps the most popular scenic train route in Italy is the Bernina Express, which connects Tirano in Italy to St. Moritz in the Swiss Alps.

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There is no check-in prior to boarding high-speed and regional trains. It's best to arrive at the train station at least 15 mins before departure. You'll need time to find the platform. Ticket inspection occurs onboard.

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