If you are planning to travel around Italy on your own by train and want to purchase a ticket in advance without intermediaries - this article is for you. I would like to share step-by-step instructions for buying an online train ticket in Italy.
Where to buy
Online tickets for trains need to be bought only on the official website of the Italian railway www.trenitalia.com, which not only allows you to buy a ticket remotely and in advance, but also offers all kinds of promotions and discounts.
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Step-by-step process for choosing and buying a ticket
This site is available in two language versions: Italian and English. The main page in Italian is as follows.
To buy a ticket, we are interested in the red form, that is, a large red rectangle with the headings LE FRECCE (the name of one of the types of fast trains) and TUTTI I TRENI (all trains). Depending on the chosen direction, select one of these headers. If TUTTI I TRENI is selected, the shape changes color to gray.
You may have a question: “How do you determine which form to use: red or gray?” LE FRECCE is served by more distant directions, and TUTTI I TRENI to any distance. But if in red form you enter departure and arrival points that this type of train does not serve, the site will give you the following error
So in this form we are interested in all the fields, let's start with their translation.
Andata (there) and Andata e ritorno (there and back), here, respectively, everyone chooses whether a one-way ticket or round-trip is needed.
Da (from), that is, the point of departure
A (before), i.e. the point of arrival
Andata (departure date) indicate the date and Ora (time)
Ritorno (return date) again indicate the required date and time
Adulti (adults) Ragazzi (children) up to 4 years old child travels for free, from 4 to 14 years old on national high-speed trains at discounts. In this field indicate the number of travelers.
- Important: for regional trains, a 50% discount is provided only to children from 4 to 11 years old, passengers from 12 years old pay the full cost of the ticket.
Cerca (search), the last field that interests us on this page, when you click on a search, the site processes your information and issues all possible trains in the following form
Partenza (departure) Arrivo (arrival) Durata (travel time) Treno (train) Prezzi (price)
Choose the line with the train most suitable for you, clicking on the end of the line on Seleziona (select), the site opens the following form
Choose a car class (first or second) and a ticket type (basic, economy, super economy), highlighting the necessary circle. Also here is mono to choose a place in the car.
Assegnazione autmatica posto (automatic seat allocation)
Scelta del posto (seat selection)
Posto vicino a (nearby)
After all the choices, click Continua (continue)
The site goes to the ticket issuing page
Select Non Sono registrato (I'm not registered) and fill out the fields below.
Nome (Name)
Cognome (Surname)
E-mail (your current email address to which you will be sent a ticket)
Conferma Email (Email Confirmation)
Telefono (Phone)
Next, select the type of payment (card or paypal), highlighting the necessary circle, check the box next to Accetto le Condizioni Generali di trasporto (I agree to the terms of transportation) and click Continua (continue)
Ticket payment process
On this page, fill out your given card or paypal and click Avanti (hereinafter)
Titolare della carta (cardholder Nome (first name) and Cognome (last name)
Tipo carta (card type)
Numero della carta (card number)
Scadenza carta (Shelf Life)
Depending on the map, maybe the site will ask for a map check, in my case it looks like this
Wait a few seconds while payment
And in case of successful payment, the following page appears
Press Ok and choose Invia sms (send SMS) or Stampa (print)
Congratulations you have successfully, independently and without intermediaries, made the purchase of an electronic train ticket! An electronic ticket will be sent to you by mail and sms if desired. In fact, the conductor will only be interested in the code of your ticket, usually 5-6 digits.
What does a ticket look like
A ticket for the regional train of Trenitalia, which will come to your mail, looks like this:
In this example, a ticket to a first-class carriage without a seat. I advise you, whenever possible in regional trains, always go in 1st class - there are more chances to find an empty seat and theoretically in the car should be quieter, more comfortable.
I will be happy to answer all your questions in the comments - it's free.
