Hello, my family of 4 are looking to travel multiple countries, including going into Southern Italy. I havent bought the global passes yet as Im not sure if we’ll need the unlimited as Im still in planning stages. When I go into ‘find train times’ I cant find any trains connecting South of Rome. It just pops up with a little red x. We’re looking to go from Rome to Naples to Palermo. Any advice would be helpful!
Works for me. What is the exact search that fails?
Anyway, the local search engines are sometimes more up to date, for Italy trenitalia.com. For cross-border, bahn.de is an alternative.
Most common reason : you are waaaaaaaaay too early. Up to 2 month advance is what railways offer-sometimes not even that. It is logic that many look at summertrips now and do not realise that or think trains are samesame as planes.
For a global idea: use next week/same day. Times as such will hardly change. As such the local planner is always best, should be evident enough, then comes bahn.de as global for near all of EUR. Other as what many think, EUrail does NOT run any trains, you will not see it as stazione, it is simply a marketing plan now well over 60 yrs to entice tourists to go by train.
R->N has at least hourly frecce=hi speed trains and besides that a fair lot of slower regionale. No need to worry-seats a plenty, also on the day itself mostly.
There are 2, on busy days maybe 3, treni di notte to go to Sicilia. You need with a pass only pay the suplmt for sleeper/cuccette or posti di sedere. 1 comes even from far norte-MIlano, then stops in R then 2-3 hrs later N, the other starts R.
IF you mean by comparing if a pass may be worth it vs normal fares-cannot say now, as you did not state what other trips in mind and age of kids-if they still qualify for the free add-on to your pass.
For Italy, use www.trenitalia.com or the TrenIT! app. Please never use the rail planner app or the Eurail website to plan. They don't get updates frequently enough to be reliable.
Here is some useful information from the experienced travellers in the Community regarding both planning, reservations and activation of pass and travel days.
Planning
The rail planner is normally not up to date, as it only is updated once a month, so to be sure of the time table you better check the timetable and availability on the websites of the national railways. The bigger national railways, like DB (Germany) SBB (Switzerland) and ÖBB (Austria) cover several countries.
Reservations
The advice from the experienced travellers in the community is to use other ways to make reservations than the Interrail/Eurail website. You can look at the guide in the link:
https://community.eurail.com/train-connections-reservations-47/how-to-get-reservations-105
If you, after having looked at the guide, have questions about how to make specific reservation, please give your travel details (departure date, time and route) preferably in a new topic, and you will get advice.
Please note that Interrail/Eurail charges an extra fee of 2 EUR per person and train in addition to the fee for the seat reservation.
Activation of pass
During the activation process you choose the start day of the validity of the pass. Once the validity has started it can't be changed even if you haven't travelled. The advice is therefore to wait with activating the pass and starting the validity until the first day of your travel as you only can deactivate the pass no later than 23.59 CET on the day before the validity starts. If your travel plans change in the last moment you can't deactivate the pass and change the validity.
It can be wise to make a test and activate the pass with a start date well in the future and then deactivate the pass immediately, just to see that everything works.
Activation of travel day
The advice from the experienced travellers in the community is also never to activate a travel day, that is connect a journey to your pass and create the ticket (QR code), until just before boarding the train, otherwise you might loose a travel day if your travel plans change in a late stage You can't delete a travel day in the past. A travel day can only be deleted until 23.59 CET the day before the travel day.
You have 2 options from Rome to Sicily:
Option 1 (my preferred) is the Intercity (IC) direct service from Rome to either Palermo or Syracuse (Siracusa) that crosses the Messina straits on the ferry. This runs a few times during the day and takes about 10 hours. (There is also a night sleeper service).
Option 2 is to take the Freccia service to Vila San Giovanni, then take the passenger ferry to Messina (small charge) and connect with a regional service to Palermo or Catania/Syracuse).
Although the Freccia trains are high speed the track to the south is not so the second option rarely saves more than an hour.
IC trains have a reservation fee of 3 euro and the Freccia has a 10 euro fee (plus any agency fees).
+1
Most common reason : you are waaaaaaaaay too early. Up to 2 month advance is what railways offer-sometimes not even that. It is logic that many look at summertrips now and do not realise that or think trains are samesame as planes.
For a global idea: use next week/same day. Times as such will hardly change. As such the local planner is always best, should be evident enough, then comes bahn.de as global for near all of EUR. Other as what many think, EUrail does NOT run any trains, you will not see it as stazione, it is simply a marketing plan now well over 60 yrs to entice tourists to go by train.
R->N has at least hourly frecce=hi speed trains and besides that a fair lot of slower regionale. No need to worry-seats a plenty, also on the day itself mostly.
There are 2, on busy days maybe 3, treni di notte to go to Sicilia. You need with a pass only pay the suplmt for sleeper/cuccette or posti di sedere. 1 comes even from far norte-MIlano, then stops in R then 2-3 hrs later N, the other starts R.
IF you mean by comparing if a pass may be worth it vs normal fares-cannot say now, as you did not state what other trips in mind and age of kids-if they still qualify for the free add-on to your pass.
You have 2 options from Rome to Sicily:
Option 1 (my preferred) is the Intercity (IC) direct service from Rome to either Palermo or Syracuse (Siracusa) that crosses the Messina straits on the ferry. This runs a few times during the day and takes about 10 hours. (There is also a night sleeper service).
Option 2 is to take the Freccia service to Vila San Giovanni, then take the passenger ferry to Messina (small charge) and connect with a regional service to Palermo or Catania/Syracuse).
Although the Freccia trains are high speed the track to the south is not so the second option rarely saves more than an hour.
IC trains have a reservation fee of 3 euro and the Freccia has a 10 euro fee (plus any agency fees).
Thank you. So will my eurail global pass cover those train tickets? I would just have to pay any reservation fees? Also, if I look on the local Italian train schedule on their website (trenitialia), will those train be the trains I can use with the eurail pass? I guess what Im worried about is that we’ll have to pay extra to buy train tickets that are not covered with the eurail.
Userlevel 7
+7
You can take whichever train from the participating companies . Trenitalia is participating, so you can take every train they plan. Sometimes mandatory seat reservation needed, mainly for the Freccia services (€10) and IC (€3)
You find the overview here https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/tips-and-tricks/trains-europe/railway-companies
As far as I know the only major train company in Italy not included is Italo, which operates high speed trains along the same routes as Trenitalia. Certainly all the trains (other than Italo) from Rome to Sicily are included, as are all trains in Sicily except the Circumetna train.
+1
Works for me. What is the exact search that fails?
Anyway, the local search engines are sometimes more up to date, for Italy trenitalia.com. For cross-border, bahn.de is an alternative.
Thank you for this information. The search is working if I search for dates within the next 2 weeks, so I just cant look so far ahead. Is the bahn.de included in the global pass?
+1
You can take whichever train from the participating companies . Trenitalia is participating, so you can take every train they plan. Sometimes mandatory seat reservation needed, mainly for the Freccia services (€10) and IC (€3)
You find the overview here https://www.interrail.eu/en/plan-your-trip/tips-and-tricks/trains-europe/railway-companies
Perfect! This information was very helpful!
+1
As far as I know the only major train company in Italy not included is Italo, which operates high speed trains along the same routes as Trenitalia. Certainly all the trains (other than Italo) from Rome to Sicily are included, as are all trains in Sicily except the Circumetna train.
Great, thanks!
+1
You have 2 options from Rome to Sicily:
Option 1 (my preferred) is the Intercity (IC) direct service from Rome to either Palermo or Syracuse (Siracusa) that crosses the Messina straits on the ferry. This runs a few times during the day and takes about 10 hours. (There is also a night sleeper service).
Option 2 is to take the Freccia service to Vila San Giovanni, then take the passenger ferry to Messina (small charge) and connect with a regional service to Palermo or Catania/Syracuse).
Although the Freccia trains are high speed the track to the south is not so the second option rarely saves more than an hour.
IC trains have a reservation fee of 3 euro and the Freccia has a 10 euro fee (plus any agency fees).
Yes, option 1 will probably be the best since we wouldnt be saving much time. Is the ferry included in the global pass? Thanks!
+1
For Italy, use www.trenitalia.com or the TrenIT! app. Please never use the rail planner app or the Eurail website to plan. They don't get updates frequently enough to be reliable.
ok, thank you.
You have 2 options from Rome to Sicily:
Option 1 (my preferred) is the Intercity (IC) direct service from Rome to either Palermo or Syracuse (Siracusa) that crosses the Messina straits on the ferry. This runs a few times during the day and takes about 10 hours. (There is also a night sleeper service).
Option 2 is to take the Freccia service to Vila San Giovanni, then take the passenger ferry to Messina (small charge) and connect with a regional service to Palermo or Catania/Syracuse).
Although the Freccia trains are high speed the track to the south is not so the second option rarely saves more than an hour.
IC trains have a reservation fee of 3 euro and the Freccia has a 10 euro fee (plus any agency fees).
Yes, option 1 will probably be the best since we wouldnt be saving much time. Is the ferry included in the global pass? Thanks!
On option 1 the train actually boards the ferry, where you disembark upstairs and then return to your seat on arrival at Messina. It takes about 20 mins from Villa S G to board, 20 mins on ferry and then 20 mins for train to go to Messina, There is usually 10 to 20 mins on platform at both ends as they disconnect/connect locomotives,
This is the last true boat train in Europe.
Works for me. What is the exact search that fails?
Anyway, the local search engines are sometimes more up to date, for Italy trenitalia.com. For cross-border, bahn.de is an alternative.
Thank you for this information. The search is working if I search for dates within the next 2 weeks, so I just cant look so far ahead. Is the bahn.de included in the global pass?
Just to clarify bahn.de is the German rail planner that actually shows many of the European train times, most of which are operated by member companies of Interrail/Eurail. If in doubt about any trains just post a question on the forum.
+1
Most common reason : you are waaaaaaaaay too early. Up to 2 month advance is what railways offer-sometimes not even that. It is logic that many look at summertrips now and do not realise that or think trains are samesame as planes.
For a global idea: use next week/same day. Times as such will hardly change. As such the local planner is always best, should be evident enough, then comes bahn.de as global for near all of EUR. Other as what many think, EUrail does NOT run any trains, you will not see it as stazione, it is simply a marketing plan now well over 60 yrs to entice tourists to go by train.
R->N has at least hourly frecce=hi speed trains and besides that a fair lot of slower regionale. No need to worry-seats a plenty, also on the day itself mostly.
There are 2, on busy days maybe 3, treni di notte to go to Sicilia. You need with a pass only pay the suplmt for sleeper/cuccette or posti di sedere. 1 comes even from far norte-MIlano, then stops in R then 2-3 hrs later N, the other starts R.
IF you mean by comparing if a pass may be worth it vs normal fares-cannot say now, as you did not state what other trips in mind and age of kids-if they still qualify for the free add-on to your pass.
Awesome, thanks!
It works if I try booking closer to now.
+1
You have 2 options from Rome to Sicily:
Option 1 (my preferred) is the Intercity (IC) direct service from Rome to either Palermo or Syracuse (Siracusa) that crosses the Messina straits on the ferry. This runs a few times during the day and takes about 10 hours. (There is also a night sleeper service).
Option 2 is to take the Freccia service to Vila San Giovanni, then take the passenger ferry to Messina (small charge) and connect with a regional service to Palermo or Catania/Syracuse).
Although the Freccia trains are high speed the track to the south is not so the second option rarely saves more than an hour.
IC trains have a reservation fee of 3 euro and the Freccia has a 10 euro fee (plus any agency fees).
Yes, option 1 will probably be the best since we wouldnt be saving much time. Is the ferry included in the global pass? Thanks!
On option 1 the train actually boards the ferry, where you disembark upstairs and then return to your seat on arrival at Messina. It takes about 20 mins from Villa S G to board, 20 mins on ferry and then 20 mins for train to go to Messina, There is usually 10 to 20 mins on platform at both ends as they disconnect/connect locomotives,
This is the last true boat train in Europe.
Wow! Thats definitely worth doing then!
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