It may not be a surprise for you that we love trains. And planes. And hate buses.

Traveling by train has that unexplained romantic feeling to it and no matter how much I try to put it in words, they always fail me. But then again, “Murder in the Orient Express” (Agatha Christie) also takes place in a train and given the “right” circumstances you may feel like you are about to commit one. But not in Italy!

During our latest two trips within Italy we have used the train quite a bit: from the high speed Frecciargento we took in September 2014, to the Intercity , then the Circumvesuviana line and this year Ferrotramviaria line and the good old regionale (ordinario) trains.

This article focuses on the trains operated by TrenItalia . For the only reason that we have used their services to get around Italy.

Tickets and Train Types

There are two types of train tickets in Italy: with a seat (which do not require validation) and without a seat (which require validation) . You get seat numbers on the high speed trains (InterCity and Freccia-type of trains).

You can buy the tickets with seats online (from TrenItalia), at any “traditional” or online travel agency and from other train tickets providers (including CFR agencies sell these tickets). You can also buy these at the machines located in the train stations. You will get a PNR (exactly that’s how it is called, just like Airline PNRs) and you do not need a paper ticket . You can just show the PNR to the person who checks the “tickets” and you are good to go. You need the PNR to make any changes to the ticket. You will pay a change fee and any applicable fare difference.

The ordinario (regional) train tickets – these are without seats – can be bought from the machines located in the train stations as well as from the train stations per se (good old ticket booths still exist). Don’t expect the workers to actually speak English. My question ” do you speak English?” was always answered with “a little”. Then I proceeded in Italian.

Thankfully, it is easy: “un billeto per Bari” means “a ticket to Bari” (implied from where you are at when you ask!). Once you have that, ask “Binario?” (Platform). For two people its :”due biglietti per Bari” … Of course, change the name of the city to the one you need to get to!

Now pay attention to the following information: on the back of the ticket there are some arrows where it says “validation”. On the platform there’s a green machine where you validate your ticket. Just put it in with the arrows pointing towards the machine. It will make a sound to print out the date and station. Then it will notify you to take it out. You can use your ticket 6h from the moment you validated it, on any regional train which goes between the two cities you bought a ticket between.

Easy, right?

No, no one told us to validate the ticket. I knew because of my initial research in 2014 and because someone in Italy reminded me of that.

Our experiences

In 2014 we took both InterCity and Frecciargento, the latter being the faster one , reaching speeds of up to 252km/h. Both have AC and there if food/drink service (just like in airplanes).

In 2014 we also took an ordinario and again this year. It was a bit “scary” the first time to figure the whole validation thing but we breezed through it this year. Including getting the tickets …in Italian. My Italian was even complimented by the guy selling tickets in Foggia (I admit I was very proud of my language skills).

There was AC in the regional train on the way back to Bari. On the way to Foggia ,the windows were open as the AC was broken.

Even the regional trains have decent speeds, so you will make it from one place to another pretty fast.

Every single person we talked to was very nice to us. Of course, we did our best to speak Italian. They tried in English but, honestly, I preferred to make their live easier since I could.