Italian Trains: The Don'ts of Train Travel in Italy

hey there fellow Travelers Mark here with Walter's world and today we're in Bari Italy and today we're going to talk about are some of the tones of using the trains when you come here to Italy because my first stone for you is don't think you can visit Italy without using the trains because honestly you don't really want to drive throughout the country all the time because the mopeds and the Vespas and the driving can be a bit frustrating so the train is going to be your best option to get around the country to get some of those great day trips from different cities you're going to be using the train so don't think you're going to be able to avoid the train when you're here and another thing you're not going to be able to avoid is don't expect your train to be on time when you're here in Italy now the thing is if you're on a fretchia train which is the super fast trains they're usually on time or relatively on time because they kind of have to give their money back and give refunds if there's any issues sometimes you know so they're pretty much on time however the originality the the regional trains the local trains the the not super fast trains yeah just just know that you're probably gonna have of a few delays when you're here you'll see it on the board it says they don't have the minutes maybe it's five minutes or ten minutes or that's what happened to us in botsano 125 minutes okay so I do want you to know that and I think that's why it's important to mention is don't forget there's actually different types of trains when you come here to Italy okay so you have the fretius those are the super fast trains you have the regional trains like I was talking about originally and then there's original a little bit faster Regional trains that don't stop at every single town because if you're an original that literally stops at every single town along the way and it will take longer to get places because honestly my next dome for you is don't think that the earlier train necessarily gets in earlier that's why it's important to see which train you actually have because sometimes it's just easier like wait a minute that train leaves an hour earlier but gets an hour later yeah because it's the regional and now the fretia oh okay I gotcha now I will tell you this don't think that there are all the same price okay you can't just buy a ticket to Milan and get on whatever train you want you have to make sure you get the right train ticket for the right train because the prices will vary widely when it's the kind of train you're gonna take that's why it's important when you're buying your tickets to make sure you indicate which train you do want to take okay and and one thing I got to tell you is you know don't be surprised if you have a long line at the ticket window and that's why you'll go to the kiosks that are there and that's what's really cool train Italia and some of the private train lines here like Italo they'll have their own little kiosk you can go there and buy your tickets there it'll switch to English and it's super fast so don't be surprised if you're using those kiosks a lot more than you go up and actually talk to people but I will warn you this don't accept help at those kiosks from anybody except train Italia or Italo the private carriers their personnel because if you're in Roma Termini or if you're in Florence in the station there or Venice sometimes people are there to help you but the more help themselves to see what you have or or look for a tip so don't worry if you got your way all the way to Italy you can figure out how to use those kiosks to buy your tickets without the extra help and one thing I got to tell you is you don't have to buy the tickets at the station you can buy your tickets online and don't forget to buy your tickets early because if you pre-buy your tickets at trainitalia.com you can save major bucks okay we've been traveling for a month around Italy Jocelyn Liam and myself we've saved over 500 euros buying our tickets a week in advance because we got all these great deals so don't wait to buy your tickets because also when it's busy tour season those Frets you have fast trains have limited number of seats and they sell out okay so don't wait to buy save the money and guarantee your spot and if you're a Euro rail person that's going to come through on Euro rail or into rail don't forget you still have to buy a reservation for that seat on those you know fast trains on the fretia trans okay okay so so just be a heads up on that one and and I think another thing I forgot to mention with the different types of trains don't expect a train that's an EC to be on time because Euro city trains are usually coming from another country so they're coming from hours an hour eight hours away ten hours away and so little delays there and there it can really add up because that almost two hour delay we had that was for an EC so if you have a choice choose a train that starts in Italy because their delays will be shorter than some of the trains to start from outside of Italy if you do get a physical ticket to go onto a train look for a little like Stampy thing I don't know how else I caught but you will actually insert your ticket in there to get it stamped to validate it okay because you don't want to get on without a validated ticket that can be problematic if you buy your tickets online it's on your phone so it's already taken care of you don't have to worry about it but don't forget to validate you know if you're going to use the circum vesuvia train line from Naples to Pompeii you've got to take your ticket boop boop and stamp it in because if someone comes on the train and you you don't have it validated you could get a fine okay now no matter what train you take whether it's the super cool fretshit train towards the regional trains where it's or it's just like the local train going out to cheetah Dela from you know Vicenza don't expect a lot of luggage space I mean you gotta Pack Light when you're traveling to Italy I know you're thinking but there's so much great fashion I've got to look good everywhere I go yeah but you don't have space I mean literally those big suitcases you won't have anywhere to put them okay you want to be carry-on size and make sure you can lift it up and put it over your head okay now if you're in first class or the business class sometimes they have extra space for bigger luggage but man it can be a bit tight in a luggage space and hey I've seen this way too many times if you've got too much luggage and someone offers to help you to bring your luggage onto the train which someone will if you're in Rome or someplace like that don't forget to watch your wallet and your stuff while they do that because some of them are helpful and some of them aren't and I'm not talking about the official train Italia people I'm talking about random people that are helping you to put your stuff on the train because this is where I've seen people get a pickpocket here a bag lost there something missing out of their bags so you do want to be careful that's why don't bring a lot of luggage when you're gonna be taking the trains in Italy now the next stone I have for you is something that's going to help you when you're at the train station and that is don't forget these two words are arrivals so when you see the board up there you want to see arivi oh that's arrivals I'm partenzi that's departures okay and if you see the schedules on the wall like they'll have posters up the arrivi their Rivals will be in white and then the departures will be on a yellow piece of paper and when you're trying to figure out the arrivals and departures and you're at the train station another donut I have for you is don't ever ever not pay attention to your bags your wallet your stuff when you're at train stations here in Italy whether you're in the launch in Tralee you're hearing trolley or you're in one of the Venice stations you do need to pay attention to your things just because when there's so much commotion those are the kind of places that pickpockets work and so it's easier to to kind of swipe somebody's stuff when they're so yeah like so overwhelmed with what's going on so do always pay attention also if you're gonna be taking local trains when you're going on and off like the city trains don't forget to pay attention because getting on and off the trains is also an easy way like on the Metro that's a good place to pickpocket now another little helpful hint I have for you is don't forget to hit the head before you head to the station because the toilets in the train stations aren't necessarily one free and two super clean so you might want to go before you go just so it's kind of out of the way now on most the trains you have the truck the train toilets are trained toilets so when people are going to the bathroom on the train aiming is difficult let's say so that's why I always recommend to go before you go I know it sounds silly but honestly it makes a difference now another thing I'm going to tell you is don't forget to grab some food before you get on the train because there are on the fetches and the fast trains a lot of times there are restaurant cars you can go on but I find that the food choices are limited and it's a little more pricey it's not bad but it's not a super cheap thing but what's cool is a lot of the train stations around Italy there's actually a supermarket or a smaller kiosk or Market that's right there in the station so you can go get a snack you can go get some meats and cheese you get some drinks there's some snacks there to take with you to save yourself some money because if you're on that train from Venice to Naples that's like six hours long and so you're gonna need a little bit of snack time when you're there oh that house for number one thing don't be afraid to book first class tickets because if you're booking early those first class tickets booked early are actually usually cheaper than getting second class tickets or economy tickets the day you're going to depart so why not have a bit more room and a plug for your phone and and free internet and sometimes they bring you drinks when you go through there why not check that out now it doesn't always work but it's worth looking into and you notice I'm sweating kind of bit and that's one thing I want to tell you is don't be surprised if the trains get a little hot when you're traveling around Italy in the summer now the French shoes will have have the AC but those Regional trains the circum vesuvia going to Pompeii from Naples we can get a little hot so make sure you're staying hydrated make sure you have something you know get the windows open because it can be a little uncomfortable I remember we were going from bologna to Ravena both great places by the way and we were on the local train and it was so hot Liam was a baby at the time or about one and we were all so hot you could literally see the veins because we were all so hot in there so do be safe with that now another thing I got to mention to you is since there's so many tourists that come here in the summer and sometimes trains have issues sometimes they actually switch the trains around so if you're in a fretia don't be surprised if there might be a flub and there might be two people booked in the same seat as you because really don't worry they'll figure it out because you don't want to get all over with the conductors because I'll be honest the train conductors here in Italy like that they go around they are super helpful and super friendly I mean honestly probably most friendly and helpful I've gone on bin and had in Europe so just let them help out and figure out the situation if there's a little flub okay and if you're getting a little frustrated on the train or you're getting a little hot don't forget to look out the window because when you go through Italy you'll see beautiful Fields but also you'll pass by historic cities and towns you might be like hey was that a palace that we just went by was that an incredible church we just went by is that the dolomites yes you will see beautiful views out those windows so don't forget to put down your phone and look out and take in the views on your train Italia trains don't get freaked out when you're doing the local trains and everybody goes gang crazy to get on the train as soon as possible since car to get off just know that's the way it is now another important thing you need to realize is don't think every main train station in Italy is chintale now Milano chintale so Milan Central Station yeah those do have that but if you're going to be going to Florence no Florence is ferenze Santa Maria Novella that's the main station you go to okay if you're going to go to Venice you'll hear Venezia Mestre and you'll hear Venezia Santa Lucia so if you want to go to actually Venice on the island the one you want is Venezia Santa Lucia that's the one that's actually on the island Venezia mystery is in mystery that's on the mainland so there's a very big difference so you're going to go in make sure you go all the way into Santa Lucia if you're going to Venice okay I'm just gonna go to Verona Verona is Verona Porta Nueva so you have different names for it so make sure you're paying attention because some cities actually have multiple stops on the train and you want to make sure you get off on the right one okay like Roma is Roma Termini the terminal station so I think you'll be able to figure that one out but I just want you to know that not all of them are Central stations just to make sure you're okay now you know I mentioned those delays before and I think it's important that I mention this don't think if you have a tight connection you're always going to make it especially if you're going regional train to Regional train or local train to something else because those delays add up and if you have a 10 minute connection you might not make it so that's what we do if we know that we have for example we're going to go from puyada Amare to here in Bari then Bari to Rome now there's a train from planiamare to Bari that gets in like 10 minutes before our frechia train going I'm not willing to take that chance we'll actually take the train earlier to get into here and then have a little bit longer layover at the Bari chintale station to make sure I get that fretshit because you know those connections sometimes don't always make it now another thing that's really helpful is that you download the app the train Italia app because you can buy your tickets on there keep everything on there and when they ask for your tickets just open up the app and they scan it I mean you can can also just download the PDFs and they'll scan that too but the app is really helpful especially if you're looking for train times like when could I go someplace it's super simple to use but also I'll be honest with you the train Italia website is super simple too so don't be afraid to use that but I gotta tell you this don't think you can get all of the trains from the app and all of the trains on the website because some of the private train lines like the Italo train lines you might need to go to their website to find their tickets because sometimes that every actual train goes through because we were in caserta north of Naples and an Italian train to Bari went by and I'm like huh why didn't that one show up when I was searching oh because we're on the train Italia Frenchie I want okay so be aware of that now if you're going to get reservations don't forget to look and see where your reservation is because it'll have carrotso which is the car you're in and then it'll have your seat number okay so make sure you get in the right one and on the outside of the doors as the trains go by it'll say oh this is car R1 this is card two or this is card 259 260 and so then you can get in the right train because a lot of people just hop on like oh I'm seat 7B like no you're 7B in car three this is car one oh right so just to avoid some of that confusion just don't forget to look on your actual car okay not just the seed number now I know I'm talking about train travel but I think it's also important we talk about train travels sometimes you can use train stations as kind of a base of operations if you want to see a city for a day but you don't want to spend the night so don't forget about the left luggage option at a lot of the bigger train stations in Italy where you literally just pay a few euros and they'll keep your bag for you so if you don't want to deal with the tourist Horrors in Florence which who can make you sweaty mad like I am now well you can go to the left luggage leave your bag there spin the day going around Florence and taking it all in and then head back to the train station get your bags and head to Luca to spend the night or go down to Rome or head up North and then you don't have to worry about it because those deposited Bugatti is really kind of a helpful thing okay because it'll let you visit a City without paying for a hotel but also don't think that that's just at the train station there's actually a whole network of places that will let you leave your luggage so you can look that up okay and then I think another thing that's really important is if you want to visit the North and the South of Italy don't think that train is your only option there's actually a lot of cheap flights if you want to fly from Venice down to here in Bari or if you want to go from you know Milan to Sicily I don't know if you really want to do that long long long long all-day train ride you could just fly down there as well okay so you've got lots of options there for you don't worry about it you have a great time on the trains in Italy yes a couple times it might be a little hot a little sweaty a little frustrating a little delayed but it's always going to be worth it so I hope this helps you know what to do and not do when you do take the train here in Italy because you're going to have to as a tourist because it's the way you see this beautiful country so if you have other don'ts for taking the train in Italy put we can help other Travelers come in here to Italy to enjoy their time and I wish you all the best I'll say ciao from here in Bari

Channel: Wolters World

Views: 251,204

Keywords: travel, europe, wolters world, travel advice, tourist attractions, travel vlogger, honest travel, Walters World

Id: UUjACesoQ2Y

Length: 15min 43sec (943 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 14 2023