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Healy74
Traveller
1 comments

Posted 13 years ago

Hi there,
Im new to the site, and the reason Im here is to ask for some advice regarding my interrailing trip around Italy this July.

I have been doing research into what trains my interrail ticket will actually allow me to use during my time in Italy. What ive learnt is that Italy appears to use quite a lot of high speed network and eurostar services. I am aware that interrail tickets will not get me onto eurostar however will my ticket allow me to use IC (Intercity) trains?

Another thing is that on the official interrail website when I use the planner tool to check train times in some cases it suggests for instance that there may only be one train a day between milan and venice which isnt eurostar and yet when i use [ux]https://rail.shop/bahn[/ux] it tells me there are more or less intercity trains every 2 hours? Could someone tell me which website gives me the proper train timetables which show me what my interrail ticket will get me on?

Thanks for your help!

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Flo
Traveller
10724 comments

replied 13 years ago

Hi!

In Italy, you can use all trains operated by Trenitalia, Artesia day and night trains to France and the DB ÖBB EC running to München.

Train categories:

AV: High speed trains on the Torino - Milano - Bologna - Firenze - Roma - Napoli route; 10€ reservation required
ES/ES City: High speed trains on other main lines; 10€ reservation required; in the route planners some of those often are described as IC Frecciabianca, but are in fact ES trains with 10€ reservation!

IC: Regular long distance trains; these operate on all main routes but not as frequent as the AV/ES trains; 3€ reservation not required but recommended on longer distances (to have a guaranteed seat)
ICN/E: Night trains; 3€ reservation required but recommended for regular seats; couchettes and sleepers also available, eg 4bed couchette 17,50€, 3bed sleeper 45€

R and RV trains can be used without a reservation. For timetables follow this link :arr: [u]https://rail.cc/en/search-interrail-route[/u]

There is no dedicated InterRail schedule planner, you have to play with the options of those available to get connections eg without extra reservations. It is explained in the link. ;)
If you need further help, just let us know.


Flo 8)

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Healy74
Traveller
1 comments

replied 13 years ago

Thanks a million!

Can I just ask, say Im using the higher speed trains (ES), on top of a reservation fee do I also need to pay a supplementary fee or will my interrail ticket be sufficient?

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Lordmwa
Traveller
117 comments

replied 13 years ago

The eurostar italia trains require a supplement for every trip (this is the reservation)

The webpage showing what is what is here:
[u]https://rail.cc/en/interrail-train-reservation/italy/it[/u]

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nltrainer
Traveller
1405 comments

replied 13 years ago

the fee for the reservation is the same as the supplmt. for the hi-speed it is mostly 10€/trip, less for other trains.
ONLY if you also want to use special overnight sleeper or cuccette space, then you pay extra for that-this includes the reservation. This system is about the same anywhere on the continent. It depends on the route and your willingness of you want to spend extra time on trains if you can avoid it by taking slower/more stops trains.
The 1-country pass is of course ONLY valid in Italy itself and not the sectors on their international trains out of the country. it can also only be used on trenitalia/FS (the national strike-prone state system,) and not various other local-small line operators. Do not worry too much about that-comparable to buses to minor villages.
BTW-it really depends on how far and how much you travel if an IR-certainly for 1 country- ''pays off'' in Italia.