Many Italians do not have private cars or choose to take vacations by train. Train travel is economical and avoids the expense and hassle of driving and of finding and paying for parking.
Italy is the ideal country in which to take a vacation by train. It is a geographically small country with short distances between locations and has an extensive, efficient, and affordable rail network. An Italian rail vacation can be taken by either taking day trips from a base city or by moving from city to city by train.
Travel from a Base City
Picking one or two base cities and taking day trips avoids the need to drag luggage around and to constantly pack and unpack. Italian cities have many budget-oriented or more upscale hotels located within walking distance of their train stations.
Venice
Venice is well suited to a train vacation since it is car-free and located at the end of a main rail line. Verona and Padua are less than an hour away. Verona is famous as the home of Romeo and Juliet and the Roman arena with its summer operas. Padua has the Basilica of St. Anthony and the Scrovegni Chapel, which holds Giotto’s best known fresco cycle. Just a little farther away is Vicenza, the most important city in Italy for Palladian architecture.
Bologna
Bologna is the meeting point for five mainline rail routes. The university is one of the oldest in the world, and its nickname La Grassa (the fat one) derives from its reputation as the gastronomic capital of a food-obsessed nation.
Day trips from Bologna are possible to Ferrara, a medieval walled city, and to Ravenna, famed for some of the world’s greatest Byzantine and early Christian mosaics. Also nearby are Parma, with its namesake ham and parmiggiano reggiano cheese, and Modena, producer of quality balsamic vinegar and the city of Luciano Pavarotti and Ferrari.
Connect City to City by Train
Rome is a good starting point for a train journey since many flights arrive to its Fiumicino Airport, connected directly to Termini Station by the Leonardo Express train.
Naples is a couple of hours away with frequent trains departing from Rome. The National Archaeological Museum houses artifacts from Pompeii, and the Capodimonte Palace has extensive art collections and stunning views of the city and the bay.
Less than half an hour by train from central Naples are the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, accessible on a small rail line called the Circumvesuviana (which encircles Mt. Vesuvius). A little farther south is Sorrento, a seaside resort and gateway to the Amalfi Coast.
Milan is a main rail hub. Day trips include the art city of Bergamo and Pavia, with its Certosa (charterhouse), a Carthusian monastery.
Milan is the starting point for a train vacation to Italy’s lakes. Lake Lugano, Lake Como, and Lake Maggiore are all easily accessible by train.
One of Europe’s most scenic small gauge rail journeys starts in the small town of Domodossola, goes through the mountains, and ends just over the border in Locarno, in the Italian region of Switzerland, where there are frequent connections to Lugano.
Basic Train Travel Trips
Train schedules are available online at the Trenitalia website. It is not possible for holders of foreign credit cards to make reservations online.
Most train stations have live agents and self-service ticket kiosks with on-screen instructions in English. Always remember to validate a ticket in one of the validation boxes (usually yellow) near the platform before boarding the train or else face stiff fines.
For travel during peak times, especially holidays and weekends, it is worth considering an upgrade to first class. First class seats are not necessarily more comfortable or nicer, but it is considerably less crowded and the price difference is modest.
Annabella Gualdoni - Annabella Gualdoni is a lawyer by education but works an educator and real estate professional. She has bought, sold, and renovated ...
