milan
Mar 31st, 2010, 07:57 PM
#3
Join Date: Oct 2004
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There is no problem at all to buy tickets from train station. There are a lot of windows where they sell, most of the sellers speak or understand some words in English. You can prepare a written list with your destination, day and time .You can buy tickets for the same day or in advance, tickets to one direction or return tickets.
Mar 31st, 2010, 08:09 PM
#4
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The self service ticket vending machines (English instructions, many take credit/debit cards) at all Italian train stations work well most of the time. However, it helps to know ahead of time which trains you potentially want. That is, if you know that on April 1 you will go from Milan to, say, Venice, you will want to know ahead of time what the train options are and what they cost. If you want to travel in the morning, how many trains are there in the morning that day? Sometimes there's an "optimal" train and sometimes there's the same train running once every other our or something. Is it worth it to pay more for a faster train than a slightly slower regional train that may cost 2X more? You can still buy them at the train station once you get there, just know ahead of time what your options are so you aren't surprised when you get there ready to purchase.
I had only one issue with buying a train ticket in Italy last September from a machine. I knew from searching Trenitalia's website ahead of time that the cheapest connection between two cities involved two connecting regional trains - the connection was offered directly by a website query. But when I tried to purchase this combination at the train station an hour before departure, the ticket machine refused to offer the option I'd been expecting. I went to the ticket window and asked and the two regional trains was the option the agent offered without me even asking. Never really figured out why the machine didn't have that option. Be aware of your choices ahead of time.
I had only one issue with buying a train ticket in Italy last September from a machine. I knew from searching Trenitalia's website ahead of time that the cheapest connection between two cities involved two connecting regional trains - the connection was offered directly by a website query. But when I tried to purchase this combination at the train station an hour before departure, the ticket machine refused to offer the option I'd been expecting. I went to the ticket window and asked and the two regional trains was the option the agent offered without me even asking. Never really figured out why the machine didn't have that option. Be aware of your choices ahead of time.
