Getting around by train Italy

When you arrive by train in Santa Lucia, you will suddenly experience an absolute sensation of disorientation. Venice simply jumps out at you! The view of the Grand Canal is superb. Vaporetti 1, 2, 4.1 and 5.1 dock 20 meters away to take you to Rialto or Piazza San Marco, among others. The Santa Croce and Cannareggio neighborhoods are available to you if you prefer to walk. But take your time if you need to. There are many restaurants and stores, as well as tourist information desks in the main hall.

Located on the Via Roma axis, a strategic point of the city, it is the main railway station of Turin and the third largest railway station in Italy. All the main Italian cities are accessible by taking the train here. Built between 1861 and 1868, the roof of the station is a 48 m high wrought-iron armour, which was considered an architectural feat for the time. A ten-minute walk separates Porta Nuova from the city centre, but you can also take metro line 1 and tram lines 4 and 9.

The Italian railway network is rather dense. Trenitalia-Ferrovie dello Stato manages the national lines and there are many other regional companies providing local transport. Timetables are posted at all stations but are not always reliable and delays are common, although the situation is improving. Nevertheless, the train is a rather comfortable way to travel, and is particularly economical. Italian fares are among the cheapest in Europe.

Sassari: a dozen trains a day. Duration: about 45 minutes. 20 €.

The station is very busy, even crowded in high season, with tourists and vacationers... Here you'll find the official Cinque Terre National Park office, as well as a café-bar, fast-food outlets and tobacconist. Numerous daily connections to all towns served by the La Spezia - Sestri Levante line. Daily direct trains to Genoa and Milan are plentiful, as are those to Rome, Parma and Florence. Connections to Pisa airport.

Pisa's main train station serves most major Tuscan towns (Grosseto, Lucca, Livorno, Volterra, Cecina...) and Italian cities (Turin, Milan, Rome...). Trains leave every 30 minutes for Florence Santa Maria Novella (an hour and a half journey). The main bus stops are in the square opposite the station.

If you're travelling by car,near the station, you can leave your vehicle in the pay parking lot in piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (€4/hour, sometimes with special offers in summer).

The central station of Rome was begun shortly before the Second World War, it is a modern building, close to the rationalist aesthetic of the 1930s. It houses all kinds of stores. Roma Termini serves all regional destinations (Fiumicino airport, Tivoli...) and many national and European destinations.

Luggage storage (follow the signs: deposito bagagli in Termini): located in via Giolitti.

Car rental. The main car rental companies (Europcar, Avis, Hertz...) have their counters on the Via Giolitti side.

The two stations are close to each other, which is very convenient when arriving in town by train. The train station provides frequent and regular connections with all the major Italian cities.

The historic center can be reached on foot, but buses can also be used to get to the center or to some of the more remote accommodations.

Buses 25 and 30 take you to the city center. On foot, from the train station, take via Indipendenza.

There are two main train stations in Genoa, Brignole (east) and Principe (west), at almost equal distance from the center, which can be reached on foot or by bus. Luggage lockers in both. Principe is the main rail hub of the area, but most trains also stop in Brignole. The metro connects the two in a few minutes (tickets available at tobacconists). For any connection with France, change trains in Ventimiglia, from there direct trains to Nice and Menton. Otherwise, you have to go through Milan or Turin.

Italy's railroads. Frecciarossa high-speed trains link several major Italian cities. Book in advance on the Internet to save money on these lines. To get around Rome, however, always use regional trains. They're a little slower, but often a lot cheaper! What's more, their fares don't vary according to date, but only according to kilometers traveled: so you can buy your Roma-Anzio ticket at the last minute. How convenient!

Direct connections every 30 minutes with Bologna (30 minutes) where many changes are made to Italy.

This station, Turin's second largest after Porta Nuova, serves European destinations (including France with TGV trains to and from Paris-Gare de Lyon) and local destinations such as Milan. Opened in 1868 and completely restructured in 2013, its futuristic architecture is part of Turin's urban renewal projects. The city center can be reached on foot in 15 minutes, but you can also take metro line 1 and streetcar lines 10 and 13, as well as numerous buses. You can also take the train to the airport.

Lombardy's main railway hub, the station is just a few metro stops from the historic center. It is widely recognized for its history and architecture: the grandiose mass of the central station (207 meters long) was solemnly inaugurated on May 15, 1931. A triumph of Mussolinian neoclassicism, its walls are adorned with reliefs and statues embodying the symbolism of the regime. Restored between 2005 and 2010, it is Italy's second-largest railway station, with an annual passenger flow of around 120 million.

The railway station is located in the south of the city, just outside the city walls, 10 minutes walk from the historic centre. On the Venice-Belluno or Venice-Bolzano lines, departures every 30 minutes or so. Direct connections with Venezia Santa Lucia (30-40 minutes, ticket between 3 and 5 €) and Vicenza (1h10). To Verona, change at Mestre or Vicenza (1h40-2h). To Padua (50 minutes-1h), some direct connections but most often with connections to Mestre or Castelfranco Veneto. Check-in at the station (on the platform on the right as you get off the train).

Daily trains between Padua and Venice, approx. every 30 minutes. To Verona, a train about every 20 minutes, between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. There are also connections to Milan, Bergamo and towns south of Lake Garda. Just outside the station, you'll find a tourist office and the terminus of the bus station, from which many regional buses depart. On the right is the streetcar stop for the city center (SIR 1 for Prato della Valle). On foot, it takes a good 15 minutes to reach the Place des Seigneurs.

Ravenna is located on the lines Ferrara-Ravenna-Rimini, Bologna-Castelbolognese-Ravenna and Faenza-Ravenna. Many connections per day.

Five minutes walk from the famous ramparts, the small railway station of Lucca is located on the Viareggio - Florence line and is the terminus of the lines to Pisa and Aulla. It is operated exclusively by regional trains (the most important station in the province of Lucca is located in Viareggio).

Italo, the high-speed train, the result of the technological creativity of the Alstom group, which competes with the national company Trenitalia by offering competitive fares (numerous promotions on the website) and by advocating flawless punctuality. Italo offers daily connections between Rome (from Termini and Tiburtina stations) and Milan, Turin, Venice, Padua, Florence, Naples, Salerno... This can be an opportunity for a day trip, or to arrive in Italy from a city other than Rome.

Santa Maria Novella (SMN) is the main railway station of Florence. It is located northwest of the historic center, in the eponymous Santa Maria Novella district. A dense network of buses allows you to travel from the station to all the neighborhoods, but also to the surrounding cities (shuttle to/from the airport of Pisa in particular). The station is also served by the T1 and T2 streetcar lines (the recent T2 line provides a direct link with the airport).

After the Stazione di Milano Centrale, this is one of the most important stations in the city: about 25 million passengers pass through every year. It is used by suburban, regional and national trains, as well as the TGV (high-speed train) connecting Milan and Paris (Gare de Lyon). From this station, you can reach the cities of Bergamo, Cremona, Varese, Turin, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples and Salerno by train. The station was opened in 1961 and takes its name from the nearby Garibaldi Gate of the ancient city walls.