1st or 2nd class trains?

[Tintown]

When travelling by train in Italy do you buy 1st or 2nd class tickets? I was wondering what difference it made. We will be doing the overnight from Rome to Paris and will get 1st class for that so that we can get sleepers, but if you are just taking a 1 - 2 hour journey, which would you buy? Also, what is the difference between the two?

[carlmm]

When travelling by train in Italy do you buy 1st or 2nd class tickets? I was wondering what difference it made. We will be doing the overnight from Rome to Paris and will get 1st class for that so that we can get sleepers, but if you are just taking a 1 - 2 hour journey, which would you buy? Also, what is the difference between the two?

 

First class is a little bit more spacious and more comfortable. These differences are bigger on the fast long distance trains than on normal and commuter trains. The main advantage might be that first class is most of the time less crowded.

Nevertheless second class is in my opinion sufficient especially for short journeys with local trains like Civitavecchia to Rome, Livorno to Florence etc.

[GSPLover]

2nd class buys you passage on the train. It does not guarantee you a seat. This means that there may be more passengers than there are available seats. I have gone from Pisa to Rome (and return) in 2cl and have stood the entire way because it was crowded and no seats.

 

Another difference in the summer. Air conditioning. Open windows versus real air conditioning!

[eh2zed]

We always get a first class rail pass. Certainly nice on the longer hauls. Some short commuter type hauls don't have a first class car.

[sfocruiser]

2nd class buys you passage on the train. It does not guarantee you a seat. This means that there may be more passengers than there are available seats. I have gone from Pisa to Rome (and return) in 2cl and have stood the entire way because it was crowded and no seats.

 

Another difference in the summer. Air conditioning. Open windows versus real air conditioning!

 

The first question would be if you carrying luggage. If yes then the 1st class might be worth it. Less crowded, more room. When we went from Venice to Rome (with cruise luggage) we spent the extra $$ and were glad for it.

 

If its just a one or two hour day trip then 2nd class should be fine. You'll meet more locals that way (the only people we saw on the Eurostar fast trains were tourist and businessmen).

 

The Kiosks at the train stations are in english and easy to use (plus you don't have to wait in the usual long lines). When we went from Bologna to Parma we entered the station 10 minutes before the train departed bought our tickets at the Kiosk and made it on the train with time to spare. One thing to watch out for is some 2nd class trains have (and in fact require) reervations. These are usually the fast EuroCity (EC) or InterCity trains (IC). Just check your ticket and see if it lists a Car # (Carrozza) and Seat # (Posto).

 

Here is the link to the Italian Train Site

 

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html