Getting a night train reservation

May 20, 2009 1:16 PM

Need help making a reservation on the night train from Naples to Venice.

I'm taking a trip to Europe this summer and want to take the night train from Naples to Venice on June 26. I would like a double sleeper compartment for this train. I also have a 2nd class rail pass. I leave for Europe on June 11 and won't be in Italy (arriving in Rome) until June 23.

I wanted to be sure that I had reservations on this train, so I went ahead and booked a double sleeper through Rail Europe. Several days later, I received an email from them saying that they were unable to make the reservation because the train was not in their reservation system yet (which makes me wonder why they are selling tickets for it) and that they would keep trying each day until 5 days before I leave for Europe, afterwhich I'd have to make the reservation locally.

How can I be sure that I have a spot on this train. I'm okay with cancelling the Rail Europe booking if there is another option. Any ideas?

posted by bajema to travel & transportation (8 answers total)

Even if you wait until the 23rd, I doubt you'd have trouble getting a spot on the train. That being said, Trenitalia is another viable alternative.

Do you really want an overnight train? The ride only lasts 6 hours.
posted by alzi at 1:34 PM on May 20, 2009

I did the whole Europe train thing last summer, and for me booking was always a huge nightmare. First, I couldn't find any reliable way to book online, even though I was living in Amsterdam.

So I just went to the ticket counter at the train station. This always works for booking tickets that include the country you are in. Sometimes, but not always, they will book tickets for other countries. I plotted an entire trip through Germany, Italy, and Switzerland from a Dutch ticket station, but when I tried to do the same thing for France and Spain, the agent would only give me tickets that included the Netherlands.

My best advice to you, sadly, is to try to book at a train station as soon as you arrive in Europe. They may give you tickets for Italy, but maybe not. You may end up having to book as soon as you arrive in Rome.

I wouldn't worry too much, though, because only one train I wanted ever sold out while I was traveling, and it was on a major route. I even managed to get Berlin-Paris overnight tickets on three days' notice in the summer.

Hopefully someone else here has figured out a better way; I'd love to hear it too.
posted by martens at 1:40 PM on May 20, 2009

you book italian trains on trenitalia.it (and the site sucks, but at least there's an english version), register, pre-pay your ticket with credit card and save the booking code (print the email they'll be sending you as a receipt). Board the train, show the booking code to the ticket clerk once he passes to check tickets, and he'll print your ticket on the spot. easy as pie...

...if we leave out the fact that I'm not seeing your train at the moment; closest thing I have is the EN234 which covers Rome-Vienna overnight with a stop in Mestre around 1am. Are you sure there is such a train?
posted by _dario at 2:25 PM on May 20, 2009

pre-pay your ticket with credit card

which, reading the fine print, might not work if you have an American Express (that's not registered in Italy). Stupid site.
posted by _dario at 2:27 PM on May 20, 2009

The train shows up on trenitalia.it through June 12. Its my understanding that this is a regular train and it is not showing up online yet because trenitalia is really slow about getting things updated for the summer schedule change.
posted by bajema at 2:35 PM on May 20, 2009

not sure about the fact that if you attempt to book past jun. 12 (which is - as I understand - when the summer schedule kicks in) you get only confirmed trains. Meaning: the train you refer to might not be traveling at all after that date, seeing how aggressively they're marketing the high speed trains. Looking into it tomorrow.
posted by _dario at 3:11 PM on May 20, 2009

Trenitalia
posted by Zambrano at 3:15 PM on May 20, 2009

We recently did the opposite trip (venice -- naples overnight). We booked through trenitalia which, as mentioned, has a totally suck website. It does work, though, if you can figure it out :)

What I'd recommend, though, is not to lash out too much on the double sleeper cabin (as in, the most expensive one). We got the.. second class? Sleeper (4 bunks to a cabin) and it was dandy. Beds are the same size as the doubles, but are much cheaper.

Unrequested advice: If you haven't figured out where you're staying in Naples yet, Six Small Rooms was without doubt the best place we stayed in Italy. Friendly owner (an aussie, natch ;), kitchen, cat, cheap. Basically full of win.
posted by coriolisdave at 4:13 PM on May 20, 2009