Here it is, potentially the nerdiest post I'll publish on this fair blog, a post about trains.
It's not a post about train types or anything, but more some lines of appreciation on just how good the train system is in Italy. Trains here in the UK are ridiculously expensive, so mostly I would get a coach if travelling between Cardiff and London. I did get to experience first class train travel on a work trip to Edinburgh, and it was glorious, but normally it's a coach for me. I've mentioned previously that having a base in Bologna was great for getting to other locations, as it was really well connected. There are two main Italian train websites we used during our trips, TrenItalia and Italo Treno. TrenItalia was normally the website of choice, and the prices were a very welcome surprise. They were very reasonable, with most trips between the northern cities we visited costing between 5 and 20 Euro's. Italo Treno was used for our longer trip to Rome I believe, and was still very reasonable, certainly a lot cheaper than the UK.
The train's themselves were brilliant, all arriving on time I believe, and very nice inside. The train we took to Rimini (a very popular beach town) from Bologna was very busy, and we just about found seats, but masks are worn everywhere, and it felt safe, which is a prerequisite for many during these Covid 19 times. The regional trains we took with TrenItalia did stop a lot, but it was never super annoying, especially with the Italian scenery and Mediterranean Sea your reward if you can stop yourself staring at your phone.
Some of the new trains were beautiful, with the interior having a bit of a budget space station feel. There were lots of chargers available which is great in this day and age, the seats are comfy, and as mentioned, the tickets are cheap.
Even the train stations themselves can be found in beautiful places! This station in Venice was amazing. Walking out and seeing the famous canal's was wonderful, and the station is just as impressive from the outside.
There was one shock during my many train journeys though, it rained one of the days. Unbelievable.
I'll be honest, I don't travel just to experience other countries public transport, but more often than not, it's a pleasant experience. It's cheaper, the scenery is often prettier, and schedules are generally adhered to. The websites often have English language version's, and booking is nice and easy. I'd recommend any of the two I have linked to if you need to travel during your Italy visit.
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