Hi!

Does anyone know how to pre book the train tickets from Civitavecchia to Rome via the "Trenitalia.com" site? I've tried and it will not let me do it.

Also, how can one pre book tickets to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel over the Internet prior to my being there in June?

Any help is greatly appreciated

There is no advantage to buying the tickets ahead of time. It is a cummite train that runs about every 1 1/2 hours and costs 4.8 Euro each way. Just buy the tickets at the station when you arrive-save yourself a lot of grief.

Hi Gogetter. We have booked train tickets over the internet on the Trenitalia website. Tickets don't become available for reservation until 30 days prior to your departure date. We checked this out with a travel agent who also confirmed this is how Trenitalia works.
You can prebook Vatican Museum tours by going to www.vatican.va and searching under museum, guided tours. The instructions are all there. You need to fax the Vatican a minimum of 1 week, preferably 1 month, before arriving and give them your preferred dates and times. They will fax you back a tour confirmation which you have 7 days to pay for. Then take the confirmation fax to a separate line up at the Vatican Museum 15 minutes before your tour time and you're in!
Have fun on your cruise!

Thank you both, Ronnie1a and joyceh for your help in getting answers to my questions. I will head your advice.

From what I've seen on the TrenItalia site you can only pre-book the Eurostar trains from outside Italy. The trains between Civitavecchia and Rome are either locals or IC (direct St.Peters and Termini)

gogetter,

You posted earlier that you were looking for someone to share a tour. Are you still wanting someone? My husband & I are interested.

I will just echo some of the other comments. There is no reason (or way) to pre-book the local trains from Civ to Rome. You have nothing to fear and can easily purchase the tickets at the Civ train station either at the window or by using the self-service ticket machines. Do not forget that you must always validate your ticket in the validation machine prior to boarding any train. Those validation machines are conveniently located either near the platform entrance or on the actual platform. As to the Vatican Musuems, keep in mind that you can only pre-book the tours conducted by the Vatican (they are limited in numbers). Otherwise, you would have to wait in line at the entrance for the normal entrance tickets which do not include a tour, but are also cheaper and give you freedom to stay as long as you please. The lines really can vary from a few minute wait to more than an hour depending on time of year, day, and time of day.

Hank