Rail travel in Italy has been transformed over the last 40 years by the opening of new high-speed routes. The first dedicated fast line, from Florence to Rome, opened in 1977. The fastest trains, called Frecciarossa, now dash from Milan to Rome (570 km) in less than three hours.

But speed is not compulsory: there is a good network of slower lines extending to every corner of the country. First-time visitors to Italy often focus on the legendary trinity of ‘must-see’ cities: Venice, Florence and Rome – with Verona and Milan both rightly claiming that they should not play second fiddle to that star trio. All five deserve a visit, but remember there is much more to Italy than just big cities.

The principal national rail operator in Italy is Trenitalia, which faces competition from NTV Italo on the high-speed routes from Turin, Milan and Venice to Rome and Naples - and latterly also on the east-west route from Venice via Verona to Milan. NTV's market share is very modest (still under 10%), but its very existence keeps Trenitalia on its toes.

Rail travel in Italy is generally extremely good value, and upgrading to first class (or other premium classes such as executive or business) is affordable too. On high-speed lines we think the benefits justify the higher price, for example travelling between Milan and Venice on board a chic Frecciarossa, it costs only a little bit more to upgrade to one of the premium classes.

Italy enjoys an excellent range of international rail connections. There are fast TGV services from Paris to Turin and Paris to Milan. There are direct daytime EuroCity services from Geneva, Basel, Zurich, Munich and Vienna to cities in northern Italy. Look out too for theThello Eurocity service from Milan to Marseille.

There are cross-border local services between Italy and Switzerland as well as direct trains from Trieste into nearby Slovenia and direct links from Trieste to Austria (daily buses run by Austrian rail operator ÖBB supplemented by train services at weekends).

About two dozen cities in Italy have year-round direct overnight trains (not necessarily every night) to destinations beyond Italy's borders. There are daily sleeper services to France, Germany and Austria. There are also plenty of overnight trains serving domestic routes within Italy.

We offer the full range of train tickets for journeys to Italy, as well as providing tickets for trips within Italy. It's possible to mix-and-match tickets from Trenitalia and Italo, and get the best deals and cheap fares from both rail operators. Check out our excellent range of city guides with descriptions of key journeys to those cities.