So from my research, it seems that using
http://www.trenitalia.com/ is the best way to get the cheapest fares for Italian trains. However, I'm shocked at some of the prices that I've seen and I'm pretty sure it's more expensive than travelling within France. It seems that I'm looking at about 50 Euros on average for Genoa to Bologna or Venice to Rimini or Florence to Rome. Is it really that expensive to travel by train in Italy or this is considered cheap? Unfortunately I don't qualify for any youth pricing, but I'm not sure if they'll accept international university IDs for student fares. Does anyone here know?