Nice to Venice by Train -- TGV-Europe won't allow in station pick up

Actually, it is possible to book Nice-Ventimiglia on tgv-europe.com; but there is no need to do so. Buy your ticket in Nice. The fare is €7.00. You will be taking a regional train, there is open seating, and your ticket will be good on any train. Book Ventimiglia-Venezia Santa Lucia on trenitalia.com.

You used to be able to do Nice Ville to Venice on Trenitalia but no more. Trenitalia no longer accepts Nice Ville (at least when I try it). What you can do now is buy the ticket from Ventimiglia to Venice now if you can get a good deal or just wait until you get there. Here's a LINK to what I see on July 12. You didn't indicate your travel date. There are some nice fares if you are willing to lock yourself into a specific train and departure time. You should be able to print this ticket out at home.

Nigel, that makes perfect sense, thanks for the clarification. And yup, that's exactly the one I'm looking at. Checked db.de and it looks like our options are pretty clear, book Trentimiglia to Venice on trenitalia and buy the regional ticket in Nice when we arrive. Thanks for all the help! Cheers,
Kyle

Perfect, thanks, this is exactly what I was looking to know. Do either of you know if Nice > Ventimiglia, Ventimiglia > Venice is the most efficient Route? Or would, perhaps Nice > Milan, Milan > Venice be more efficient? Right now with the current route (switching in Ventimiglia) it will take 7 hr 45 min. Thanks again, much appreciated.

You will go through - and probably change trains - in Milan either way.

Kyle, Have you used the Bahn website which clearly shows virtually all trains in Europe? The reason you may not be able to see what you want on TGV's website is that there are no high speed trains on the French side of the border for your trip, and no high speed trains on the Italian side of the border, at least not until Milan. All reasonable itineraries will route you via Ventimlglia (where you will certainly change), Genova (Genoa in English, where you may stay on or change depending on your route), Milano (where you will certainly change) and either direct from Milano to Venezia S Lucia or via Bologna (where you would change). The only reasonable connection taking the 7:45 (the rest are about an hour slower) is the 7:55 from Nice Ville, change Ventimiglia and Milano. Is that the one you are looking at?

All booked -- final question, the tickets are "electronic delivery." That means once I print them, I'm good to go?

Kyle, you should be good to go. Hope you got a good fare. The important part of your "ticket", which is an 8-1/2x11" piece of paper, is the 6-digit PNR code. The conductors in Italy carry a wireless PDA. They input this code to validate your ticket. Works great.

Got it, thanks!