Hi all, we will be heading to Italy on 7th september, I plan to take a train from Venice to Florence on 10th september evening, then from Florence to Pisa on way to Cinque Terre on 13th evening, and then from Cinque terre to Rome on 15th september evening.
When should I buy the tickets for trains for above mentioned trip, do I need to do it now? How is the best way of buying train tickets?
buy them in Italy. The train station in Venice has self-service kiosks, as do most train stations. You avoid long lines at the ticket window by using these, and they have an english menu. You can either buy them all at once, or as you go. Its better to buy a day or more in advance so you know what time your train will be. You can look at the trenitalia site now to see a timetable if that helps in planning.
You can also buy them now if you prefer. I'm sort of a neurotic mess when I don't plan things ahead of time. Some of the trains require you to reserve a seat in advance, while others are open seating. You can check to see what type of trains you will be taking on the Trenitalia website. If you don't need to reserve seats then you could wait, otherwise you can buy them through a website here in the US, ItaliaRail.com, though the shipping fee is a bit expensive. This would of course, require you to know what time precisely you would want to leave. If you're unclear or want the flexibility in your travel, I would take the previous poster's advice and just wait a couple days prior to your departure.
Thanks Mike and Cathy!
I have a couple of quick questions. I went to trenitalia site. They have something like train categories, Is ES* the best one to take?
My second question- are trains safe in the night in Italy? I am travelling with my husband.
Thanks
Priya, I had wondered myself about the tickets. I read you can get them early (here in the sates) but when I tried to put in my info into the web site mention it wouldn't let me purchase them. I, like you, am going this month (the 18th) and will be spending 2 nights Rome,4 nights Florence,2 Venice. I thought if I purchsed them before we left it would be one less thing to worry about. But............
There is one down side tho'. If we're not done with our sightseeing and booked an early ride lets say from Rome-Florence, we might regret buying the tickets early. Any thoughts anyone?
This question is asked and answered ALL the time. Do a search for past postings. BUT you will notice a constant drum beat, BUY IT THERE, BUY IT THERE, BUY IT THERE ,,,,,,,, Americans are only used to one type of public transit -- airlines -- with limited capacity and crazy ticket pricing. So it is quite natural for us to think that we have to reserve years in advance to get a seat and a good price. Unfortunately some trains lines are adopting the crazy advance pricing. But for the most part, especially in Italy, they have not. We have traveled in peak tourist season (summer months) and have NEVER missed a train. Overnight, sleeping berths is a different isssue but for routine daily train service you can always go. It would have to be a very rare problem to not have a seat for you on any train. BUY IT THERE !!!!!!~
There have been problems with the Trenitalia site...it may have to do with trying to register as you're going thru the booking process. Try registering first, waiting for the e-mail confirmation, then going back to purchase. As earlier posters have said, overnight train fill quickly. But even daytime trains can get booked, especially those on weekends. For those of us who march to the beat of a different drummer, booking ahead makes perfect sense, especially in this day and age of the internet. It removes uncertainty, and I for one don't want to waste my time waiting for the next train. And let's face it, if I can save a few Euro booking in advance, why not? Since governments are becoming more and more constrained in terms of tax revenues, look for national train services to maximize their loads...meaning fewer seats available for the last-minute walk-up customer on longer-haul routes.
I think you need to look at the times you are travelling and from where to where. I travelled from Florence to Genoa on a Sunday and the train was virtually full. Lots of people going visiting and to the beaches. I was pretty glad I had reserved a seat. You're not going on the weekend so you'll probably be fine. If your itinerary is pretty much set and you need to get these trains then personally I would prebook as I stress a little thinking I won't get a seat etc. However it will be cheaper to get tickets in Italy. For us it's about 20% of the price we pay if we have to use Trenitalia's agent. Once in Italy it is easy to buy the tickets as described above. If you don't want to use the machine there are always ticket counters to get them from.
