advice needed Purchasing tickets for last supper plus itinerary help,

I can only provide a very partial answer.

I believe Last Supper tickets get snapped up very fast, so I would plan to buy as soon as possible after they go on sale. I would check immediately to see whether there's a process for setting up an account in advance, to save time when you are able to buy the tickets. I know we have some folks on the Forum who have bought Last Supper tickets (I have not), and they may have tips for you. It's generally a good idea to have all your credit cards at the ready when attempting to make overseas purchases, because some work better than others. It's also smart to call the toll-free number on the back of each card in advance to advise the issuer that you are going to make a purchase from an Italian website. That may prevent a delay caused by a fraud alert.

I'm confused about your reference to Fiumelatte. I think the train station for Varenna is Varenna-Esino. That confusion aside, I believe the timing should be OK as long as there isn't a catastrophic train delay. You'll have to decide how important the Last Supper is to you. If missing it would wreck your trip, I'd suggest allowing more time, because sometimes stuff happens.

The other top sight in Milan is the Duomo. I don't know what the ticket situation is there. I suspect you need to buy a ticket in advance to go up on the roof (that wasn't the case at the time of my visit ages ago), but I am not certain. The roof is fabulous.

Also popular (and no ticket required) is the historic, multi-level, Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping arcade.

You can save a fair amount of money on the train tickets to Florence by buying non-refundable/non-changeable tickets early, once you are absolutely sure of your schedule. I don't think there would be any savings from buying the Varenna tickets in advance. I suggest buying from loco2.com, which sells at the regular price without service charges. Do not use RailEurope, which is almost certain to cost you more.

One thing I forgot is that we will have luggage that we will need to check. I imagine we would need to check it at the train station in Milan ?? Before going to see the Last Supper. My husband and I will each have a suitcase on wheels ..carry on size. Is there a place to leave luggage at the Santa Maria??

Knowing this should we be getting tickets at a later time, maybe 1:30? And should we then push back our train departure time for Florence.,

It's really difficult to find tickets to the Last Supper, and if you do, you probably won't be able to choose a time slot like that.
I would set up the account first, have everything ready, try to buy the tickets, and then if you manage to buy them, plan the rest of the day around that .

For the Last Suppoer tickets, be online and be ready with multiple credit cards AT 2:30 AM. I was when we bought our tickets for May, and by the time I completed our transaction, almost all of the slots for May and June were sold out.

If you're going to Florence, too, on your trip, buy your tickets to the Ufizzi and Accademia as soon as possible. The same ticket selling service is used for the Last Supper. You'll find out which of your credit cards work for that service. (I went through three before I found one that worked.) When I was online for the Lasty Supper, I already knew which card would be accepted. But also, you'll need to set up a user name for the site. If you've done these two things in advance for Ufizzi and Academia, you'll be ready for the Last Supper ticket-buying attempt.

Use Google, too, since it automatically translates from Italian to English if you allow it. The ticket-buying site does have an English option if you're using Google, Firefox, Explorer or Safari, but the mental fog in the middle of the night might make it hard to find. It was in the lower right, and required that I scroll down, as I recall...

Since everyone else will be logging on at the same time as you to buy tickets, you may get kicked off the server a couple of times. Be patient and persistent.

I tried calling while I also tried buying online. I never got through via the phone.

Good luck!

The web says that tickets open up May 29 th for September tickets. We tried this morning , May 29 th and the site would not let us get to September dates.
We also tried calling and our phones must not allow us to call.
A bit frustrating, don’t want to be trying this at 2:30 am every morning. We are wanting tickets for Sept. 1.
Advice?

We were just in Milan to see the Last Supper, and it was much better than I expected take as many photos as your heart desires and 15 minute with a small group is more than enough time to soak it all in.
There is a promotion happening with Leonardo Davinci 500 ann and 5 museums in Milan includes the Last Supper. you are guaranteed entrance timed entrance and its about 49 Euros. cheaper than the tours and includes other museums. Look for the Leonardo 500 celebration and you'll see a special ticket offer, the central Duomo is also amazing and Milan is a fashionable city.
This 500 celebration is happening in many Italian cities.
I used Loco2 for train travel and enjoyed taking the Italo rail line much more than the trenitalia line when offered. I booked things in advance and with my iPhone app booked as needed on wifi same days for regional rail.
Good Luck

September 1st is the first Sunday of the month so it is a free day,but you still need a timed reservation. According to the website, you can only book reservations for that day by phone. Hope you were able to get through. There are still many other days in September that have any opening, but they are starting to fill up and it sounds like you are only there for that day.

Were you able to get in to buy tickets, but the September dates are still not available? Or was it that you couldn't get in because everyone else (in the world) was trying to access the ticket-buying site at the same time as you? Either situtation is possible.

Also, it's not that you have to wait until 2:30 in the morning... You can buy the tickets any time of day -- as long as there are some for you to buy. They put the tickets up for sale at a specific time (relative to their business day) and then when they sell all the tickets, their done... So if the tickets for September ARE available, you should keep trying until there are no tickets left for the times that work for you.

I've found that buying tickets online for sites in Italy has been a process that requires patience and persistence -- abd some good fortune.

IF - as you said - they made September tickets available on May 29 at 2:30 your time, it's very likely that they have sold out... As I said in my earlier post, in the time it took me to buy my tickets, almost all of May and June slots were gone...

We were not able to get tickets for the last supper due to a lot of frustrating circumstances and have instead booked a 10:45 walking tour of Milan through VedItalia which includes the last supper.
I could use some advice on scheduling details
We will plan to catch a train from Varenna to Milan at 7:30 the morning of Sunday , Sept.1. We should arrive about 8:40 in Milan .We will need to check our 2. bags and then get to the Duomo. I don’t know if we will be able to get inside the church to look around, but would like to do a self guided tour of the rooftop terrace.we will then be in the Duomo Square area where we will meet our tour group.
I need advice on whether we could get back to the train station in time to catch a 3:10 ( 15:10) to Florence. The tour ends at 1:45 . We need to get our luggage and pick up a quick bite to eat at the train station before getting on the train. Or possibly we could carry snack supplies from Varenna with us if time is a crunch.

Bottom line is can we make a 3:10 train or do we need to wait until 4:20 ..originally the next train posted was not until 5:20. We are hoping to get into Florence before 7:00 and get situated in our hotel get dinner and wander the town,

I think you're little tight on time and might have to catch the second train. Take transportation into account, and sometimes there's a line at the luggage place.

Please also note that you can buy the Duomo tickets ahead, on order to skip the ticket line that day. You can visit the terraces and then go visit the church, of there's no mass in course.

Thanks. We will purchase the 4:15 train tickets. Please advise how you can purchase tickets for the rooftop terrace ahead.

We bought our tickets for the Duomo rooftop on the Duomo's website. Go to https://www.duomomilano.it/en/ and then you should be able to purchase tickets. We bought ours to go up by elevator. You still have a few stairs to climb with the elevator. It was definitely a memorable way to see the Duomo. Have a great trip.