Assisi

No reservations needed. After all, any worshiper can attend mass. The churches are open. I suspect that all of this may refer to the steepness of the hills there and for me, it's best to take the line C bus to the top of the hill and casually visit everything as you walk down. The Basilica Papale di San Francesco is at the bottom of the town. It's your choice on how you want to visit Assisi.

Thank you for the information about the reservation. I have one more question about timing.
If I will have one afternoon and then the following morning and early afternoon, would I be able to see the main sites, Upper and Lower Basilica, and San Damiano in the early morning. I'm hoping the crowds will be lighter in the morning, and I could spend the previous afternoon and evening exploring the town.

I think I would visit San Damiano in the morning and see the Upper and Lower Basilicas the afternoon/evening before. If you feel you might be pressed for time, you can start at the Basilicas and walk back up through the town. Assisi is lovely to be out in during the evening/night. Where is your hotel located? That might help decide your walking pattern.

Thank you for your suggestions. RE: Train travel from Rome to Assisi. Am I correct in my investigation that I can not book a train (high speed,1st class) more than 7 days in advance?

"Am I correct in my investigation that I can not book a train (high speed,1st class) more than 7 days in advance?" No, you've got it backwards. For high speed trains (either first or second class), you can book several months out. The sooner you book, the lower the fare. And, whenever you buy, you get a reserved seat on a particular train, so you have to take that train (or get a heavy fine for boarding a high speed train without a reservation). However, if you don't mind paying "base fare" (full fare), you can just buy these tickets in Italy. Here's a thorough tutorial on this: http://tinyurl.com/c4t693b For regional trains, you can buy advance tickets online only within 7 days, but there's no point. These tickets cost the same whenever and however they're bought. The online tickets actually have more restrictions. And, these trains don't have reserved seats; think of them as a "city bus on rails." You find seats wherever they are empty; if there are no empty seats, you stand. Looking from Rome to Assisi, I see that some involve regional and IC trains (reservations needed), but some involve regional and Regional Veloce trains (no reservations possible). The latter are much cheaper, but take about 45 minutes longer.

Unless they've changed the hours, the lower basilica opens very early, several hours before the upper basilica. Getting there when it first opened, I had the lower basilica and the tomb of St Francis to myself for over an hour before anyone else arrived. Magical. So you could do both the lower and upper basilicas on one day, getting there very early. At the tourism office right by the entrance to the lower basilica, I signed up for a tour guided by an American friar on staff; it was a great way to visit (and at no charge, as I remember). San Damiano does close at midday, like most Italian churches, reopening in the late afternoon. So, depending on your timing, you could possibly do that your first afternoon. I seem to remember hours for most of the churches posted on line. Another amazing place, and far less crowded than the more typical sites, is the Eremo della Carcieri. It's a retreat St Francis used a few km above Assisi, with early (14th C?) friary buildings dating from the time of St Bernadino, set in a lovely deciduous forest. I typically take a taxi up to the Eremo, and if the weather is nice, walk back down. If your schedule allows you a little more time, you might enjoy a day or so more. On my first visit, I was told 1 day was plenty, so I gave myself 2.5 days. Next time back, I gave myself a week to explore and enjoy, and it was great.

Lori, most trains from Florence to Assisi will be Regionale trains. These are the trains for which you cannot buy tickets online more than 7 days out from the time of travel. You can easily buy the tickets you need at the train station either 1-2 days in advance or just before you are ready to board. The trains do not run full and if they did, you can stand. No seat reservations permitted. It's like the LA bus. Regionale trains stop at every stop. Thus, people get on and people get off. Train fare is 14.45Euro one-way 2nd class. You really don't need 1st class. But, you certainly can go 1st class if you want. All you get is a few more inches of seat width and a bit more leg room.