We will be traveling from Siena to Pisa by train for the day, continuing on to Como later that day. Should we reserve our train tickets for both trips in advance?
Posted by
Washington DC
27163 posts
I see nothing but regional trains on the Siena-Pisa trip, so there's no advantage to buying in advance other than avoiding a delay in a ticket line if you for some reason do not use a vending machine. You will not save money by buying that ticket early, and you cannot reserve seats on a regional train.
Pisa to Como is different. There are all-regional itineraries, and you'll always spend some time on a regional train, but some of the departures involve a leg on a faster train (Freccia, Intercity, Thello) somewhere along the line. For those itineraries, you may save some money by buying early, but the lowest promotional fares for the fast-train segments will be non-refundable/non-changeable.
This will be a long day on the trains. Take a look at the schedules and see what you think. I prefer the Deutsche Bahn website for ease of use, but you'll need to go to Trenitalia for fares.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23290 posts
With a couple of exception all of the trains are Regionale. There is no advantage to purchasing a Regionale ticket on-line because the ticket comes pre-validated with other restrictions. There is no discount for Regionale tickets - same price if you buy early or late. No seat reservations available. No seat !! Stand till one becomes available at the next stop. Buy them at the station.