Buying Train Tickets in advance or when I arrive in Italy

Well there are certainly two schools of thought on this and both have, I think, equal merit. Tickets will be less expensive if bought in Rome. Lots of trains every day. Go to www.RAILEUROPE.com and check out the schedules, prices, transit times etc. (free resource). Yes yes all you out there I know there are other vendors/rail sites... it's just a thumbnail data point. If you want to know when and at what time you'll be leaving (with a reserved seat) buy on-line if that sort of peace of mind is important to the overall tenor of your trip. Do make sure you get a high speed train, well, fast train, vs. a local train. Trip should be o/a 3 maybe 4 hrs. plus/minus (I forget so clearly it wasn't much or I'd remember it). You do want a DIRECT train to Venice's Santa Lucia Station the terminal of which is facing the canal.

Buying your tickets at home ('print at home') will be cheaper. The fast trains will take just under 4 hours and cost - on the day of travel - €76/104 (2nd/1st class - 2nd is absolutely fine on this very nice train). If you buy it ASAP at home, the price can be as low as €53 (perhaps lower; don't know your dates and time preferences). Each train only has so many lower-priced seats, so the earlier the better. You can also pay as little as €27 per 2nd class ticket, but that train takes 6h13m...FYI, they are both direct trains (no changing trains during travel). If you're in no hurry, and would like to see the landscape at a slower speed while you eat and chat with your travel mate(s), then this might be the train for you. 4 vs 6 hours isn't really terribly different. Remember to multiply € by 1.5 for $, as of Sept 2011. Go to the Italian rail site to get this info and book your tickets: http://www.trenitalia.com/ Click on the English flag at the top center of the page. You have to pick a particular train and click 'continue' to see the best fare offered for that train. These MINI fares allow, WITH RESTRICTIONS, refunds and ONE change to your ticket - READ CAREFULLY the info given for each ticket and ticket-delivery method type. If you're asking if you can wait and not risk a full train, then yes - you'll be able to get a seat on a train. If might be an earlier/later train or a different class than you want, but that's not really likely.

Thanks for your advice Eileen! I will definately look into buying our tickets this weekend :)

I have a cautious thought. Are you arriving by plane and then directly heading for the train for Venice? If no, buy in advance and go for the mini-fares. These are great deals. However, if you are heading directly for the train, please note that if you buy in advance, you are purchasing tickets with a specific departure date and departure time. Planes are often late and if you buy your departure time to close to your plane arrival (i.e. 2-3 hours), you could lose your ticket altogether. Clearing immigration and taking either a taxi or the Leonardo Express train to the Rome Termini train station will take you about 1hr 45 min give or take as the Leonardo runs every 30 minutes. Therefore, you want to factor in any possible plane tardy time. In the best of all situations, you're in Rome Termini for a couple of hours waiting for your specific train but you did save a lot of Euros. Plus, you might be able to exchange for an earlier train but I'm not sure about that one with mini-fares.

Good catch, Larry - there was no mention of being 'newly-arrived', but Jacqueline, IF you are planning on traveling as soon as your plane arrives, that's a great time to pay full-fare at the ticket counter...airplanes have a habit of arriving late... The MINI fares I've looked at (and I'd assume they're all the same, but ALWAYS read the restrictions!) allow you to exchange your ticket for one later, but NOT earlier...

No we will have plenty of time from Rome to Venice as we will have been there for a few days already :) Thanks Larry & Eileen!

No matter how you get there it will be wonderful. Have a great time!