Hi We are coming to Italy in a few weeks and we are traveling from Rome to Florence, Venice, and Milan. We will spend several days in each location and then get up to get ready to leave or see a few more sites. Should we book our tickets early or because we don’t know exactly what time we are leaving can we get them the same day?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23652 posts
The ONLY reason to book ticket early via the internet is to take advantage of discounts that may be available. The probability of the train be full and not available is very, very low. There are three levels of fares -- Super Econ, Economy, and Base. The first two are discounts fares that come with restrictions -- basically no change, no refund. The discounts can be substantial but you are locked into a schedule. The Base fare is the standard fare with refund and exchange. The above applies to all trains EXCEPT the Regional trains. Those trains are like buses on wheels -- cheap fares, no discount, and no reserve seats. No seat available -- stand till one is available. Generally you should only buy Regional train tickets in the station on the day or day or two before travel. On-line Regional train tickets come with additional restrictions.
If you want to see the difference, go to trenitalia.com and check fares for a fake date two or three months from now and you should be able to see the different fares. The discount fares are limited in number by train and those fare tend to sell out quickly.
PS -- Just did a quick check for June 9. The second class fares between Rome and Milan is 56/73/92 euro. That is a fairly typical range.
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
If you desire flexibility, then buy your tickets at the station when you're ready to depart for the next city. It's highly unlikely you won't be able to get tickets on the train you want, and worst case would be a train that departs a half to one hour later. You can save money by buying discounted tickets in advance, but then you're locked into a specific departure time. Both Trenitalia and Italo run high-speed trains on the routes you plan to travel.
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7948 posts
The reasons I buy train tickets a couple of months early are to save a lot of money, and we don’t have to arrive at a train station earlier with enough buffer time to purchase tickets - either through a kiosk or at the ticket window. We know that we’re going to leave a town after breakfast to arrive at the next location around noon, leave off our bags and go see the sites.
Since you’re only a couple of weeks away from your dates, the cheapest train tickets are likely already gone, so there’s not as much savings to buy ahead. And, you could buy your tickets with the Trenitalia app, so you don’t need to wait in line at the train station now.