Good day!
Hello, this is my first time traveling to Italy and we are trying to go from Firenze Santa Maria Novella (Florence) to Pisa Centrale (Pisa) on Sunday, June 11th.
Is it a good idea to purchase our train tickets at the station? Or should I purchase the tickets ahead of time?
That will be a regional train so there is no need to buy in advance. There are no pre-purchase discounts on regional trains so just buy them on the day of travel. Check the website a week or so before you travel to get the schedule of trains for that day. Right now that date hasn't been loaded in the new schedule yet so it's coming up unavailable.
Donna
js,
As previously mentioned, most of the trains on that route will be a Regionale or Regionale Veloce, so there's absolutely no need to buy advance tickets. No reservations are possible and there won't be any discounts on the tickets. I often buy tickets the day prior to travel but you could easily buy them on the day of travel. I normally just use the automated Kiosks to buy tickets, but you could also buy at the staffed ticket office at Firenze SMN (often a long queue).
As you haven't travelled in Italy before, one very important point to mention is that with locally purchased Regionale tickets, you MUST validate (time & date stamp) the tickets prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. If you forget, you'll be subject to hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! This also applies to Metro and Bus tickets. When you buy Regionale tickets, you also MUST specify the date of travel, as the tickets will ONLY be valid for that day.
If entering the SMN station from the stairs on the via Alamanni side, there is a small drugstore right by the station door, it should sell regional tickets as well. Nobody knows and there is no queue at all.
In general, most tobacconists in Tuscany can sell regional Trenitalia tickets as the electronic network for issuing lotto tickets can be used also for issuing regional train tickets, paying minor taxes and bills, etc.
