I am on the Trenitalia website to look at trains from La Spezia to Florence. The weirdest thing is that i need to book June 12th tickets, and nothing shows up. However, if I change to June 11th, there are a lot. But nothing on June 12th, or any day after that...
But I think they release the tickets 120 days before? anybody know what's going on?
Thanks
wendy,
The railways do a schedule change twice yearly, and the next one will be on about June 12th. It would seem they haven't uploaded the new schedules yet, so that's the reason you're only seeing results to June 11. The only thing to do is keep checking and eventually the schedules will be posted.
If any of the trains you'll be using are Regionale, there's absolutely no reason to buy those in advance. There are no discounts for advance purchase and it's just as easy to buy them locally (preferably the day prior to travel). However, DON'T forget to validate Regionale tickets prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or you'll risk hefty fines.
Are you starting in La Spezia, or coming from one of the Cinque Terre towns?
Thank you Ken. I am departing Portovenere, going to Florence on June 12th.
The portion from Pisa to Florence is aboard regional trains, which offer no discounts and should not be bought in advance.
The portion from La Spezia to Pisa is served by both regional and faster trains (Intercity or Frecciabianca). This latter portion is not that long, and if you happen to choose a regional train there are no discounts, therefore no reason to book ahead. In addition, even if you take an IC or FB for this portion, the savings that you can secure by booking ahead are not that huge given the short distance and, therefore, IMO, not worth it to lock yourself on a specific departure time.
If I were you, I'd buy the tickets on the spot whenever you get to the La Spezia station on the day of departure.
The schedule is not set for Regionale trains because the schedule and prices are subject to negotiations between Trenitalia and the regional governments. Since there are subsidies involved from the governments' transportation budgets, these negotiations tend to go down to the wire, as you can imagine. How many US state budgets get passed on time? So the Regionale trains are always late getting their schedules and prices finalized. That is the bad news. The good news is that since the Italian taxpayers are picking up a portion of the fare, you get a very good price on the tickets.
The good news is that since the Italian taxpayers are picking up a portion of the fare, you get a very good price on the ticket
My taxpayer relatives in Tuscany would like me to collect your money contributions for financing your travels. They are kind of tired to subsidizing your trips to the Cinque Terre on the regional trains.
Please send me a private message with the amount you intend to pay and I'll give you my IBAN.
