how far in advance train reservations?

Personally I would wait. In the all years of traveling via train in Italy we have never had a problem obtaining tickets and we are normally traveling in June and July. In September I would think it would be easier. But, having said that, who knows. Most of us in the US have been trained by our airlines to expect problem with late reservations. But you have do what you are comfortable with doing.

Unfortunately, if you want tickets in advance for this journey, you will have to buy from a broker. I can see the 3.5-4.0hr run from Verona Porta Nuova to Innsbruck hbf with a standard 2nd class fare of 40Euro. But, it appears that travelers are having great difficulties purchasing from the Trenitalia website (including me who used to have no problems). You could go to www.bahn.de, the great German railsite but they won't show you a price or sell you an online ticket for a journey outside of Germany. You could try the Austrian railsite www.obb.at but you better be able to speak their language. www.italiarail.com, a broker, won't show the run or the price. It tells you that you should buy a railpass. Lucky you.

That leaves www.raileurope.com, a broker, to buy your tickets in advance. Their cost is $67 or 44.66Euro. It seems to disturb you to pay extra to a broker but $7.00 extra is not a big whoop if you must have the ticket.

Your last choice is to buy the tickets when you arrive in Verona or other earlier location in Italy. Yes you really can. It's not like the U.S. Passenger trains are a way of life in Europe. There are nine trains a day making this run including one night train. If you do wait until you get there and buy early, you can try for the limited SMART fare of 19Euro. If they haven't all been gobbled up, you can get this special fare.

Wait and get them there. I have never had a problem.

There are about a dozen runs on September 1st between Verona and Innsbruck, so you shouldn't have any problems purchasing them...do it as soon as you arrive in Verona to ease your mind that you have them. You can call the Austrian national rail system (http://www.oebb.at/en) to purchase them....but they only deliver them by mail, and two weeks isn't long enough to ensure they'll arrive in time.

Thanks all for your thorough responses. the reason I don't want to pay raileurope the exta $7.00 per ticket is that we need to buy 3 tickets, and we qualify for the familia discount which cannot be bought through raileurope ( I asked.)

Larry, tell me what or who qualifies for this smart fare? I did see it offered, but as I don't speak Italian I couldn't figure ou from the link who can purchase this fare, and what it's for.

As far as 12 trains a day bewteen the two cities, I'm not sure which website that came from, but I saw about 3 plus the night train. Ideally, the 13:00 train works best, as that gets us in to Innsbruck in time to settle in a bit before supper. We will fly back stateside early the next moprning. The later train makes things a bit rushed with a family in tow. As far as the night train, the whole point of taking the train is to give my family a glimpse of the alps, and treat my 8 yr. old to a train ride- albeit one that isn't too long.

Although FYI, IT WAS ACTUALLY CHEAPER TO FLY OUT OF AUSTRIA, RATHER THAN ITALY!! Must be departure taxes or something.

I would take Norm's advice and buy your tickets the first day you are in town. You should have no problem.

I have traveled that part of Europe and always buy tickets same day and have had no problems. If it is a weekend you should buy them as early as you can.

Tracy...you can access the Trenitalia site in English at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html to see all the runs and the fares. Because this is an international route, I don't believe the "familia" fares are available. However, there are childrens' fares, and they should be available if you purchase at the station...just ask. RailEurope doesn't list all the trains that run.

Norm,
Thanks for the reply. I actually was on the trenitalia site in English. The problem is that if you have any questions about the various fares and deals, you are often connected by a link to another part of the site that is only in Italian. I don't remember what the deal was with smart fares, but I know I couldn't really figure out what they were or who qualified for them.

I will check out about whether or not the familia fares apply since the train is international, and look into child's fare as well. Does anyone else know what the options are for discounts on individual train trips internationally?

Tracy...if you choose the train you want by hitting the "Buy" shopping cart, you'll get a new display that shows "fare choices" at the top. The little drop-down window will show all the fares available on that particular run. Choose one and it will come up with the first and second class prices listed. To the immediate right of the "fares" dropdown menu are the words,"Tariff information." Click on that, and the fare rules will come up in English. Scroll down a bit in that new window until you see the heading "Contents - Fares for international journeys." There, you will see the conditions for each of those types of fares. On the day of your journey, such fares may not be available, or they may only be available in second class.

Norm,
thanks for your very helpful tips on navigating the trenitalia website 101. I swear that earlier in the summer all of that info was NOT there in English! Anyway, it turns out that other than a child's far, for which my son qualifies, the only discounts available are two 14 day advance purchase options. That would be ok except that on EC trains you are not allowed the equivalent of an E- Ticket. You must either purchase your fares at a self service kiosk, or have them mailed (and I wouldn't trust the Postino Italiano if they even allow international shipping.)

Well, unfortunately, we won't be in Italy 14 days ahead. Their 7 day advance purchase options are not offered on the train we wish to take. OH WELL.
Thanks again for your help. I guess we'll just be buying the tickets from the machine over there at full price. POOP!

Tracy....never surrender! Make sure you ask at the ticket window whether there are any family, advance purchase, or Smart fares available...you might get lucky!

Norm,
thanks for the encouragement. If I can manage to get to a travelagency on the daywe arrive in Italy (directly from the States), I'll see if they have any 7 day advance fares available even though none was listed under the "fare options" section. I may be a zombie, however, as we won't land in Venice until 13:45 then have customs etc. to deal with.
thanks again,
tracy