intercity trains from Milan

You entered Venice as Venezia Mestre?

Do you have to go through Milan?

There's at least 10-options to get there, either through Milan or, Florence. You're in for a 5-6 hour train ride.

I searched both Mestre and St. Lucia. Both mid day intercity trains were not available.

Frecciarossa 9726 departs Venezia Mestre at 1132, arrives in Milan Centrale at 1345
Change trains
Intercity 669 departs Milan Centrale at 1405, arrives in Levanto at 1658:
32.80€

Thanks so much. did you use trentilia site? And book it as on search or separately?

They show not available after Saturday, September 9, so seems to be an issue with possible schedule changes. Stay tuned, it will probably clear up as time goes on. It is not "sold out", since all IC trains after that date are effected.

Great. I thought it was something like that as none were available. should I book the Venice to Milan leg now? Then book the intercity when they become available? Is it more expensive to do it this way?

Also we will be departing from St. Lucia station. It won't be difficulty just hopping on a train to the Mestre? How much time should we allow for this? If our train leaves Mestre at 11:35 should we leave St. Lucia at 11 or sooner?

Thanks again for the help. I so appreciate it.

Also I liked the Milan route as it only required one switch. Some of the other routes required two or three. As this is will be only our second time on the trains I was hoping for the one switch.

How often do you think I should check back to see if they have the intercity trains up?

Hi Mary. Looks like for a time period in September, tix are not being sold on the Milan - Levanto route. I've run into this situation before on this route, it is frustrating. From my experience, there is an planned schedule change (e.g. possibly train # and maybe change time by a few minutes), but it isn't finalized yet, so they have temporarily put a hold on ticket sales. If for some reason it is important for you to go thru Milan, you just need to check back every once in awhile, and one day the schedule will be updated and tix available. Or else just buy tix now for the route thru Florence. Enjoy your trip! p.s.:
Book your trip from Venezia SL, no reason to book from Maestre. Also, don't put too much emphasis on only one change. Changing trains is easy - get off one train, get on another. Nothing to be nervous about.

I guess we can go through Florence. Just having never been on the trains I don't know how easy it is to do all the switching. Is it pretty easy? And if you book it as a direct ticket all at once do they guarantee you will make the connections? I have read that the trains can run late so if that happened and we missed one of our connections can we use the same ticket on the next train departing? Or do we have to purchase a new ticket?

Well just book a train from Venezia S. Lucia to Milano Centrale that looks like it will connect with one of those "unavailable" IC trains to Levanto. The way Trenitalia pricing works, it will not effect the final price as each leg is priced separately

That seems risky doesn't it? Or do you think it would be ok? I guess we could always get to Levanto via cinque terre or La Spezia form Milan.

Do the intercity mid day tickets sell out quickly or are there a lot usually?

Sell out? Almost unheard of.

Ok. Thanks. What about missing a train. What happens then?

Missing due to the train being late and you not making the connection.

If the train is late and you miss he connection, if your connecting train is a FrecciaLink or InterCity, you need to get the ticket changed. There are Customer Assistance kiosks near the platforms for Freccia ticketholders, they can issue a new ticket (no charge if the first change is late) with a new seat assignment.

If your second train is a regionale or regionale veloce you can just get on the next train, after validating the ticket (if you do not buy it online, if you have an online ticket, no worries as long as you use it that day).

Thanks so much. did you use trentilia site? And book it as on search or separately?

Yes, that's the site I used.

Not sure why others were having issues for Sept 20th booking. Perhaps it depends on the server you are using, I know with Austria's OBB site, they recommend using Firefox, Chrome or, Explorer.

As for missing a connection due to the train you were on was late, grab a conductor or, station manager (usually has a blazer or, vest with Trenitalia on it), let him know what happened and they'll guide you through.

I was once traveling from Ravenna to Lucca, was supposed to change trains in Bologna but, because of a strike, it was going to be 4-hours late. Found some friendly Carabinieri who spoke English, they were helping a group of elderly American's also in the same dilemma. Told me to get up stairs to the ticket counter and explain the problem. Got upstairs to a giant crowd, all having the same issues. Working the line was an authoritative looking train employee helping everyone before they got to the counter, he reassured me to take the next high-speed train into Florence (SMN) and change trains to the planed connector; was back on schedule with plenty of time to spare.

If changing trains at Firenze Santa Maria Novella is a worry, both SMN and Milano Centrale are somewhat similar, although the Milano Centrale is a much larger and multi storey.

Both stations are a terminus, so all the tracks come in parallel to each other. You walk off your incoming train, walk to the front of the train (follow everybody else), check a screen to find the platform number of your connecting train, walk in front of the trains to your platform, and walk along the train until you get to your reserved carriage (it is on your ticket unless it is a Regionale or Regionale Veloce in which case just hop on) and then just climb up into the train and find your seat. Much easier than having to use stairs and tunnels.

I wouldn't let SMN faze you.