Should I make reservations ahead of time for a train to Florence arriving on Friday March 6th at 9 am. I will take the bus shuttle to Milan Central train station, I understand that takes 50 minutes. I am hesitant to buy a ticket for our family of 4 since airline travel luggage etc can make it hard to estimate the time we will arrive at the station. We are familiar with the auto ticket machine at tthe stations. My big concern is will the train be sold out if we don't buy our tickets now.
On March 9th we will be in the same situation busing from Siena to Florence then boarding the train for Venice.
Thanks for the advice.
Roy
Posted by
OP
state college, pa, usa
6 posts
Thanks. I figured there would be enough trains but didn't know whether that time of day on a Frday may prove problematic.
Roy
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Roy....between 9:30 am and 8:30 pm that day, you have 20 trains running from Milan to Florence, so I wouldn't worry about them all being sold out. To catch the 9:30 train safely, you'd have to be landing at Malpensa at around 7 or earlier. The Eurostar AV trains are the fastest, at 2 hours, but also the most expensive. However, you can't book tickets on line from the U.S. You can check with RailEurope to see what they'll charge for the fast train, but buying at the station will cost you 40 Euro pp, second class....about $52 U.S.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
You've already sensed the correct answer. It is unwise to buy firm ticket reservations on trains when you have no control over when the plane will land. Don't worry. There are 25 mostly high-speed trains that run between Milan and Florence each day (Norm was describing train runs between 9:30am and 8:30pm). Each train holds as many people as a 747. If one train is filled up, you are simply early for the next one leaving in 30 minutes. In addition to what you see on the www.trenitalia.com site, there are numerous R trains that go to Bologna. You could do Milan/Bologna and Bologna/Florence. It would take longer, but you will easily get a train to Florence. The good news is that the fares on the R trains are about 50% of the Eurostar fares. Yes it takes longer but you save a lot of money. The Eurostars stop in Bologna as well. Lots of options.
Next, on your return from Siena, these are all R trains that run from Siena to Florence. Seat reservations are not permitted. It's like a bus. Just get on and find a seat. If the seats are full, you stand until the next stop when people start getting off. Also, from Siena, they have the frequent (except Sunday) SITA buses. They even have the Corse Rapide (Express) that is a non-stop.
You shouldn't have any train worries. There's always a way albeit some ways may cost you a bit more time.
If any children in your family are under 12, check into the family fares on www.trenitalia.com.