Meeting up with our Rick Steve's Italian tour starting in Varenna (9/29/17). While in Milano we have tickets to see the Last Supper, which should end @1330. We want to catch the 1420 train to Varenna. I am afraid we might we cutting it tight time wise to do this. There are two other trains that day that would get us to our tour group in time for dinner.
My question is, if I buy my train tickets on-line in advance (to save time), can I get on whatever train turns out to be the time we can get to the train station? I read on line that if your tickets are "open" as opposed to reserved, you can do this. What I can't figure out is how to purchase "open" tickets. There does not appear to be a category online that the traveler can differentiate between the two. Help! Thanks!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
The Regional train tickets sold at Trenitalia.com now come dated and for a specific 4-hour time window, so you could still take the 16:20 train, instead. But if you need to make it to the first night's tour orientation meeting, it typically starts at 17:00.
Posted by
Milan, Italy
6 posts
I have never had a problem on that train and have done it many times while living in Milan for three years. I always book for a time that I think I want to come back and hop on the train that works best when I come back. Never an issue. The train is all "open" seating with no seat reservations. Sometimes on the way back to Milan they never came to check the tickets, don't take that as you don't need to buy one, because you don't want to get caught without a ticket....
Posted by
Firenze, Italy
1770 posts
You may buy in advance, at the station or at any travel agency in Italy, an ordinary ticket; you have to declare the day in which the ticket will be used, but otherwise you can board any train within that day, just stamping the ticket at the machines on the platform.