My middle name is procrastination

If you buy point to point tickets the seat reservation fee is in the price of the ticket and is made at the time of purchase. If you buy a rail pass you'll have to pay and additional 10 euros for the seat reservation and they are made separately, usually right before you board the train. You can still book tickets from home using the trenitalia site. If you book a specific train and a specific seat that's all you'll have to do. Just print up the reservation form with number and take it with you. I don't know if you can use an AMEX at the train station but you can certainly use a visa. I would not get my tickets at the counter as the line is usually very long and most of the counter attendants don't speak English very well. Just use the self service kiosks. I don't understand what you mean by how big a hit you'll be taking. If you buy tickets the same day as travel you won't qualify for any discounts so you'll pay the base price. My advice is to try to book the tickets through the trenitalia site with a visa before you go. This will qualify you for discounts if they are still available. The discounts are capacity controlled so they may be available and they may not be. If you can't buy them online just buy them all the first day you arrive in Italy. You'll qualify for some discounts, like the mini, if you can find them, and you won't have to worry about your tickets after that. Donna

My guess is that you cannot use AM Ex at the train stations. You should plan on having a Visa or Mastercard as your principle card. Am Exp is not widely accepted at the average place in Italy. As previous stated when you make a reservation for a train the seat reserversation is included IF a reservation for that train is required. All trains in Italy except for the regional (slowest) required a reservation. When you buy the ticket your train car and seat number will be specified. You could, for example, buy all your tickets at the first ticket office. Most likely you could still get discounts for the trains after Rome. With that limited train travel a rail pass would not have saved any money.

2 of us used American Express to pay for our train tickets from Venice to Rome. You should be fine but we always had another card as backup just in case.

If you do decide to book tickets ahead of time using a Visa or MasterCard (my MC worked on the Trenitalia site without issue), you should only book your last 3 train tickets, especially if you want the discounted MiniFARE. If your flight is delayed you could miss the train to Rome that you expect to take. If you book a MiniFare, the tickets have no value if you miss the train, so its not worth the discount for your Milan-Rome leg.

Try this site for Italian tickets; they're 'legit', but their selling point is that they're supposed to be much easier to use than booking straight from Trenitalia - they'll actually accept your credit card ('AMEX' I don't know about...): http://www.bootsnall.com/eurail/passes/italy.shtml FYI - AMEX isn't widely accepted in Europe...You really need cash or VISA/MC.

Hi Jana. Keep in mind, if you have any last minute questions or trip planning to do, you can always come to the Atlanta RS Group meeting tomorrow, 4/16, and everyone will be glad to help you out. Group members can also bring any guidebooks that you can use and may help you out; just let them know. The link to the meeting tomorrow can be found on the General Helpline board here: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/65125/atlanta-group-meeting--april-16.html . As to your question here though, typically reservations are not required for train travel in Italy. However, if you are taking the Eurostar trains (the nicer, faster, more expensive ones with fewer stops) then reservations are required and it's best to get them a few days in advance. Keep in mind, in many cases you can still get them the day of, so overall I wouldn't be too concerned about it, especially in April. With that, the only train trip that may be an issue is right when you arrive, but if you are unable to book in advance, the worst that could happen is that you would have to take a slower, regional train down, which would just take a little more time. But overall, I wouldn't be too concerned. Enjoy your travels!

Hi Jana, Not a problem in my opininon. Last summer in the midst of high season (July) I just bought my train tickets as I needed them in the train station and it was not a problem. Friends of mine have done extensive train travel in Italy and never had a problem with this either. Good luck and enjoy your trip! Arrivederci,
MARY

I was once involved in a Trip Advisor Rome thread where the local Rome experts advised there was no need to buy tickets in advance as there are always plenty of seats on trains. I would be a little skeptical of that in high season, but I doubt if you need them in advance at this time of year.

The only time I've ever come across a train being sold out was on a holiday weekend when most Romans went out of town for a trip. It was easy enough just to book the next train which left less than an hour later. There will occasionally be trains that sell out but with the number of trains a day between the popular cities you can always get on one later in the day. The only time I have ever come across a situation where it was impossible to get any train was during the volcanic eruption. At that point everything was at a stand still. If you're not traveling during a holiday period you should have no problems booking a train when you get to Italy. You can book them all as soon as you arrive if you wish. This way you might be able to get some of the mini fares if they are still available. Donna