Given surge in European tourism this summer, has anyone experienced a problem getting tickets at train stations, TI, or tabac on same day of travel for the local intercity trains? My group will be traveling from Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino and Varenna-Esino to Tirano in early Sept. I have bought my Rome to Florence Frecce tickets since they do sell out, but hate to be so scheduled on vacation that all my transit is pre-planned.
Same questions about ferry between Varenna & Bellagio…book in advance? Thanks.
Posted by
Italy
3812 posts
My group will be traveling from Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino
That route is served by trains with no reserved seats that can't sell out. I think it's the same to Tirano, but you'd better check the train type on the official sites.
Rome to Florence Frecce tickets since they do sell out
They can sell out, and discounted tickets do sell out. Not full price seats, those rarely sell out. It's true for Frecce and Italo's trains. I have spent years on high speed trains and it happened only once to me the Trenitalia train from Rome to Milan departing in the late afternoon of a Friday. I simply gave my money to Italo and enjoyed their great complimentary wifi.
To let you get an idea: there are 4 trains departing from Rome to Florence in the next 4 hours, 3 Freccias and one IC. None is sold out, there are seats in all classes. Same on the only train by Italo departing at 20:40, in 17 minutes.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16167 posts
Pre-purchase of Frecce trains is only necessary if you want to get a discounted ticket (Economy, SuperEconomy fares), because those do sell out by the time you travel. But the full ("Base") fare seats never sell out. If you are willing to pay the full fare, I can guarantee you that you will find a seat even 1 minute before boarding. At most they sell out seats in the Standard class (the Economy class, which used to be called 2nd class). But in that rare case all you have to do is purchase a ticket in the next higher class (Premium, Business) and those are almost certainly available always. Or you just buy a Standard in the next train half hour or one hour later. Frecce trains are pretty much half empty all the time, except for the Standard class which operates at (somewhat) full capacity with the majority of seats occupied.
Regional trains to Varenna or Tirano don't need to be purchased in advance. No discounts, no reserved seats. They are like the subway trains in NYC. The boat tickets don't need to be reserved either. Buy as you get there to the dock.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you Dario & Roberto for such quick & thorough answers to my questions. Carol