I have read so many travel forums and keep seeing different opinions. I am traveling with a family of four in August and will be taking the train from Milan to Venice, Venice to Florence, and then Florence to Milan on different days. We are two adults and two teenagers and will have luggage. Our travel itinerary is fairly set so I can easily estimate what times we will want to travel. Is it wise to pre book tickets to make sure that we have seats on the (fast) trains that we want? I know it will add a bit of stress to have to be a certain place at a certain time but I also don't want to be in a situation were all the good seats on the trains we want are taken, and have to wait. Please advise!
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
Yes, if your itineraries are fixed pretty well now, I would buy tickets in advance, also to save possibly a lot of money vs. buying at the last minute. However, I would only buy Trenitalia Frecciarossa or IC train tickets in advance - which you'd most likely take between all of these cities. Regional trains (no reserved seats, can't sell out, often much slower) cost the same whether you buy ahead of time or at the last minute. It's possible to take regional trains between say Venice and Milan, but I probably wouldn't if you can avoid it.
You can book either Trenitalia or Italo trains (two competing companies) between some if not all of those cities. Try www.trainline.eu to check times and prices for both companies.
Posted by
Green Bay
21274 posts
If you arriving at Milan airport on the same day as you want to travel to Venice, don't buy in advance as you can't be sure you plane will land on time. If you already be in Milan that day, go ahead and buy now. Prices for advance purchase discount tickets only go up. If one of the days is a Saturday, there is a 2 for 1 Saturday special on the fast Freccia trains. You still have to buy in advance, but it might save you money as well.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you both! It's a good point about a possible flight delay. Sounds like it may be worth it to buy in advance for the other legs of the trip but wait on the train from Milan.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
Yeah, I didn't catch that you were flying into Milan. FYI, there are Trenitalia regional trains between Milan and Venice - I took one (rather two with a connection) last year. The benefit of a regional train is that, as I said above, it's the same price at the last minute and can't sell out. It may take you an extra hour to get to Venice, but it could save you a lot of money.
For example, checking tomorrow's trains from Milan to Venice, I see that the fast Italo and Trenitalia trains are 43-45 Euros or so to purchase now - but regional Trenitalia trains are 20.70 Euros. Depending on the timing, you might not get into Venice that much later but save almost 100 euros total with four people.
On the other hand, if you wanted to take a chance and buy tickets now anyway for August, you can find direct Italo trains for as cheap as 15.90 euros, even cheaper than the slower regional trains. You could hedge a little - say your flight arrives into Milan at 7am. Buy tickets that leave Milano Centrale at 11:34 for 15.90 each and take a chance - you're risking about 64 Euros in case your flight is late, but if you make it you'd get cheap seats on a direct, fast train.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23653 posts
You have three levels of ticket pricing - Super Economy, Economy, and Base. The first two are discount tickets with heavy restrictions mainly no change, no refund. You can exchange the economy ticket for a fee and paying a higher rate. There is limited availability for these ticket and once gone they are gone. You are getting late for discount tickets in August. So buy as soon as possible if you want discount tickets.
There are no good seats, bad seats on the trains. They are all the same. You will not get trapped in a window seat having to climb over people to get out and there are no middle seats. You buy the discounts tickets if willing to lock into a set schedule. If not buy the base tickets.