Specific validating transportation ticket question

First question, if the ticket is on a single IBM punchcard stock that you get out of a ticket machine, you just validate it once. If it spits two tickets, then validate each one before you board the train for that ticket.

Second question, you must validate each time you get on the floating dock. Even standing on the dock without validating is a violation.

Debbie,
Regarding your train ticket(s):
If you booked these tickets online, there's no need to validate ( date & time stamp) since they already come validated, however, if you buy your tickets at the train station, you can validate all the ones that need validating (Regionale tickets only) at the start of your journey, unless you have a long transfer time at one of the stations.

The vaporetto Pass needs to be scanned each time prior to embarking the boat.

Enjoy your time in Italy!

You need to validate only regional train tickets in Italy. If you have a reserved seat on one of the trains, it's not a regional train, so you don't need to validate that ticket. But it won't hurt if you validate it anyway if you aren't sure or are in a hurry or something.

Regional tickets bought from a ticket machine or a ticket agent (paper tickets) must be validated before you board the train. If you buy online for a specific day/time for a regional train, it does not need to be validated; you can even show it on your phone or tablet. It will have a QR code to be scanned by a conductor/ticket inspector, but you may not even see a conductor. I found the Trenit app on my phone handy for buying train tickets. No need to worry about validation, finding a ticket machine, or waiting in line to buy from an agent. And regional tickets cost the same whether you buy from the app or buy at the station, no matter when you buy them.

If you buy paper tickets from a machine or from an agent, you'll get a separate paper ticket for each train. Each ticket must be validated at the station where you board the train. You validate each ticket only once. If you validate it twice, the earlier time is the only one that matters.

You could validate all our tickets at Vernazza for that trip, IF you will board the last train within four hours of your original validation. For example, if you validate your tickets in Vernazza at 8:00, you'll be OK as long as you'll board the final train to Florence by 12:00. The trip to Florence isn't quite that long so you should be OK, but if there's a long delay and you miss a connection, you might miss the four hour window.

Vaporetto pass: swipe it at the dock to validate it each time you get on; you'll get a flashing green light from the validator box to show you're OK. Watch others do it. It's a little chip card, and you can even keep it in your wallet or your pocket or something if you can rub your pocket up against the validator box - as long as the green light flashes. The train tickets are old-fashioned paper tickets where the validation machine stamps the time when you slide it into the validation machine.

If you buy your ticket at a train station or kiosk, and your train ticket has the word "Convalidare" on it, you need to validate it. Different ticket machines may dispense different size tickets.

debbie,

A few comments to add to the others.....

Could you clarify whether you're speaking about pre-purchased tickets, or tickets bought a local stations?

Pre-purchased tickets for Regionale trains come pre-validated but must be used within four hours of the departure time stated on the ticket.

If you buy local Regionale tickets at the station, these must be validated before boarding the train on the day of departure. DON'T validate the day prior to travel to "save time" as they have a "shelf life" of about four hours once validated so would have expired by the time they're used, and hefty fines will be the result. For example, if you choose a solution to Florence with three Regionale trains, they you'll likely receive three different tickets and will have to validate each one before use. Don't forget! The validation machines are usually close to the tracks, so it's not hard to validate.

On the trip from Vernazza to Firenze, you'll likely be using 2-3 different trains, and some of those may be express trains (Freccia or Intercity). You don't have to validate tickets for express trains but you must be sure that you board only the train specified on the ticket, as the tickets are specific to train, date and departure time. If you board the wrong train by mistake, you'll be subject to hefty fines.

Regarding your questions about the Vaporetto tickets in Venice, it depends on which type of ticket / pass you buy. If you buy a one day or multi-day pass, it must be validated before first use and then is valid for the duration. You may find this website helpful (it shows the current prices in the "Fare Table") - http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/articles/venice-vaporetto-fares.htm

In Venice you validate the first time you use the pass and each time thereafter. There is a post at the entrance to the vaporetto station where you swipe your card.

As always, everyone on this forum is so incredibly helpful! I'm not purchasing any tickets ahead of time as most we need are regional. Thanks so much for all the information!