On April 9, 4 of us will travel by train from Florence to Vernazza, joining 2 more family members there.
On April 12, all 6 of us will travel back to Florence by train, to then taxi to airport to pick up a car to drive to Montipulciano for a few days, returning car to Florence to fly back home.
In general, most train posts say “buy train tickets when you get to the station”. It looks like Trenitalia has a train those days at around 10:30 (which would be good). Since these trains don’t seem to run very frequently, about every hour, and 10:30 would be preferable, am I right in thinking I should book ahead this time? (I’ve already booked a train earlier in our trip for my husband and me, that I should have just booked at the station, so don’t want to make the same mistake twice!)
Thank you for any thoughts.
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
Unless this is easter holiday time i yhink u can buy a tix at station while u are there. But if u are xtra concerned well of course buy your tix in advance if u are sure of your schedule.
Posted by
Monterey County, CA (formerly Verbania Italy-Lago Maggiore)
1626 posts
We did a similar trip a few years ago. But instead of taking the train all the way back to Florence to rent a car., we took a regional train to La spezia 15-20 minutes) and rented car there. We stopped in Volterra and San Gimignano on our way to Montelcino.
If you arrived at the car rental when they open, you have the whole day to not take the autostrada exploring your way to Montelpulciano. Much better scenery than from a train.
No need to book regional trains in advance. You can buy tickets from station or kiosk a few days before, then pick your train upon in arrival at station- just remember to validate before you board the train. Regional trains don’t change much in price and don’t sell out. By the way on Trenitalia or Trainline regional trains are identified with RE or RV
If you are looking for place to stay in Montelpulciano, this place looks awesome, Looking to stay there in March..
Posted by
Fort Lauderdale, FL
1232 posts
I agree with Karen, get your car in La Spezia and enjoy the scenery. Stop in Volterra or San G for lunch.
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
If you decide to take the 10:46 train to Florence, the La Spezia to Pisa portion of the trip is on an Intercity train that requires seat reservations. I doubt that Intercity train would be sold out (Easter is April 21), so you're probably safe buying tickets once you're in Italy. You could even buy them at the train station in Florence, making sure they're for your April 12 travel date.
Posted by
Italy
3812 posts
to then taxi to airport to pick up a car
It's quite a waste of time and money, couldn't you pick up the car in Borgo Ognissanti road?
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Thank you all. Great information. Will be checking to see if we can rent car in LaSpezia, sounds much better!
Quick question, when searching train bookings, the default was ’resideni liguria’ but you could change that to ‘ordinaria’. What is the difference? The form sounds like a resident. The latter was just a few more euros. I keep missing the chat times for Trenitalia.
Thanks!