We are going at the end of June. should we book our train reservation ahead of time or is it ok to book it a few days before we actually plan to take the train? which train should we take and from where?
We will be in Rome for 4 days, Florence for 3 days and Venice for 3 days. Our Airbnb is by the Vatican if that helps with which train station to leave from. In Florence, we are staying in an Airbnb just on the other side of Ponti Veche. In Venice, we are staying in Vencie :)
The main rail stations are Termini in Rome, Santa Maria Novella in Florence, and Santa Lucia in Venice. Note that train sites use the names Roma Termini, Venezia Santa Lucia, Firenze Santa Maria Novella. I would suggest you look at Trainline which is very easy to navigate and offers both the Italian National Railway, Trenitalia, and Italo Treno, a private company. There you can see options for fares and times. The further in advance you buy, the more of a discount you can score. Discount fares do sell out, but trains seldom sell out completely. (Although I have friends who experienced a day when they could not get a train from Rome to Venice, so it does happen.) I recommend you buy AT LEAST a few days in advance.
If you are worried about how to get to the train station in Rome, take a taxi. With luggage, that's the easiest anyway, and Roman taxis are not expensive.
All of this is covered in the Rick Steves' Guide to Italy. You might want to pack it along for reference as it has a wealth of info especially for the first time traveler to Italy.
BTW, it is Ponte Vecchio in Florence. :-)
It depends on your schedule. If you know when you want to travel from city to city, you can buy in advance and save some money. The problem is, you are locked into a specific train. If you need flexibility, don't buy in advance. If you are budget conscious, you might consider getting the tickets in advance at the super economy rate. Check both trenitalia.com and italotreno.it/en for schedules and prices for your given dates.
In all my travels to Italy I always buy ahead and the earliest available time so I pay just a few Euros for those train tix. Never once have I said to myself "I wish I hadn't locked myself into that train time". You buy the cheap tix on the date/time you want and stick to your schedule. You'll save quite a few Euros doing that.
As Sam posted earlier today there is a great sale - Italo booked through Trainline,eu -
https://www.trainline.eu/promotions/detail/italo-love-italy-trainline-exclusive?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=8dc09e24b9-ITALO_LOVE_ITALY_2017_04_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c595dd69b3-8dc09e24b9-92190021
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