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Train help - need to book in advance?

Posted by on

Hi there -

We are arriving in Italy 9/17. I'm looking into trains and wondering for any of our plans if it's necessary to book in advance.

9/17 - Arrive in Milan Linate, bus to Milan Centrale, train to Varenna (stay 3 nights)
9/20 - Train from Varenna to Venice (stay 2 nights)
9/22 - Train from Venice to Florence (considering a stop in Bologna for a few hours along the way - staying 3 nights)
9/25 - Train from Florence to Cortona (staying 3 nights)
9/28 - Train from Cortona to Rome (staying 1 night)

Is it necessary for any of these legs to book train tickets in advance or is it smart to do so? Thanks so much in advance for your help!

Posted by
3112 posts

It only makes sense to consider pre-booking train tickets for Trenitalia's Freccia and Intercity trains or for Italo's high-speed trains, and then only to buy discounted tickets. Those faster trains are only available on the Milan to Venice portion of your Varenna to Venice trip and on the Venice to Florence trip, and the discounted tickets come with some restrictions. Keep in mind that you cannot stop in Bologna on a Venice to Florence ticket. You would need to buy 2 separate tickets, one from Venice to Bologna and a second from Bologna to Florence. The rest of your train trips will likely be on regional trains that offer no discounts and never sell out.

Posted by
21274 posts

So Varenna to Venice could be bought now to save money with a non-refundable ticket.

Venice to Bologna could be done with a Regionale Veloce and travel anytime. It takes 1/2 hour longer than the fast Freccia train (2 hours vs 1 1/2 hours), but only costs 12.90 EUR. Bologna to Florence is pretty much only by fast train, so pick a time and buy nonrefundable ticket now to save money.

Everything else is by Regionali, so you can buy any time. The price is always the same and there are no reserved seats.

Posted by
3 posts

Thanks Frank! One other question....I was considering using the EuroRail app to buy tickets on the go. If you do that, do you need to do anything as far as validating tickets or is that only for tickets purchased at station?

Posted by
3112 posts

There's a better app, but I haven't used it. I'm sure one of the regular posters who have used it will pick up on this post and answer your question.

Posted by
208 posts

Check out the loco2.com site. You can add the app to your phone and it will have all your tickets on it. You can do "lay-overs" when booking your tickets through the site and the prices are the same as booking direct. Very easy to use and their help desk is amazing. We traveled France and Italy in the month of July and booked 6 different train tickets with a few "lay-overs" and it worked out great.

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