Is it necessary to buy our train tickets to each of our destinations before we leave the states or will we be fine purchasing as we go? I am worried about date and times selling out. Thank you inadvance.
Travel Cities
Rome to Orvieto
Orvieto to Sienna
Siena to Florence
Florence to Vernazza
Vernazza to Venice
Almost all your trips are by Regionale trains, which can't sell out and have no possibility for reservation.
The one trip involving compulsive reservation, is the one from Vernazza to Venezia. The main reason for advance reservation is the considerable discount you can get for the part with a Frecce or Intercity train.
Hello, i think all that routes are operated by regional trains, there are not discounts or reservations on that Kind of trains.
Il you buy a regional ticket online, you must choose a specific train and you can change that train only with a train that leaves in the 4 hours after the sheluded departed. (Example; in you choose a train that leaves at 10:03 am and you change idea, you can take an other train Who leaves between 10:03 am and 02:03 pm)
Il you buy a ticket at the station, you muso chooseonly the travel date and your ticket will be valid until midnight (before tombe validated)
for the Siena to Florence portion the bus schedule may be a better option than the train.
Siena to Firenze
http://www.tiemmespa.it/var/ezdemo_site/storage/original/application/13a10e853154154910a891e80e0fd647.pdf
Firenze to Siena
Regional trains don't sell out (most of your trips are on those trains). They work like the NYC subway. First come first served. If no seats are available, you just stand up.
The only segment, among those in your list, potentially on high speed trains, which may be reserved in advance, is portions of your last segment to Venice (some portions are on regional trains still, since Vernazza is served by regional trains only).
High Speed trains also are never sold out. Occasionally, but rarely, the standard class is full and you either have to wait for the next train (which will almost certainly will have seats available in all classes) or buy a higher class seat, like Premium or Business (about 25-50% more $$).
However reserving high speed trains in advance might offer the chance of buying discounted SuperEConomy or Economy fares. Those fares start selling on line 120 in advance of travel date, and they are gone by the time of your travel. However be aware those fares are restrictive. After a specific train is booked with those fares, you can't make changes later and you can't get refunds if you change your mind. So if you are not sure about your travel dates and times, just buy the tickets at the station when you are ready to go. If you are reasonably certain of your travel time and date from Vernazza to Venezia Santa Lucia, you might see if it's worthwhile for you to buy that segment in advance:
www.trenitalia.com
I bought a Super Economy ticket on a high speed train from Milan to Venice for only 19 Euros, so it probably does pay to buy in advance if possible to get the cheapest tickets. However, if you are thinking that your travel plans might change when you get there, probably best to just wait until you arrive in Italy.
Buy them all in Italy except for Vernazza to Venice. If you know about what time you want to leave Vernazza (say 9am vs Noon) you can get big savings booking 180 days from your departure when your date opens up. You maybe able to even snag a 19 euro fare on the high speed train.
As someone else posted take the bus from Siena to Florence, it's faster. And the bus station in florence is nex tto the train station so you get dropped off in the same place.
