Train reservations

Unless you want to book full price tickets in advance I would suggest not booking train tickets for the day of arrival. If you book discounted tickets and your flight is late causing you to miss your train your tickets will be worthless. Just buy when you get to the station.

As for Rome, it depends on how much you want to spend. There is no single area in Rome that will put you close to all the sites. You can use www.venere.com to help find something within your budget. You'll find restaurants and sites in every area of Rome so pick a hotel based on price and closest to the areas you'll spend the most time in. With only 3 days you'll need to decide what you want to see first and then book a hotel.

Donna

Donna is right, different neighborhoods in Rome are more or less convenient to the different attractions. I like the village feel in Trastevere and Prati also is nice (close to Vatican).

Trastevere is around a 40minute walk to the Vatican and 30minutes to the Colosseum and Trevi Fountain areas. You can also use public transport but we like to walk as much as possible.

Others prefer to stay in the centro storico.

Brenda,

You can purchase your Freccia (high-speed) train tickets at the airport at the same time that you purchase the
tickets for the Malpensa Express train that you will need to take to get to Milano Centrale.

One good thing about Milano Centrale is that all the train tracks are on the same level (1st floor) and you don't need to
go up or down any stairs to get to your track.

You can check this website to check train schedules: http://www.trenitalia.com

Have a wonderful trip!

brenda,

The general consensus here is that it's not advisable to purchase tickets (which come with reservations) to connect with an inbound flight. The reservations are specific to train, date and departure time, so if your flight is delayed for any reason and you miss the train, your tickets are worthless and you'll have to buy more at full price. Although you'll pay more, the best practice is to buy your tickets at the airport rail station after arrival.

You'll first need to take the Malpensa Express from the airport to Milano Centrale. Those tickets don't require reservations but you MUST validate them prior to boarding the train or risk hefty fines, which will be collected on the spot! Note that the M.E. has two destinations, Milano Centrale or Milano Cadorna - BE SURE to board the correct train!

The next train will be the Freccia high speed from Milan to Venice. Note that your departure station will be Milano Centrale and your arrival station Venezia Santa Lucia. You'll have an assigned car (Carrozza) and assigned seats (Posti).

Regarding which part of Rome to stay, everyone here has their own preferences. I like to stay in the Termini station area because it's so convenient for transportation. It's a busy area, but I don't find it to be "dodgy" at all. I'd suggest checking the guidebook, as there are lots of good listings there in all parts of Rome. If you'd like to try the Termini area, have a look at Hotel Sonya or Hotel Aberdeen. I've stayed at both and would recommend them.

The last time I stayed in Rome, I chose a hotel that was a few minutes' walk from both the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps (in different directions). Nothing in Rome is very far but the sights are spread out. I don't think there's an area without a couple of good restaurants.

Note about Milano Centrale: trains are one level up from ground floor, there are escalators, moving ramps, elevators or stairs to get there. Good signage along the way.