Train Station Arriving Time

As usual, the answer is "It depends!" Are you buying your tickets ahead of time? Do you have seat reservations? I like to arrive at the station at least 30 minutes ahead of time, even if I already have a ticket and reservation. It doesn't take long to buy a ticket from a machine, but if you have to stand in line at a ticket window, add at least 15 minutes, maybe more. You can always get a coffee or just rubberneck if it turns out there's no crowd. Buon viaggio!

You should buy your ticket ahead of time to get the supereconomy rate of 19 euro. The 8:15 to Florence Campo di Marte originates in Rome, so it will be on the platform about 15 minutes prior to departure. You can locate your car and board in a leisurely manner.

I like the 30 minutes early idea. Rome-Termini has 480,000 people a day going through so it's nice to get there a bit early and casually walk through the crowd and people watch a bit. For many trains coming and going, the digital sign board may not post your train and track number until about 30 minutes before departure. But, your train appears to originate in Rome and you might see it early.

As Sam said, your train will be letting you off at Firenze Campo di Marte station which is not the main station in Florence (Santa Maria Novella, known as SMN). You will need to arrange to get into the centre of the town.

At most big European stations the departure platform for your train won't be posted on the master departure board until 20 minutes before the train leaves. Get there earlier and you can join the throngs staring up at the board with its constantly clicking numbers.

In our experience there is no hard and fast rule about posting departure platforms. It can be 30 mins, 20 mins or less. Because we were nearly burned once, we now hang out near the top of the platform when we can see the board so if there is last minute gate changes we can see it and not depend on the garbled public announcement in bad English. If the train is starting there it should be there around 15 mins prior to departure. Since this is posted under Italy, assume you are asking about Italian trains. Some trains in other countries do have a min security screening.

To add to Frank's comment, in one case for me, my train's departure platform never showed up on the board! I kept thinking it was going to show up, and eventually saw the train leave the board (it had departed the station). Only had to wait another two hours for the next, but we were kicking ourselves for sure. A hint for anyone in a similar situation - there are white and yellow huge sheets of paper posted (on walls or between tracks, typically) that display the schedule for arrivals and departures as well as the platform the train is usually located at. If nothing is showing up, check the schedule and the track where the train is scheduled to be.

For an 8:15 departure you need to be on the train at 8:14:59.

If a train originates at that station it will be open and available for boarding at least about 15-20 min. earlier.
If the train does not originate at that station and the station is a terminus (e.g. Florence) then the train arrives 10 min. prior to departure. There is no reason to be there on the platform earlier than that.
If the train does not originate at that station and the station is a major station but not a terminus, i.e. a passing station (e.g. Bologna), the train arrives 5 min. prior to departure. There is no reason to be at the platform earlier.
If it's a minor station (certainly not a terminus), the train arrives 1 min. prior to departure. Be there at arrival time.
Of course if you don't have tickets with you, you should go earlier so that you have the time to buy tickets. The line at the ticket booth may be quite long at times, but if you pay with credit cards, the automatic kiosks are generally empty.

That train to Florence Campo di Marte ends at Bolzano, so look for that on the train departure board.

I purchase my departure ticket when I arrive in the city. So when I leave days later I have my ticket already and show up 10 minutes before departure

I like to be at the station early, but 15 minutes is plenty of time if you already have your ticket. If you don't have it, buy it when you arrive.

Like Robert, I usually buy my next ticket when I arrive (if I have't bought it online), but if you aren't sure when you want to leave, most stations are centrally located and you can buy your ticket anytime during your stay. 8:15 is rush hour, I would get the ticket before the day of travel.

How much in advance do train tickets and reservations need to be made and in hand. For instance we arrive in Milan April 24 and plan to do day trip to Florence the next day, April 25, and day trip to Venice April 26.

It is best to purchase before we leave the States or ok to get upon arrival. Coming into main Milan airport where would one go to purchase? (Our first trip to Italy so not at all familiar with airport, trains, etc) Thanks!

Nora,
You can purchase tickets in advance on trenitalia.com or you can purchase them in train stations. There are several train stations in Milan. You would most likely be using Milano Centrale because the direct trains to Venice and Florence leave from there. Below I give some advice on your travel through Trenitalia. Another option would be Italotrain but I don't have experience with their website or services so I can't comment on that. People seem to like them, so research your options through them if you would prefer that.

With the Freccia trains (the fast ones) it is best to buy those tickets far in advance because you can sometimes find great discounts. It appears those are sold out for you between Milan and Florence, but since you are doing the return trip in one day there is a discount for that. You must purchase it at least one day before travel - so you can either do it here in the US on trenitalia.com or you can do it in the train station on the day you arrive. The Frecciarossa between Milan and Florence takes 1h40m and will cost 34.50€ each way per person (that's 2nd class, including the discount for leaving and returning within one day).

For your Venice trip, you could save money by purchasing now online rather than waiting. They do have the 34.50€ each way deal, but a better deal is to buy the economy 1st class ticket for 29€ (that is available currently for the 7:05 and 8:05 trains from Milan) and then on the way back if you took the last train out of Venice back to Milan it would leave at 7:50pm and the 19€ economy (2nd class) deal is available. This train ride is 2h35m. Note that you want Venezia Santa Lucia station, not Mestre.

Doing a day trip the day after you arrive might be a little much for some people, so just consider any jet lag or fatigue from traveling, but I don't want to tell you what to do of course! Venice is doable for a day trip, but you will spend over 5 hours in the train so you may want to consider spending one night there.