Train ticket question

Stick with regionale trains and buy your tickets at the station or from the automated kiosk. It's not too difficult.

The only reason to buy regionale tickets a day or so in advance is if you plan to be traveling at rush hour. We did a stopover in Padova on our way from Venice to Verona. We were planning to catch the 4:30 train to Verona and arrived to a train station packed with students all buying regionale tickets to somewhere. The lines for the kiosks and the windows were huge. If we had bought our afternoon tickets right when we arrived we would not have missed the train we wanted to catch.

No, regional trains do not have advance discount savings, so I do not buy them in advance unless they are part of a trip that includes fast trains. I agree with Tim, just buy them as you need them from the kiosks. Or, once you're in Italy, you can buy them any time you happen to wander by a trainstation while touring. Unused regional tickets are valid for 60 days. Just tuck them away until you're ready to leave, then don't forget to validate them in the little boxes on the platforms.

Only regionale trains give you some flexibility since no seat reservation is included; fast trains include the seat reservation and specific train number, date, and time. You will pay the same price for regionale tickets whether you buy them online or at the station on the day of, or the day before, departure.

"We were planning to catch the 4:30 train to Verona and arrived to a train station packed with students all buying regionale tickets to somewhere. The lines for the kiosks and the windows were huge."

That's exactly why I always buy tickets for Regionale trains at least one day prior to travel. When I arrive at the station with luggage, all that's necessary is to validate the ticket and then board the train.

As the others have mentioned, if you're only using Regionale trains then it's just as easy to buy the tickets locally when you arrive in Italy, either from a Kiosk or a staffed ticket office. There are no discounts for buying tickets in advance, and pre-purchased Regionale tickets come with restrictions. You could buy all your Regionale tickets at the same time, as they don't become "usable" until they've been validated on the day of travel. That will provide the flexibility in departure times that you want.

BE SURE that the train you board is in fact a Regionale, as if you board an InterCity or whatever without a valid reservation, you'll face hefty fines which will be collected on the spot!

You can buy those tickets in advance if, for some reason, that's more practical for you, but it doesn't give any discount. They work like metro or bus tickets: valid on all trains on that route (as long as they are regionale, of course). Don't forget to stamp (validate) your tickets before boarding the train, using those small green machines!
The Italian tickets machines are the best I know. I'm not sure how they work with bank or credit cards, but they work perfectly on cash (coins and notes).

tonfromleiden,

"The Italian tickets machines are the best I know. I'm not sure how they work with bank or credit cards, but they work perfectly on cash (coins and notes)."

The Italian ticket Kiosks do indeed work well most of the time, although there may occasionally be one out of service at times. However, using them with cash and notes is not always possible. I've found lately that many ticket Kiosks in unattended locations will only work with credit cards, possibly as a result of thieves breaking-open the machines to steal the cash. On my last trip in September, the only Kiosks that would accept cash as well as credit cards, were those adjacent to ticket offices or in very busy locations.

Also, be very careful when using a credit card/debit card. I had a friend who recently went to Italy in October. She told me that her credit card information was stolen. She mentioned that it was a well lit, safe, but crowded area!

As it turned out, someone behind her in line saw her credit card numbers and charged all sorts of non-sense to her account. It was a pain to say the least! I guess my point is, just be careful! It's crazy how many thieves and pick-pocketing stories in Italy I have heard recently!