We will be catching the train in Liverno to Rome. I am springing for first class. Should I purchase tickets in advance? I can purchase them when I arrive in Germany, or even at the train station. It is a weekday, not a holiday. Will they sell out?
Trains in Europe rarely if ever sell out. On big holidays second class might sell out but first class never, And trains are very frequent so if by some small change the 2 pm is sold out, the three or four oclock will be available. You will have to wait till Liverno to buy your ticket. Regional train tickets never sell out.
If you want to try and take advantage of the Trenitalia MINI promotion, there are IC and Frecciabianca trains that run from Liverno Centrale to Roma Termini. They take 2:57 and 2:22 hours respectively. The Regionale trains make the same journey in about 3.5 hours. You can book online through the Trenitalia website, and then go "ticketless" on the trains using a PNR code. Of course, you would be locked to a specific train at a designated time and date. So you'd lose flexibility but perhaps save enough money to offset the 1st class pricing - that would depend on the allotment of MINI discounted tickets made available by Trenitalia. Like Frank, I'd agree that rarely would first class ever sell out. So if you want to retain your flexibility, and don't mind paying the BASE price for a 1st class ticket, you could purchase through a kiosk at the station. It really comes down to cost vs. convenience/flexibility!