Train Travel - Italy - Purchasing tickets in advance?

It is not "necessary" in terms of getting seats on the train, but you can save money buying in advance. It also saves time---with tickets you printed at home in hand, you just go to the station and board the train. If you are buying tickets there, you have to arrive at the station ahead of time to purchase the tickets, and you may face long lines at the machines and the windows. This happened to us in Pisa and we would have missed the train to La Spezia---but it was running very late so we made it.

Sue,

As Lola mentioned above, you may buy some of your train tickets in advance if you want to save money ( up to 120 days in advance).

Having said this, I presume you already know that if you do buy in advance (online), depending on which tickets you get,
(Super- Economy, Economy), they come with restrictions (unchangeable & nonrefundable).

You will be able to take a high speed( freccia) train from Venice to Florence, Pisa to La Spezia & La Spezia to Rome.

It's not recommended you buy your Regionale ticket online in advance as they also come with restrictions & there is no price advantage.

You can easily buy these tickets ( Regionale) at the train station up to 7 days in advance.

You will need Regionale train ticket from La Spezia to the village of your choice in CT & vice- versa.

You will want a Regionale Veloce train from Florence to Pisa.

Check this website to see train schedules: http://www.trenitalia.com

EDIT: I forgot to mention that you can leave you luggage at Pisa Centrale while you check the sights there.

The info you got above is all correct and it all you need.

I'd just like to add that, if you decide to buy in advance (be aware of the aforementioned restrictions however), the greatest savings are probably in the Venezia S.Lucia to Firenze SMN leg, which is on fast Frecciargento trains.
The leg from Florence to Pisa is on regional trains, therefore no pre-purchase and no discounts.
The leg from Pisa to La Spezia can be on regionals or Frecciabianca or Intercity. The last 2 offer the possibility of discounts, however from PIsa to La Spezia is a short trip, therefore you might as well wing it and not worry about the savings, which wouldn't be astronomical anyhow.
The trip from La Spezia to Rome, via the coastal route, is likely on Frecciabianca or IC. You can have savings there, but probably not as much as the Venezia-Firenze.

If you prefer not to tote luggage to Pisa and drop it off/pick it up, you can visit Pisa in less than a half-day from Florence.

Thank you very much for the good information! It sounds like it might be a good idea to combine buying ahead of time for a couple of the legs and buying at the station for the regional trains. I remember Venice being very crowded in July when I visited there in 2011 so I'd especially like to get the Venice to Florence train locked in.

Thanks for the good input on Pisa as well!

Right now, it's only 29 Euros for the Venezia S. Lucia to Firenze S. M. Novella leg and the times are good. No reason book that!

Thank you again!!

Update: I just purchased my ticket from Venezia S.Lucia to Firenze SMN for 29E. The times are great so even though it's very far ahead, it should be perfectly doable. The economy tickets for that time (19E) were already sold out.

I may try to lock in La Spezia to Rome and wing it on the rest of the legs. Thanks for the help! :-)

Priscilla said: You can easily buy these tickets ( Regionale) at the train station up to 7 days in advance.

Is it true? I understand that there is a 7-day limit for online purchase of regional trains. Does the same limit apply at the station? I plan to buy all my regional train tickets needed throughout the 21-day trip on my first day in Italy (at Rome Termini). Does it work?