Trains

I'd look at both Trenitalia and Italo. Italo is a private rail system that connects a lot of Italy's bigger cities and usually offers competitive rates.

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

http://www.italotreno.it/en

The stations you likely want to travel between are Venezia Santa Lucia (Venice), Firenze Santa Maria Novella (Florence) and Roma Termini.

Okay, italiarail has seemed easier to navigate. I'm just not sure when my dates will be available. I can only see up to June 9th and it has been that way for several weeks. Do these tickets to be validated since they are at specific times and are being purchased in advance?

No tickets purchased online need to be validated at the train station.

June 2018 schedules are probably not posted yet, there is a new posting in December and in June.

You can purchase up to 120 days in advance, once the schedules are posted.

There is a Timetable change on December 10, after you'll be able to see the schedules up to June 10 and purchase tickets up to 120 days in advance.

People usually look up the schedules 8 days before departure, not 8 months, but you can use a day of travel before December 10 to get an idea of the usual service.

We have already purchased our airfare and booked our rooms. I am assuming that the prices won't change much from what I see but we are trying to have as much taken care as possible before we leave.

On February 9 you'll be able to take care of train tickets and I doubt you'll be already in Italy; being the first one you could probably grab one of the cheapest tickets (called SuperEconomy on trenitalia.com and LowCost on italotreno.it/en). Note that those tickets can't be changed or refunded, after a flight you'd better buy at the counter.

tabitha,

I normally use www.trainline.eu as they handle tickets for both Trenitalia and Italo Treno, as well as in several other countries in Europe. They don't charge any extra fees. I find that once registered on the site, it's a very user friendly website.

Ken's recommendation of Trainline.EU is a good one! If you download the app to your smartphone, you will get updates and have all of your ticketing in one place.

Another vote for trainline app. Used it with great success on our trip to Italy this year. Very easy to use. Has all trains.

ItaliaRail adds a small commission (it is a travel agency). Trainline is also a travel agency, but they get you tickets at exactly the same price as Trenitalia. Priced in EUR, your credit card network will take care of the currency translation.

Do note that ItaliaRail and Italo are two different entities.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the information!