What are the best ways to travel from Sorrento to Rome and from Rome to Florence
Then from Florence to Verona and Verona to Venice
looking for the best for sightseeing and fastest as well for options and do we need to purchase ahead of the time. women traveling in the end of September through the beginning of October
By train. And you can get the cheapest fares by booking and reserving in advance.
ok what would be the difference in price of booking early and waiting until we decide to go
and what train would you reccommend
Train.
You save a lot by buying in advance (2-3 months). Tickets are specific to a train, so as soon as you are prepared to commit to times, buy.
Info (beginners guide) here: https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm
Times and tickets here: https://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
Times for June onwards are not yet available. Look up a date with the same day of the week in May for planning and budget purposes. Times will not change much.
"ok what would be the difference in price of booking early and waiting until we decide to go" - about half.
Verona - Venice for tomorrow - between €9.25 to €27 depending on which train you take. 8th May highest price €17.90
Rome to Florence for tomorrow - €50, 8th May €22.25 to €28.50
All these prices on https://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
"and what train would you reccommend" Whatever train goes when you want to travel. There are trains hourly, often more frequent.
Train is the easiest.
Trains in Italy are the cheapest throughout Europe, the faster the train, the higher the cost. You can purchase in advance and save money or, wait until you get to Italy and purchase as you go, adjusting to your schedule; the cost increase isn't super dramatic but, for a multi-week trip, costs add-up. One practice is to purchase your tickets a day in-advance of travel, particularly for popular routes/times.
Excellent information on Italian trains is here: Seat61.com. You will not be able to buy tickets for your time period yet.
To see the variation in fares, go to the Trenitalia website and price your trips for today or tomorrow and again for as far out as you can see fares (which might be in May; I'm not sure). If you know what day of the week you'll be traveling, use that day for your research.
There's a second rail company in Italy, Italo, that serves some of the major cities (not Sorrento). You may want to check its schedules and fares as well.
I'm not sure about Italo, but on the Trenitalia website you'll need to use the Italian station names:
Sorrento
Roma (Tutte Le Stazione)
Firenze S. M. Novella
Verona Porta Nuova
Venezia S. Lucia
You'll see that there's quite a range of travel time on most of your trips. The fastest, fanciest and costliest trains are the Freccia trains, which serve most major cities (not Sorrento, and I'm not sure about Verona). That's what nearly all travelers choose when they are available and convenient. The slowest trains are regionals, some of which stop at every station along the route.
I just look for a convenient departure time, then I compare the cost to the time in transit. Sometimes when you have to take part of the trip on a slower train (as you might into and out of Verona, depending on what time of day you want to travel), picking a routing that is partly on a Freccia train doesn't really save you any time (you might have a long layover somewhere) but does cost a lot more money.
In addition to the Trenitalia and Italo websites, there are European companies that sell rail tickets at approximately the standard cost (possibly with a small service fee). Some people choose to use them. They include loco2.com and trainline.eu. I would avoid RailEurope, which often doesn't display all the options (seeming to omit some less expensive ones) and frequently costs quite a lot more.
From Sorrento to Naples (Napoli Centrale) you would take this commuter train. Which will drop you in the lower level of the Napoli station. Cost €3,60.
https://www.sorrentoinsider.com/en/naples-to-sorrento-train-schedule
Napoli Centrale-Roma Termini and the rest of your trains the Trenitalia site mentioned above.
Look carefully at the top of the of the header, In red it will tell you the type of train or combo of plus the train #.
On the right side is an arrow which will bring up the cost of fares.
Bottom right is info, which will show stations and possible changes.
Super economy is lowest fare, this sells out quickly and is best bought as early as possible.
Full schedule should be out by the second week in June. If your dates are set in stone buy then. These tickets are non refundable.
Next is economy. Purchase if S.Economy is sold out. Some changes may be made with additional $$.
Then Base which does not need to be pre purchased.
Keep in mind, the scenery on a fast train is comparable to that on a roller coaster.
