We (4 of us) will have rail passes and want to take the 7:25 train to Florence on a Wednesday morning. Can we show up at the Venice station at 7 and get reservations, or should we do that a couple of days ahead of time? Also, sometime that afternoon (16:00-17:00?) we will go from Florence to Rome. We are not positive on time with this one - if we show up at that time at the Florence station, should we be able to get a reservation for a train leaving within 30-60 minutes?
Thanks.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
There's no deadline to buy the seat reservations, and the number of places for passholders is not particularly limited, but there is some possibility of reservations selling out in either class, especially 4 together. If you're sure you want that morning departure, you could stop by a travel agency in Venice on an earlier day to both activate your pass if this is your first time using it and buy the reservation, saving time on the morning of departure.
- Reservations are also sold online at www.trenitalia.com; after starting to choose a ticket, go to "View other offers" and book the "Global Pass" rate of 10 euros/person. On Freccarossa trains, 1st class=Business seating area and 2nd class = Standard.
- If the Germany part of your trip is earlier, you can also book reservations there, such as at the Euraide offices in Munich and Berlin main train stations.
- For these faster Italian trains, reservations sold at http://ricksteves.raileurope.com/us/rail/point_to_point/triprequest.htm can be printed at home on your own paper ($12/res + $8 handling fee per order).
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16243 posts
I just checked the trains from Florence to Rome departing on 11 Jun 2015 after 21:00 (it is now 21:15 in Italy).
The next train is at 21:38, i.e. 25 minutes from now, and it shows that even has Economy tickets available.
For tomorrow morning (12 July) all trains to Rome have available seats, and many even have Economy tickets available.
The chance of trains being totally booked from Florence to Rome is very low. If it happens, the very next train will have seats, and there are 3 trains per hour on that route.
Venice to Florence is more likely to be booked, since there are fewer trains (about one every hour), especially the midmorning departures after 9am when everybody checks out of the hotels and heads down to Florence and Rome. Not sure about your 7:25 choice, which is early. In any case if they are booked, there will be plenty of choices after Noon, which never sell out.