What are the face forward seats on the Italo high speed train from Milan to Rome?

The best thing to do is book two seats that face each other across a table.
Then at least one of you is facing in the preferred direction.

I second SJ's recommendation. We took this same train from Rome to Milan. I also suggest taking first class--it's not that much more and definitely worth it.

The train will change directions in Florence as SMN station is a terminal type station. When it pulls out of the station after stopping, what was the back of the train will now be the front.

As the others have mentioned, I don't think there's any way to tell which seats will be facing forward or rearward on any particular train. The suggestion to book one seat in each direction is probably the best solution.

I've found that the high speed trains are so smooth, that it doesn't really matter which direction I'm facing.

Your wife has my sympathy. Seats across from each other is a good idea. She can sit in either direction so she is comfortable. Dramamine Non-Drowsy helps too. Surprisingly I found that on trains I don’t get motion sick if I’m riding backwards and I usually get sick on everything.

All trains change direction in Florence at Firenze SMN. So if you face forward from Milan to Florence, then you will face backward from Florence to Rome.

Another motion sickness sufferer here. In addition to the suggestions by horsewoofie and others, I find if I look out the window when the train is starting and stopping -- especially when it is starting -- I'm less likely to feel sick. Just stop what you're doing and look out the window.

I learned this trick when I worked for about 3 years at a job that required daily commuting by train. It works kind of like being out on deck in a boat or being the driver in a car.

A non-stop Milan to Rome travels through the Florence Rifredi bypass and does not reverse, but for example a Milan to Rome stopping in Florence reverses its direction at Florence SMN, and a Torino to Salerno reverses its direction four times during its run. So reservation systems can't take into account direction of travel; the advice to book two fronting seats is really the best thing to do. Interestingly, while the question of motion sickeness on trains is recurring in this area, I do not remember an Italian being concerned about it; apparently travel is so smooth not to be a concern even to people that suffer bus and car traveling.

When you look at the Italo schedule, trains taking less than 3 hours and 39 minutes bypass Florence. So if it shows 3 hours and 5 minutes to 3 hours and 15 minutes from Milano Centrale to Roma Termini, it skips Florence and will maintain the same direct throughout the trip.

On www.italotreno.it/en click the small " i " next to the length of the journey. A pop-up window will display all the intermediate stops. The trains that take 3:09 and that are labelled as "No stop" do not call at Bologna and Florence.

Hard to believe that you only face forward when traveling in one direction. That means every trip heading in one direction is always, as in always, forever, going to be facing either rear or front.
In many trains there is a mechanism whereby you can rotate the entire row of seats to face the other direction. Not everyone does it and not everyone knows about it. I only know because someone else did it. It is usually a foot pedal under the aisle seat.

Thanks to all! That is great information! I think our best bet will be to book seats facing each other as suggested so we can switch as needed. Thanks again, you folks on this forum are the best!!

If you want to have single seats facing one another across the table (rather than a shared table for 4 people) you will need to book Prima class on Italo.

there is a mechanism whereby you can rotate the entire row of seats

that's an old trick. Where have you seen it recently?

Last time I saw that was on Amtrak about 55 years ago

SEPTA trains (Philadelphia area) used to have this feature. The seat was a padded bench and the back rest could be flipped back and forth to change the seating direction.

Rear facing seats are safer in case of accident.

Nigel,

I cannot remember where I used this feature. I have been on so many trains on various continents that I cannot say it was even in Europe. But, at least having encountered it I would look for it in case it is so.

train cars are now built to be strong and sturdy and protect the passengers if the worst ever happened. I can't believe that an old swivel seat on a foot pedal catch would pass modern safety standards. Seats these days are bolted in place and designed not to move.

The Italo seats are not designed to flip directions. Getting seats across from each other (at a table) in either Smart or Prima class (both have tables) is the correct advice.