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Am I booking this right?

Posted by (Phoenix🌵) on

I'm either overthinking this or confused, so if you can confirm or help me I'd appreciate it. I will be taking the train from Nice to Milan the morning of Friday Sept 23. Man in Seat 61 recommends two separate tickets; Nice to Ventimiglia on SNCF, then Ventimiglia to Milan on Trenitalia with 45 minutes to 1 hour between trains.

I am looking at Nice to Ventimiglia on SNCF Connection website. I understand I do not need to book online prior and seats are not reserved? Is it better to book tickets online anyway? Is getting a seat just a matter of boarding as early as possible? I will have a carryon suitcase and a tote.

I plan to book Ventimiglia to Milan on Trenitalia. There is an InterCity train. It is new to the listings and direct. I plan to be comfortable in first class, not that much more cost and less people in the car. There was a post a few weeks ago about EuroCity trains on Trenitalia website so I want to be sure the InterCity train won't have the same booking problems.

I am also booking Milan to Venice Sept 24 but that looks straight forward and should be problem free.

Thanks for your help.

EDITED for Clarification: Sorry if I didn't ask clearly. The Intercity train is the only direct train I see on Trenitalia's website. I did a test booking for early August to see if it's different than the end of September. Nope. Regional trains listed have one or two changes and I prefer direct to cut off two hours of travel time. It looks like InterCity is part of Italiarail, a booking company. Using their website, I don't see Ventimiglia to Milan which adds to my confusion.

The previous post I was referring to said the OP found out after booking that EuroCity is a German train and she had problems downloading tickets.
Kathy

Posted by
7987 posts

Kathy, I can't help you but you might want to post this on the Italy page as well.

EDIT: Oops, just realized that this involves 2 countries.

Posted by
23626 posts

I am sorry but really not following the question. ALL Italian trains, except R - Regional, require a seat reservation prior to boarding. You do not go early and just a seat. First or second class makes on difference. My comments are just for the Italian system. Much less familiar with the French system but do not think the French have the required reserve seat system. But confirm it with someone else.

PS Still confused even with your edit. On Sep 23, I see several, direct, intercity trains between Vent... and Milan Centrale taking 3 hrs and 45 minutes. All day long. Some still have the super econ ticket available and you are correct that the first class ticket is not that more expensive so opt for first class. Not sure what the problems of downloading German tickets has to do with your question.

Italiarail and Trenitalia are NOT the same. Trenitalia is the national rail line of Italy and Italiarail is a travel agency selling train tickets. Intercity is one of the classes of trains operated by Trenitalia. Eurocity is NOT a Italian train. Stay with Trenitalia.

Posted by
8879 posts

Hi!
I just looked at the Trenitalia site and the booking for your Ventigmiglia to Milan train looks pretty straightforward. There is currently savings for advance purchase available on 4 direct trains that date; 11:03, 15:10, 17:03, 19:43. I don't know why you would experience difficulties?

Posted by
21142 posts

Do not use Italiarail, they are a travel agent. Use https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html. They run the trains.

I am looking at Nice to Ventimiglia on SNCF Connection website. I understand I do not need to book online prior and seats are not reserved? Is it better to book tickets online anyway? Is getting a seat just a matter of boarding as early as possible?

Exactly. Unfortunately, as best as I can tell, none of the morning trains originate in Nice, son they will have people on them when they arrive in Nice. But I think a lot of them will be getting off at Nice, so you will just have to hope you will find a seat. Worst case, it is only a 55 minute train ride at most.

Posted by
10621 posts

The Nice to Ventimiglia is a commuter train that stops along the way. These trains are called TER. No seats are reserved. You can buy that ticket just before boarding but don't forget to validate it. Tourists will be getting off at all the places we talk about on the Forum, but the huge swoosh will be employees getting off to go to work in Monaco.

It's too bad there isn't a Nice-Milan running.

Posted by
3070 posts

Do not use Italiarail, they are a travel agent. Use https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html. They run the trains.

Sam and Frank,
Thank you. This is the clarification I was looking for for the Trenitalia leg.

It tells me that the InterCity train is OK. I just didn't know who ran those trains since they just popped up on Trenitalia's website. Like I said, I am overthinking everything and easily confused.

Bets, thank you for the TER info. When I started planning this trip a year ago, Thello was still running and ran from Nice to Milan.

Kathy

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