Booking ahead for trains in Italy?

Jared, I would get the F-R, and R-N tickets in Florence when you are there. You do need seat resevations. Second class is fine. Naples/Sorrento and return is a half hourly commuter train. Just get your ticket at the station.

The whole discount structure for Italy changed within the last few months. I don't believe the Amica fare exists any more. There is some discount savings for buying in advance except the American based (and assume same is true for Canadian) credit cards don't work on the Italian train site. The train capacity and frequency is such that you will not have any problem obtaining tickets once your arrive especially a couple days in advance. Once in Florence you can book all of your travel at the same time. Buying as go has the advantage of not locking yourself into a schedule. That is our normal pattern but you may be more comfortable with reservations further in advance. Either way works well for Italy.

I agree with Frank. In April, Trenitalia dropped the Amica fare from the high-speeds and you could only get it on the Regionale and IC trains. Now, I don't see them at all.

From Amerigo Vespucci airport (Florence), you can take the Volainbus to the SITA bus station. I believe that it stops at the main Florence train station

Yes you can buy all of your Italy tickets, except Naples to Sorrento, at the Florence train station. Your ticket purchasing will go much easier and faster if you have you travel plans written down. This includes date, departure city, destination, train number and train departure time.

You will have to wait until you get to Naples to buy your ticket on the private Circumvesuviana train that runs from Naples to Sorrento. The Circumvesuviana train station is downstairs and adjacent to the Naples Centrale train station.

Thanks for the info. I'll try to get it done when we arrive in Florence. Are train station counters open until fairly late? That's a good idea to have all the routes written down... I just find it difficult to communicate sometimes when buying transportation tickets. When I travelled in Germany, I liked having to deal with machines only.

I've read about the Super/Speciale/Promo deals for buying ahead of time. It would be quite a savings if I bought 7 days ahead for the faster train from Rome-Naples, especially since I'm in a group with three other people.

Would the ticket agent automatically apply those or would I have to specifically request?

It is always best to ask, "Any discounts available?"

Jared, there are also several electronic ticket machines in the Florence train station. The will prompt you in English, will provide any available discounts, will make your seat assignments where required and will accept your Canadian credit card.

CLICK HERE to see Ron in Rome's great web page on this subject. The ticket machines you see are in Rome but they are the same machines in Florence.

Also remember, if you go to the ticket window and you don't have things written down, English is often a poor third language for many ticket agents behind Italian and French or German. Just handing them what you want as it is shown on Trenitalia works.