My flight to Venice is scheduled to arrive at 11:40 am on June 29. I am traveling on to Florence the same day and need to make a train reservation. How much time should I allow to get through the airport and to the Mestre station so that I will not miss my train?
I will have only carry on luggage.
Posted by
Green Bay
20081 posts
You are not going to save much by getting tickets now on-line. Base fare is 45 euro and there are trains with 39 euro Economy tickets, unless you wait until 17:37 for a train with some 29 euro Super Economy tickets.
Just get there as soon as you can and buy a ticket for the next train and avoid the stress. There is at least one train every hour, some times two.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
This kind of question comes up often on this Forum, and the answer is always the same as Sam's. For Italy, full price train tickets aren't that expensive, so if you're flying in and then connecting immediately to a train, it's much easier to just buy train tickets on arrival.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32201 posts
what,
The usual recommendation from most here is not to purchase rail tickets to connect with inbound flights. You'll likely be traveling via a Freccia high speed train and those require compulsory seat reservations which are specific to train, date and departure time. If your flight is delayed for any reason and you miss the train you've booked, the ticket is worthless and you'll have to buy another at full price.
The easiest solution is simply to buy a ticket when you arrive, either from a Kiosk or staffed ticket office. There are frequent trains on that route, so you shouldn't have long to wait.
Posted by
824 posts
There are exceptions to the day-of versus advance booking argument. The Venice-Florence-Rome routes are VERY popular during the tourist season. Therefore, if you have a group of travelers you are trying to maintain group integrity with, it may be best to purchase your tickets in advance so you can pick your seats close together. Whether it is sitting in a seat next to your travel partner or getting all members of a large group into the same carriage, booking day-of my not be best option.
For rail travel the day of arrival on an international flight, one option is to stay local to the airport/train station the first night and continue your journey the following morning. Florence is only a 2 hour trip from Venice so taking an early train still gives you almost a full day of sightseeing.
One factor not addressed in the original question is that of customs/passport control. Are you arriving on a direct flight from outside the EU or are you entering the EU somewhere else to make a connecting flight to Marco Polo? If you enter direct from outside the EU, you must process border control and customs which can add significant delays to leaving the airport.