Railpass for Italy - Reservations Necessary?

Absolutely, IF reservations are required which is always true for the high speed trains. If fact if you get on without a reservation you will be fined. Regional trains don't require reservations and most IC reservations are option so you could just show up for an IC.

Most are IC, not high speed, but say they require a reservation...

Let me clarify. When I arrive at the station, say 1 hour before, I plan to go to the window and get a ticket. Would this be considered a "reservation", and would I have to pay the reservation fee?

Yes. The reservation fee is included in the price of the ticket for the trains which require reservations. You can't buy a ticket without one. However, if you arrive in the last hour before the train departs, you may well get a ticket without a reserved seat. You'll still pay the same amount for the ticket, and you'll just have to hope you can find a seat. This happened to us when our "incoming" train was late and we didn't have much time to buy tickets for the next IC train. We were able to find seats, but on a crowded train that could be difficult.

Remember though that I will be using a railpass. So when I "buy" a ticket, do I actually have to pay anything, i.e. the equivalent of the reservation dee, or is it included as part of the price of the railpass. I realize that this is not a concern for trains not requiring a reservation, so I am talking stricly about trains that do need a reservation.

This is getting confusing. Lets see if we can clarify the question. IF you have a railroad pass you do not exchange it for a ticket. You just get on the train, mark it appropriately, and show it to the conduct if asked. IF a reservation is required for that train, then you go to the window and pay for the reservation and show both to the conduction when asked. You can obtain that reservation any time. IF a reservation is not required or is optional, then you can just get on the train, mark your pass, and take an open seat if available. IF you buy a point to point ticket instead of using your pass. IF a reservation is required it will be include in the price of the ticket. IF you buy an open ticket with no required reservation you can use it anytime BUT it must be validated/stamped in the little yellow boxes under penalty of death if don't.

Ok thank you. You answered my question perfectly. The main part you clarified was regarding if I had to pay anything to get on a train that required a reservation.

Since you do have to pay the reservation fee for any train that requires it (IC ans ES trains), you might as well save a lot of time and make them all at once at the beginning of your trip, unless you want to leave your plans flexible. We found lines a ticket counters at some stations (Pisa for one) could stretch to 25-30 minutes of waiting. The best stations were small ones, like Lucca, where I found no line at all in the middle of the day. Ticket machine can have shorter lines, but then you get behind someone who doesn't know how to use it and takes forever, and then you're waiting there too.

Yes thank you. We are balancing flexibility, convenience, and price, which is turning out to be a very hard thing to balance!

Especially for Italy, where things are never totally predictable!

Frank, just to confirm what the others have said, you WILL need to pay for a reservation for those trains where it's compulsory. That's true whether you show up an hour or a few minutes before departure. For those travelling with a Railpass, the reservation will be printed on a small card (the same as P-P tickets) and will specify your Car No. and Seat No. Any travellers without reservations will be FINED ON THE SPOT! I noticed when I was in Italy this year that Conductors are carrying portable data terminals (using the cellular network), so the fine is charged to the credit card before the passenger even gets off the train! Trust me on this one, DON'T be caught without a reservation where required, or it will be costly! Cheers!

I really do not intend to confuse the conversation, but my understanding (and experience) was that a reservation was always required on premium highspeed trains, optional on InterCity (IC) trains, and not available on regionale trains. I have seen now conflicting information that reservations may be required on at least some IC trains, or at least to pre-purchase on Trenitalia requires a reservation, though as recently as February I traveled on IC trains without a reservation (purchase at the station same day from the machine). Anyone have thoughts or experiences that might clear this up?

If you purshased a ticket for an IC train, whether from the machine or the counter, the reservation may have been included. Did you have an assigned seat? If so, you had a reservations.

don't forget to use the little yellow boxes to validate your ticket. i can still remember the look on the attendants face when going from vernazza to pisa with an unvalidated ticket. i know the people around me told her to be nice to me, but she was furious. no fine is the end of this story. have fun, be safe.