Should I buy Italy Train Tickets in Advance

One potential problem with buying in advance is that you lock yourself in to a specific date and time.

What are your travel dates for each trip?

Renee, You can certainly buy tickets for the "premium" trains in advance (ie: Freccia, etc.) and save money, but keep in mind that will lock you into a specific train, date and departure time. If you miss that train for any reason, your tickets will be worthless and you'll have to buy more at full price. On your trip from Florence to the Cinque Terre, it's likely that some or all of the trains you'll be using will be Regionale, and you won't be able to buy tickets in advance for those. There's no price difference with Regionale tickets, and it's just as easy to buy them at the station using one of the Kiosks. NOTE that Regionale tickets MUST be validated prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! The trip from Florence to the Cinque Terre will involve a couple of changes, possibly at Pisa Centrale and La Spezia Centrale (depending on which train you choose. Use the Trenitalia website to research your rail journeys. On the trip from C.T. to Rome, your best bet is one of the direct trains from La Spezia Centrale to Roma Termini, which have a travel time of about 3H:45M. There are a couple of direct trains each day along with others that have changes. Happy travels!

Thank you so much Ken. I've been looking on Rail Europe for train tickets and it looks like I can buy those tickets from Floence -> Pisa -> La Spezia on that site, then we would buy our separate tickets to Cinque Terre once in La Spezia, correct?
I've backpacked through France and Scotland before so I'm a little up to speed on trains, but I've never been to Italy before. I sure hope I don't get us lost, my husband has never been to Europe before and he's trusting me to know what I'm doing..... scary thought. Thanks for all your help.

Renee - In most cases tickets bought thru Rail Europe will be more expensive than buying your tickets thru the Trenitalia website.

Renee, I'd suggest NOT using Rail Europe as either a source of information or purchasing tickets, as they may only show tickets for routes that they sell, which may be priced higher than buying from other sources. If you want to impress your husband, you might consider something like this.... > Venice to Florence - purchase tickets online with either Trenitalia or Italo. Your departure station will be Venezia Santa Lucia and your arrival station will be Firenze S.M. Novella. Both companies use the same stations in this case. Many here have reported that registering on the Trenitalia website works better for ticket purchases. The Italo website is very user friendly. You may find it helpful to have a look at either www.roninrome.com or seat61.com (both excellent sites). The Ron In Rome website has a great tutorial on how to buy tickets on the Trenitalia site. NOTE that with these trains you MUST commit to a particular train, date and departure time, as reservations are compulsory. You'll be assigned a Car No. (Carrozza) and Seat No's (Posti), and MUST sit in those seats. You can place larger luggage items on the racks at the end of the car, but be sure to watch them closely so they don't "disappear". I'd suggest a 10:00-11:00 departure as you'll be able to enjoy breakfast in Venice and get to Florence in time for a nice lunch, after checking into your hotel. Continued......

Renee - Part 2..... > Florence to Le Cinque Terre - purchase tickets using one of the Kiosks at Firenze SMN. Your only option in this case is Trenitalia, so don't try and buy tickets from the maroon Italo Kiosks. Your departure station will be Firenze S.M. Novella and your arrival station will be Monterosso or whichever town you choose to stay in (I'd recommend Monterosso). I'd suggest a departure at 10:28, arriving 12:54 as it's only got one change at Pisa. DON'T forget to validate your tickets prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! Whichever of the five towns you choose to stay in, the group here will (hopefully) be able to give you good directions to reach your hotel from the station. > Cinque Terre to Rome - I'd suggest using one of the direct trains from La Spezia Centrale to Roma Termini (there are a few of those every day). Depending on when you're travelling, you may be able to buy reduced cost tickets for that train. If you're unable to get the Super Economy or Economy fares for the direct train, just buy the tickets at the station in Monterosso a few days before you'll be travelling. I'd suggest a departure from Monterosso at 09:15, arriving Roma Termini at 14:16 (the direct train departs La Spezia Centrale at 10:07). For the trip from Monterosso to La Spezia Centrale (to connect with the direct train), just buy your tickets at the station in Monterosso. One point to mention - if you decide to stay in one of the other towns, the stations may not be staffed at all times, so you may have to go to Monterosso to buy the tickets anyway. Continued.....

Renee - Part 3..... Another possibility - if you're going to be in the Cinque Terre less than seven days, you could also buy your tickets from Monterosso (or other town) to La Spezia Centrale using one of the Kiosks in Florence, and then just validate on the day of travel. I'm sure this sounds rather complicated, but it's all very easy in reality. FWIW, I usually just buy my tickets locally a day or two before I'll be travelling. While this costs a bit more for the premium trains, it provides more flexibility as I can choose my departure time according to circumstances at the time. There's no difference in price with Regionale tickets (which aren't as easy to pre-purchase), so those are best purchased when in Italy. Cheers!