Should I purchase train tickets ahead of time?

From a pure availability standpoint, no, there is no need to buy ahead. There are potentially some cost savings to be seen, and as a group of six, maybe a few more options than a solo or couple travelling, plus you may have younger kids as well. Visit www.trenitalia.com, I suggest not bothering with the other option that may come up (www.raileurope.com ... though they may have ok information on options), but on Trenitalia you will find info on early purchase discounts, as well as it looks like kids under 12 can travel free in July and August. I have not used the Trenitalia site to buy tickets, it was once nearly impossible, but reports are that it is much improved. As for Venice to CT, just plug in your departure (Venice Santa Lucia) and your Arrival station, and all of the route options will be shown, including most that require a change in Florence. Once you get a feel for what options there are, re-post a question, there are a few people on here that are very familiar with Trenitalia.

Hi Dan, I am in the same situation of buying rail tickets for Italy and France (family of 4) for July. I found that if you buy the tickets ahead of time (I just did today!!!!) you can get the MINI deals which are much cheaper. Just put in 2 adults, the mini fare. After that it will give an option to add more tickets and have to MINI. The children are free (under 12). The sooner you get them the cheaper the options. I missed out on the fares from Venice to Paris in an overnight train (from 180E to 384E) because i waited too long. If saving some $$$ is important...book now...if flexibility is more important....wait. Use trenitalia. Very easy to use. Eurorail sells you the most expensive tickets because they are 100% flexible/returnable. Have fun.

Thanks to you both! FYI, my kids are old (23,21,18,16)!! So I won't be getting any deals there. I was just wondering if we would have trouble getting 6 tickets on a July morning at the station, or if the price would be lots higher than I see now online. We ARE coming to Venice from Paris, so I booked the overnight 6 person sleeper a month ago. Not sure what the MINI deal is, so I will have to go on to read about that. Thanks for the tip. On the issue related to Venice - Cinque Terre, at first glance it just appeared that maybe taking a FAST train to Florence and then hopping on a direct line to La Spezia might be less hassle than some of the long trains that try to get you there via Milan or otherwise. I will do the time/math computations! Thanks again. Dan

Which Cinque Terre village will you be staying in? Give us your travel dates and the ages of your children and we'll help you find the lowest fares using the Trenitalia site.

...and ponder http://www.roninrome.com/transportation/buying-train-tickets-updated in the meantime...lots of very good info. Again, for Italy, use http://www.trenitalia.com/. Click on the English flag at the top center of the page. Generally speaking (although not always), the train websites will give you the best routing...even if it doesn't look like it at first.

Dan, You should purchase tickets in advance on Trenitalia website. Just a small gotcha: do not try to buy, together, the Venezia - La Spezia ticktes + regional tickets from La Spezia to your final destination, as this will likely hidden some discounted fares and this last part (La Spezia - final destination on CT) offers no discount for advance purchase. Trenitalia has a promotion (Sabato Italiano) that allows one person to travel free one another person ticket for the same destination under am advanced purchase, normal priced and nominal ticket. It has some restrictions, it doesn't apply to regional routes, but it might be well worthwhile to check.

Thank you Andre, and all others! I have been on the Trenitalia site and am trying to navigate around for best prices, etc. I had a little trouble indicating that I wanted to buy 6 tickets. I will have to spend a little more time and I'm sure I will figure it out. And thanks for the tip of the "buy one get one free" offer. I will look for that. Bottom line is that it sounds like I am better off purchasing in advance than waiting until I am there.