Train trip from Tirano to Milan Centrale

Regional trains don't have seat reservations. I'm surprised you saw first class. When we get on that train in Varenna, to Milan, it's always been SRO.
I'm assuming you'll be getting on at the origin of the route, so should have seats, but don't arrive at the last minute.
Have a great trip!

All our trains so far have allowed us to book 4 First class seats
together

On the majority of trains in Europe you cannot reserve seats. Trains are mass transit. Trenord is basically a commuter railway. like Metro North, SEPTA, Metra etc... So no reservations. Just get on and take a seat...

Also: Eurail Pass is about flexibility. If this trip is for July you should not be reserving seats now. Don't worry about trains till you are here.

Do we just get on that Trenord Regional train and find any seat in 1st class and take it?

Yes.

And don't expect much in the way of "first class" services or even if first class seats are available. It is private commuter train.

All of our train tickets so far from April 1 thru July 3 have allowed us to buy seat reservations except 2, this Trenord and an IC from Zurich to Chur. We are still waiting on Munich to Prague, as its too early for those.

Here is a link to our trip. Europe Trip Route

Also: Eurail Pass is about flexibility. If this trip is for July you should not be reserving seats now. Don't worry about trains till you are here.

We used the Eurail pass to save us a lot of money, flexibility was not really in the plan, except for adhoc day trips. We are taking high speed trains as often as possible and we all want to sit together so the seat reservations are already done for almost all of Schengen, all the way to London. The pass has saved us ~€2000 per couple, I'm using a spreadsheet to put in the advance fare costs, less the seat costs, and the initial cost of the 1 class 90 day passes. And we were able to get them on sale @ 25% off late last year. We were considering 2nd class seats, but that 25% discount made the 1 class tix cost less than what the 2nd class tix had sold for just the day prior. So we pulled that trigger, even on high speed trains, some of the legs are a long time.

A three month 1st class pass at 25% off is indeed a good deal.

That is however not what most people buy. Most get like a 7 days in a month pass. If you then reserve your seats months in advance you would have been cheaper off just buying tickets.

With a three months pass you have a low per day cost, and if you plan to move around a lot it will indeed save you money. However it is not needed to reserve seats months in advance, and often not needed at all. And most trains do not take reservations...

For Ireland- this web page tells you how to make free reservations when they are available- https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/rail-fares-and-tickets/how-to-guide/booking-a-seat-only-reservation

For the UK- the best way to make reservations on line anywhere in the UK is through the 'my account' feature on the GWR website.

For the Leeds to Newcastle sector I suggest travelling on a Trans Pennine train rather than a Cross Country train as the TPE trains on the (Liverpool) to Leeds to Newcastle route are now providing a complimentary meal service in first class (a very new feature).

If you are doing EDI to Belfast by train (as opposed to by air) there is no first class after Glasgow or on the ferry connector bus from Ayr. Also the Galway to Limerick direct trains in Ireland do not have first class (the ones on the longer indirect Dublin routes do).

At Euston and Birmingham you also get to use the Avanti first class lounges, and at Newcastle and Edinburgh the LNER first class lounges.

For Ireland- this web page tells you how to make free reservations when they are available- https://www.irishrail.ie/en-ie/rail-fares-and-tickets/how-to-guide/booking-a-seat-only-reservation

@ isn31c Thanks! That's all great info... unfortunately our 90 day pass runs out after our trip to Newcastle.. I read about GWR on the Seat61 site, but currently we are too far out to book those. I will look at the Trans Pennine Trains, had not hear of those. (Mark gets real detailed about Europe train travel, but is a bit less detailed on his home country, and includes is even less detail about Ireland train travel.)
That "EDI (EDB) to Belfast by train" is still a conundrum to me. I am assuming you meant EDB as EDI is an airport. I found the Wales Ticket Site that shows a train trip EDB to Ayr then a bus to the Cairnryan port then on to BDA via ferry. But their train support folks replied that the ticket, for £72 DOESN'T include the bus part, and then we walk onto the Ferry. I am waiting to find out how we book that bus (i am glad i asked them as I was thinking the bus would have been included in the fare.... And now I guess we book the ferry separately too. That was a little less "clear as mud"..)

Another weird thing, was if I used tfw.wales to look at the train schedules, there was an extra transfer on the way to BPA compared to using the search on tickets.trc.cymru That first site lets you off at Glasgow Queen St, and you walk to Glasgow Central then continue on.

The Cymru site shows a 9:56 train with 3 changes instead of 4 and also shows a second train leaving 4 minutes (10am) later that has 4 changes. Picture of Schedule After Checking the Scotrail Map, it appears one train takes a northern route to Queen St and the other a more southern route to Glasgow Central.

I cannot book that far out so I picked a Saturday closest to the Sat we plan on traveling.

Hope we don't get on the wrong train as they give you 5 minutes to walk between stations to catch that next train, but Gmaps says its a 12 minute walk. :(

Now to search for buying that Ayr bus tickets and the ferry tickets..

Sure was a lot easier in Germany, take a train from Berlin to Rostock, then get on a Flix Bus at that train station that rides the ferry to Gedser and then takes us all the way on to Copenhagen bus station..

-Bill

However it is not needed to reserve seats months in advance, and often not needed at all. And most trains do not take reservations...

As we want comfortable seats for the 4 of us traveling together, seat reservations were a no-brainer. And in Italy they are mandatory for the high speed trains. And really, who wants to spend an extra 2.5 hours on a local train and hope there are decent seats for a long 5.5 hour ride when we can buy nice seats on a fast one and get there a lot sooner. Mostly our trip is about seeing Europe, not about spending time on trains. Our wives nixed the Motorhome for Europe. Both couples usually travel via a 40 diesel pushers towing our cars for 6 months of the year. (our friends travel all year) We try not to be on the road for more than 2-3 hours then stop for at least two days, but usually stay a lot longer unless we are traveling thru the southwestern deserts in the summer months. -Bill

That is however not what most people buy. Most get like a 7 days in a month pass. If you then reserve your seats months in advance you would have been cheaper off just buying tickets.

@WengenK Where were you able to find that statistical information on what people usually buy from Eurail or Interail? I love to look at that type of info. -Bill

Most people use EDI interchangeably to refer to both the city and the airport.

Anyway Transport for Wales are talking total nonsense.

Transport for Wales only control the via Holyhead fares to Ireland. Scotrail control the via Cairnryan fares. Regardless the fares can be bought from any train company.

It would be totally daft to use Glasgow Queen Street station from Edinburgh, then walk or catch the free inter station bus. Doing that invalidates your guaranteed connection.

The £36 per person ticket totally includes the Ayr to Cairnryan (Stena Line) Port bus- it can't be booked or used as a stand alone bus and includes the ferry fare. It is a total steal of a price.
I've done it a fair few times.
What it does NOT include is the bus in Belfast from the ferry terminal to central Belfast.- pay on the bus.

The booked connection is the 0956 from Edinburgh to Glasgow Central (should arrive at Platform 3) for the 1130 train from Glasgow Central (should leave from Platform 15 )to Ayr for the bus. The bus is run by Dodds of Ayr and is normally run with a bus in Stena Line livery. At Ayr the train should arrive on Platform 3, cross the bridge to Platform 4 and the bus leaves from outside, Check with station /ticket barrier staff as the station is being rebuilt following a huge fire at the now demolished Station Hotel.
Ayr Station Plan- https://images.nationalrail.co.uk/e8xgegruud3g/2Hb8zBmzbsYtCBZochNR1Q/df03b03792217edf03112c404888529c/Ayr_station_map.jpg

As that is THE connection of the day if the train from Edinburgh was late into Glasgow Central Scotrail would have to provide a free taxi to Cairnryan from Glasgow.

What we usually recommend on here as the seamless way to do the journey (but costs more) is either Scottish Citylink (bus to Glasgow, bus to the port, ferry, bus at Belfast all as one ticket) or make your own way to Glasgow (Citylink bus or train to Queen Street) then Hannons Bus to Belfast. ,

That bus drives onto the ferry with you on board, the luggage stays in the bus hold then the bus drives off the ferry straight to Grand Central station.

In Ireland-
a- Belfast to Galway- train Belfast Grand Central to Dublin Connolly, LUAS tram to Dublin Heuston to Galway- can be booked as one ticket which includes the LUAS tram.
b- Galway to Limerick- direct train down the coast- no first class, no seat reservations.
c- Limerick to Dingle- the best way to do this is bus to Tralee, change, bus to Dingle. No trains now serve Dingle. By train Limerick to Limerick Junction, change, train to Mallow, change, train to Tralee, then bus (the 3 trains can be booked as one ticket, not all Limerick to Limerick Jn trains have first class or seat reservations).
d-Dingle to Cork- bus to Tralee, then bus to Cork- or train Tralee to Mallow, change, train to Cork (there are a few through trains).
e- Cork to Dublin- hourly direct train.

Where were you able to find that statistical information on what
people usually buy from Eurail or Interail? I love to look at that
type of info

On the Eurail Page there is a "meet our bestsellers" page, and that lists the 7 days in a month, and 10 days in a month passes.

Myself I often buy a 4 day in a month Interrail pass, and end up using only two days on it, because all I need is an outward and return trip, and a pass is indeed often cheaper than walk up fares.

A three months pass, as the thread starter bought, is a different story. It is actually good value, especially if you got it 25% off to boot.
The three months 1st class pass costs 14$ a day (not including any discounts).
A 7 day pass however costs you 73 a day. That is competitive with walk up fares, but not with advance fares. Which is why I am always puzzled by people buying a pass, and then reserving trains months in advance. If you are going to reserve trains months in advance just buying tickets is usually cheapest.

And with a pass there is no need to reserve months in advance. I have to be in Ibiza in May. I plan to travel by train to Denia, and then take the ferry across there. A week later I will be in Sardinia and make my way back to Switzerland. I will have a 4 day in a month Interail Pass. I have not made any reservations, but do plan on making the Lyon - Barcelona sometime next month.