Will the train be full?

Hi May, I would suggest first to poke around the Trenitalia English site. It will answer a lot of your questions about fares, etc. Many people have been unsuccessful in purchasing tickets online with Trenitalia (including myself) - it's a credit card issue at the end.

You can select the fare type (amica, standard, etc) and class; 1st class in the drop down windows.

I cannot speak for Easter, but I arrived in Rome on April 29 (a few days before May 1 -which is a big holiday). I went to the trenitalia office at the airport and purchased all my train tickets for my trip. My first train, Rome to Florence was sold out for the time slot I wanted (3 days later). I chose the next train - which was only 30 minutes later. The trains are so frequent to Florence that it didn't matter much.

I assume you were successful in registering on the Trenitalia site. (Registering can be problematic.) Did you choose 1st class from the drop-down menu?

Booking on national rail sites always gives the cheapest fares. For Rome-Florence, see if you can get Amica fares (20% less than standard fares).

Sorry, I don't know how crowded the trains will be during Holy Week. However, that should be less of a problem in 1st class than in 2nd.

Thank you so much for your response.
I will try again- and check out the "amica fare".
What is that?

The "Amica" fare, the only discount we qualify for, gives you 20 per cent off for advance booking. There are a limited number of these tickets, so the sooner you book, the better your chances.

Thank you all for the response.
I still could not choose the 1st class fare on trenitalia site. It would show me the price for 1st class and 2nd class, but they are in gray and I cannot click on them!
I guess I will have to buy the 2nd class-

My question is, how different are the 1st class and 2nd class? I wanted to get the 1st class because we will be carrying 3 big suitcases (1 for each of us) and I am worried there wouldn't be any room in the 2nd class seating area.

May...I just did a dummy booking on the Trenitalia site for 18 March Rome-Florence and booked a first-class Amica fare for 41 Euro. The boxes where the first and second class fares are displayed are always grayed out...they're there just to show you the fare. You can choose first or second class in a little box about three lines down, just under the little "present" box that says "Click and give."

Norm, Thank you sososo much for doing that!
I thought I was choosing the class for click and give (pick which class I would want to donate)

Thank you sosososo much!

Yes, I's rather misleading. But you check that box if you are giving the ticket(s) to someone as a gift.

Very little difference between class. And luggage would be about the save except for the total number of people in car. If you have three large bags (shame on you!) you probably have to storage the luggage at the end of the car.

Eurorail is a travel agency and not a railroad company so you marked up prices.

Trenitalia reservation system is so bad.
I got to reserve and credit card info. went through on the second try.
I tried to purchase another ticket, this time the credit card info. did not go through after 3rd try and they shut my user ID down/ I had to reapply and wait for 24hrs for reactivation.
What is wrong with them!!