deedeedee

We are going to Florence from Rome on April 1. Because of all the crowds for Easter,
do we need to buy our tickets now or can we wait until we arrive in Rome on March 29 ?
Didn't want to be in Rome on Easter, but when I was making our airline reservations,
I was looking at a "2012" calender. (Dumb Me) Oh well .....

ellenem

I would book before you arrive. March 29 (Friday) begins the holiday weekend. Easter Monday is a holiday as well and many will extend weekend holiday travel through Monday, having purchased their tickets before heading out of town on Friday.

rineurope

I would agree to book ahead on this holiday weekend. A couple of years ago we had friends visiting over Easter and they were training to Florence and then Venice.

They waited till they were in Rome to buy and ALL 2nd class seating was sold out on the 3-4 train options they wanted. They ended up having to buy BASE-ticketed 1st class seats...

PalenQ

You will be able to get on trains as there are so so many on that route - constantly going and if the worst thing is you have to go first class IMO that is not all bad - more relaxed in many ways and on that short run not all that more expensive. And there are always regional trains that you can always jump on as reservations are not even possible - they take longer but they will get you there.

So no you do not have to book a train now but if you want 2nd class seats on say a train at a certain time then yes.

www.trenitalia.com is the Italian Railways web site with schedules and booking - probably discounted tickets will be hard to come by at that busy time but they are possible if you book far enough in advance - like when the first come on the system - they are sold in limited numbers and can sell out very quickly. But full fare on that short train ride will not break you budget.

great sources for info on Italian trains - www.seat61.com (good info on discounted online booking); http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id12.html (if wanting to book thru a U S agency I'd recommend this one that I have used for railpasses for years - experts you can call and ask questions of; and www.ricksteves.com. But again www.trenitalia.com is your best bet for booking - will be cheaper than thru U S agencies usually - but can be a fickle site that can be hard for novices to work as many posts in the past here have documented. But if you have trouble with www.trenitalia.com then there are Fodorites like kybourbon for one who are experts on knowing the ins and outs of trenitalia.com and will help you if as they have countless times before.
Best bet - www.trenitalia.com but you can just show up and get on some kind of train between Florence and Rome without any pre-booking though you may have to go first class or take a slow regional train.

kybourbon

>>>You will be able to get on trains as there are so so many on that route - constantly going and if the worst thing is you have to go first class IMO that is not all bad<<<

I wouldn't wait as you are traveling on Easter Monday, a major holiday in Italy. Not only are the trains packed, but so are the highways as everyone is off work.

Buy in advance and don't forget there is the new train service Italo on this route also. If you don't find discounts on Trenitalia, check Italo. Trenitalia allows booking 120 days in advance, but Italo only 90 days out so you would need to wait a couple of weeks to check their availability. They have trains departing from either Rome Ostiense station or Rome Tiburtina station (most from Tiburtina I think).
http://www.italotreno.it/EN/Pages/default.aspx

raincitygirl

I took Italo from Florence to Naples in October, a first class seat which I booked in advance.
I found their website much easier to use than Trenitalia's.
I was very impressed with the whole experience on Italo, they had helpful uniformed staff on the platform to assist if needed and the train was new and clean, comfortable and in first class you got coffee, snacks and a glass of Prosecco, plus free Wi-Fi.