I'm on the Trenitalia website, looking for a train from Santa Margherita-Portfino to Florence. There is one at 9:00am and arrives in Piza at 11:24am and the connecting train to Florence is 11:29am! They are letting me purchase it, but is that too risky?

I recall the Pisa station being very small. I think your connection is not difficult. The problem lies in which platform you arrive on and which you leave on. When you have to go downstairs and back up to another platform that can take time. At any rate, there are so many trains from Pisa to Florence, if you miss that one another will be along very soon.

Trains Pisa to Florence run pretty much hourly.

I wouldn't be worried about the platforms - but about how quick you can be in moving your luggage out of one train and across and into the other.

It takes us more than 5 minutes to figure out which platform to be on. Then if you have luggage and have to go up and down stairs it all can take some time. Also the Italian trains can run late so don't make your connections too close.

In Piza, I remember having to go down the stairs and thru the tunnel and back up stairs to change platforms.

In small train stations, 5 minutes to change trains is a luxury. In bigger stations, it depends.

If you miss your train, the next one is at 11:56 and the one after that at 12:01. Relax and enjoy your journey.

Thank you everyone for your replies!!! 3 more sleeps until a month in Europe....can't wait!!!