ShellD

Now that the June schedules are loaded, my question is does anyone know if from experience, is this the full schedule from city to city? Or do they typically still fill in times that may have been on the previous schedule?

We're trying to get from Venice to Florence before 9:30 am on June 18th (we have a scheduled tour set up at 10:30) and on the winter schedule there was a 6:04, 6:39 and ideally for us a 7:39 that arrived at 9:30 that had no connections. All three of those are not listed at this time. There is now a 5:17 that gets to Florence at 7:30 and a 8:30 that gets in at 10:40, which is too late for us.

So, we're debating just booking the 5:17 just to have our plans solid at this point - sure I know June is still a little more than a month away - but it's nice to have the plans done at this point. Or waiting to see if more trains open. Will they? I keep rationalizing that 7:30 is early for a train to leave, so what's the difference if we have to get up for that vs. 5:00 am! And that will give us some time to drop our bags at our hotel and wander around a bit before our tour begins. We really only have about 24 hours in Florence before we leave so it would be a rush to get there, but a leisurely quiet time in the morning once we got there, if we had to be there that early. Maybe?

We tried the new italotreno line and the earliest one gets in at noon.

Thanks!

neckervd

In my eyes, the best soluton would be to leave Venice the evening before at 19.25 and to arrive at Florence at 21.30.
24 hrs isn't enough for Florence anyway.

Lisabu

I am in the exact situation - only we only have 9 hours in Florence and wanted to arrive by 9:30 am for our scheduled tour. I had planned to take the 7:39 train that doesn't seem to exist on the new schedule. Since I have to buy six tickets and I have 4 teenagers, there is no way we are making a 5:17 am train and I wanted to get a decent price.

Italotreno had a train that arrive at 10:00 am on the old schedule, but doesn't show up anymore - frustrating.

I ended up purchasing the 8:30 am train at economy rates (not the super economy) with the thought that if the earlier train gets added to the schedule I can change to that train. The way I read the restrictions were that I could change the tickets for a different time as long as it was BEFORE the travel date/time (not if we miss the train). Luckily our Florence tour is private so the guide is being flexible.

If I have to do this, I'm sure it will be a hassle, but doable. If it were only my husband and I traveling I would go for the early train. Cities are always nice in the early morning so it could end up being pleasant.

neckervd

It would really be easier to leave Venice the evening before. Trains every 30 minutes between 18.25 and 19.25.

As to the ticket purchase, locals who don't speculate on a highly discounted fare buy their ticket the same day or the evening before. So they are free to change their plans up to the last moment. The hassle of a ticket change (if even possible) is never worth the small economy of about 15 EUR that you can get if yo buy your ticket weeks in advance.

In the present case, locals would see that the Udine - Rome trains are not yet loaded on the Trenitalia timetable and would wait until this will be the done, because with the present, only partial timetable, it's just not possible to book an early morning train.

ShellD

I don't think we really have the option to leave Venice the evening before. We already have our hotels booked for both Venice and then Florence the next day and cutting our Venice day short (we only have a short time in Venice as well) is just about the same as cutting our time short in Florence. I know it's always ideal to have more time in each city, but our plans are what they are at this point so now it's a matter of dealing with the train schedules.

Lisabu - we're traveling with my parents, and my kids - so 6 of us and I'm not sure we can all make the 5:17 train, but I think in the end if we have to, we're going to go for it. I'm going to wait a few more weeks since we don't travel until mid-June and see if that 7:39 train comes back onto the schedule. If not, I don't see that we have a choice other than the 5:17.

Oddly enough Rail Europe still has the 7:39 train. So, if I was to purchase it there, would they simply bump me to the 8:30 am train after I booked? Or are they holding out for the 7:39 train too?