Does anyone know how I can book a train ticket in Italy? Besides Booking via Rail europe.I will need a ticket from Florence to Rome.

Rail Europe is expensive. Try www.trenitalia.com<BR><BR>Assume you are trying to book your ticket BEFORE you actually get to Italy?

SEarch on here for trenitalia. I've been told by many experts to buy as you go. So when you arrive in Florence, buy your Rome ticket at the station. Sounds easy! I hope so!!

Hi,<BR> I worried about this for some time, but after reading a number of posts I ralized that it is best to just buy the ticket in Italy.<BR><BR> Will you be arriving in Florence a few minutes before the train leaves for Rome? If not, stop by the station and purchase your ticket the day before.

Depending on the time of year you will be traveling, I would not leave purchasing your train ticket until just before the train leaves. However, you should be fine if you buy it a day or two before you want to travel. You can go into any travel agent in Florence and purchase the ticket -- if there is any service charge it is so small I can't recall it.<BR><BR>Buying at the station has several disadvantages. First, there are often very long lines. Second, the train you want may be sold out. This happened to us and we missed a dinner engagement because we had to wait about 4 hours for the next available train.

We buy our tickets the day or two before because they sell out.. and its so much worth it to ride the &quot;EuroStar&quot; in stead of the other.( More comfortable, security, space.) Also, ask for non smoking if you don't smoke.

Actyally, unless you explicitely ask for a smoking seat, you will be given a non moking seat. Only if non smoking seats are run out you might be given a smoking seat, but you will be asked if you would accept a smoking seat anyhow before they sell you the ticket.

Everyone seems to advocate buying a ticket on arrival in Italy. <BR><BR>But if its an overnight train (Venice to Paris) in high season (early May) and you have no flexibility on dates, is it really ok to wait until a week before departure? <BR><BR>

Early May is not high season, but trains are likely to be busy around holiday weekends - 1 May is a public holiday, for instance, and falls on a Thursday this year so many people will take a Friday off work to give a long weekend. If the night train to Venezia is fully booked, there are similar night trains to Milano and Bologna, which both have easy connections to Venezia.

kt tak, if there is &quot;no flexibility on dates&quot; (often our situation) I would certainly book in advance. Hard to put a price on peace of mind.

As expensive as rail europe is, i think I might use them again. Two years ago, I ended up on a smoking car from rome to naples in mid-june, and I bought the ticket over there one week before departure.

<BR>Everyone says RailEurope is expensive, but do we know exactly how bad the damage is?<BR><BR>A percentage, or a per ticket surcharge? Any ideas?

We bought all of our tickets at the railway station on the same date c. an hour or so before departure with no problems. Most, if not all tellers speak English, or at least enough to assist. Just buy them there.

Florence to Rome route has many runs and it shouldn't be a problem to wait until you get to Italy for purchasing your ticket. The train station can be a hectic &amp; frenzied place, so that buying tix a day or two ahead is a good idea. And if you have other questions around train issue, here's several other threads that are helpful ...<BR><BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34412106<BR>�Buying Trenitalia Tickets Question - Translation Needed �<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34411662<BR>�Italy train travel - Has anyone ever used an Eurail Kilometric Train Pass? �<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34411683<BR>�Train Ticket Help �<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34410038<BR>�TRAINS &amp; LUGGAGE QUESTION �<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34409023<BR>� Italian Trains--HELP! �<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34408066<BR>�Italy Train Help �<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&amp;tid=34402573<BR>�Eurostar vs Point to Point �<BR><BR>

I was in Italy in September and just a couple of weeks ago. I take the train into Rome from the airport. Even if you don't, the train station at the airport is a five minute walk from baggage claim (just follow the signs) you can buy all your tickets there and not at Termini. Both times, there was not one person in line but me!! Have a great trip. By the way, there are a lot of trains daily between Rome and Florence.

On the rail europe cost question, I believe I paid at least 30% more the one time I made the mistake of buying my tickets through them.<BR><BR>As for availability, the train we could not get on was Florence-Milan, a route with frequent connections. Perhaps it was a fluke, but I actually think it's easier to get the tickets a day or two ahead. No baggage to mind in line, no fretting over how much extra time to allow, no confusion over being in the right line, etc.

Mea culpa! I bought my one way, first class tkt from Nice to Santa Margherita Ligure on Rail Europe. I know I made a mistake and paid too much. My question is this: in Nice before we go to SML, do I make a firm reservation? Cause I just have the ticket with no time and just a beginning date May 11....I am cornfused big time, HELP!!!!!! What a doodeyhead am I!

Judyrem, Nice is not in Italy, it is in France. Repost your request using &quot;France&quot; as keyword, thus you will more easily be read by someone who knows something about SNCF (the French railways).

FYI. As of April 14, smoking is banned on all diretto (oxymoron for direct) and interregionale (IR) trains. And it is limited to two cars (one in first and one in second) on EuroStar. No news on IC trains, which are the big trains that go to places other than Italy, i.e., France, Swiitzerland and Germany.

On Intercity trains there are 66 sitting place of these only 18 are for smoking passengers. Seats are divided in groups of 6 in closed &quot;rooms&quot;. Smoking is forbidden on any area of the train except the 3 &quot;smoking&quot; rooms in every car. Obviously, since this is Italy, people often move to the corridor for smoking. Also, since this is italy smoking foul-smelling sigaretts is allowed, while smoking aromatic and nice sigars and pipe is not.