We recently received our reserved tickets from Rail Europe for our Rome/Florence train trips. I've now noticed that our seats are not together (although they are in the same car). The train trip was booked 3 weeks before actual travel - do seats fill up that fast or is sitting together hit or miss? (Rail Europe is closed on weekends for phone calls). Also I''m reading conflicting information about validating tickets in the yellow boxes at the stations - I've read ES tickets don't need to be stamped- is that right? If we do stamp the tickets are they supposed to be stamped on the front or back? Thanks for any insight.

No Raileurope issued ticket needs to be self-cancelled before your journey i believe

that's because it can only be refunded if not used thru RailEurope

so just board - seat numbers may indicate they are not together but really may be for ex seats 31 and 33 may well be next to each other

what are your seat numbers?

ES tickets don't need to be stamped because they are good only for the one train for which they are issued. Stamp it anyway if you like, just to practice. It doesn't matter if it's stamped on the front or back.

FYI, when you buy a ticket for an IC or R train, the ticket is good for any train of that type along that route. Often, especially for shorter trips on these trains, a conductor may never reach your train car to punch your ticket. By stamping it yourself just before you board, you make it impossible to use it another day.

Thanks for the replies. Our seat numbers are 32 and 35, and appear to be both window seats on opposite sides of the aisle. I guess we will validate the back of them just to be sure.

If it is so bad for you not to sit together for 90 minutes, you can always ask your neighbours to swap the places with you.

you could also go to a ticket window and ask if they could change your seats before the train - may if there are empty seats