Through the TrenitaIia site, I pre-booked a Frecciargento train ticket from Venice (Ven S.L) to Florence ( S.M Novella) on May 6th. We are booked in carriage 6; place 7D & 8D.

Are these seats side by side, facing each other or is one behind the other?

How is luggage stored on the train? Overhead?

I just want to try to better prepare for our travel. Thanks for your help!

From our ever helpful Man in Seat 61 website you can find the links to the seating plans here:

http://www.seat61.com/train-seat-plans.htm#Italy

And the seating plans here:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/30006269/tra...-June-2012.pdf

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/30006269/tra...-June-2012.pdf

They appear to be facing each other.

At your seats, there are overhead racks for luggage, as well as gaps between the backs of seats for luggage storage. For larger suitcases, there are racks at the end of the carriage as you board.

I'm just curious as to what fare you paid and how early you booked it?

thanks in advance.

I purchased on 2/12 and paid 19Euros each. Not sure if it was a good deal or not but I like to make as many arrangements in advance as possible.

Yes, a good deal. Normal price is about 45€ for this route.

On the seat maps linked above, the oblong object is the table like in this pic.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ssainterno.jpg

FYI - Next time you book, uncheck "automatic seat assignment" (it's pre-selected), click "select seat" and click continue . The next screen will show the seat diagram. You can look at your train on Trenitalia by selecting the same date, time, train number, click select seat. It may show a different car number, but layout should be the same. The gray oblongs designate tables. Some seats don't have tables and have fold down trays (like airplanes). Seats with tables are more comfortable IMO.

Did you book this on the internet from the US? It has been a couple of years since we have traveled in Italy but we will be there in the fall. It seems in the past, booking on the Trenitalia site was a fruitless exercise in frustation. Is it doable now?

It is much more doable and you can also use the www.lefrecce.it entry which I find easier to use.

It seems in the past, booking on the Trenitalia site was a fruitless exercise in frustation. Is it doable now?>

Many seem to still suffer that as several posts in the last months attest to - folks like kybourbon will gladly help with problems but for the novice stills seems to be problematic at times.

It's a breeze these days. They've made numerous improvements.

Yes, I just booked online in the US. I tried to assign my own seats but for some reason it kept timing me out so I just allowed the auto seat assignment. Overall, very easy!

I am getting ready to book my Florence to Rome ticket, just trying to figure out which time slot to choose.

We are staying in Rome and Venice but are going to spend the day in Florence en route. Happy Travels to all!

>>>Dukey1 on Mar 6, 13 at 11:17am

It is much more doable and you can also use the www.lefrecce.it entry which I find easier to use.<<<

Lefrecce is Trenitalia - same website.

It's a breeze these days. They've made numerous improvements>

so you have not seen the several recent posts in past several months contradicting just what you said?

Because most people don't post unless they have a problem, but there have been quite a few success posts. There was a success thread started just last night about how easy it was.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...year-makes.cfm

StCirq on Mar 6, 13 at 12:59pm
It's a breeze these days. They've made numerous improvements.>

about trenitalia.com being such a breeze these days to use

and today someone posted:

<Well yesterday I was reading here that the Trenitalia site had become much more user friendly and cheap tickets could be booked in advance. So I decided to do some research for an Oct. trip - I plugged in dates for March tho (10/3/2013) that's March, yes? and was told no trains possible from Como S. Giovani to Venezia - really? so any idea what I'm doing wrong or is the system just having a momentary quirk. Of course I could find info on the Bahn site but I had hoped to book the cheap tickets when they became available on the Trenitalia site.>

St Cirq - there have been many many such posts the past several weeks - to many it ain't a breeze - have you actually tried it?

>>>I plugged in dates for March tho (10/3/2013) that's March, yes? and was told no trains possible from Como S. Giovani to Venezia <<<

If that's the spelling they used, no wonder it didn't work. You do have to spell the towns correctly in Italian, but they will autofill if you let them. I have no problem pulling up those trains for those dates.

I have no problem pulling up those trains for those dates.>

you don't because you a veteran using trenitalia.com but try to put yourself into the shoes of a novice person like the many who time and time again post things like the OP did - so many of these posts and then you say there is no problem - not for you but understand that others more clueless DO have problems - even if it is a simple mistake to you it may not be apparent to others.