Hi catj, Once we were there, except for the Easter weekend (we booked 3 days in advance and all the <u>reserved</u> seats were sold out when we did leave), we usually bought tickets the same day we were traveling.

We usually had 3 or 4 bases. Usually, we bought our tickets for the next base when we got off the train from the previous one.

For Eurostar (and the newer high speed trains) we booked before we left home.

It has been a few years, can others confirm what I wrote?

Regarding lunch in parma, it's hard to beat La Forchetta.