Okay, I've used the Rail Europe sight to book global pass trains.

1. La Spezia to Florence doesn't appear to have a global pass train??? Being charged 36.00 does this make sense?

2. Whem does it give the reserve seat assignments at the very end or only when you get your tickets in the mail?

Have I said how terrific Fodors people are? Can't say it enough. Thank you

Hi sg,

What is a "global pass train"?

RailEurope is limited in the trains it offers.

www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html has all of the trains.

You can't reserve seats on R trains.

Save yourself a lot of money and bother by buying tickets in Italy. If you are travelling from the Cinque Terre, look up times and fares for the whole journey - Monterosso to Firenze, for example. You may not have to change in La Spezia.

I am concerned that with the global flex pass that my daughter has that she might not be able to find a seat if we wait until we are in Venice on the 28th of June to reserve? Is this a problem?

I recently took a train from Florence to Cinque Terre and back

I just hopped on because the trains were either IC trains or regional trains. There are some trains i avoided because yes you would have to pay a hefty reservation fee but there are plenty alternatives that are just about as quick.

And if you want to reserve you will have no problems doing it in Italy at a much cheaper IME cost - no need to advance book IME

Like Geoff says look at schedules and if it's IC (Intercity) train then reservations are optional and cost 5 euros each seat in Italy; ICp or ICPlus trains reservations, with passes, are mandatory and cost 5 euros; ES or EuroStarItalia trains have mandatory reservations costing 15 euros regardless of distance traveled - in first class you get a coffee and a pastry i believe on ES trains.

Also, for some very odd reason there is a problem with the rail sight and schedule when I try to find a train from Monterosso to Florence, only 1 at 8:00 pm? I checked the Trenitalia sight for Monterosso to Firenze and it just keeps coming back with error, yet other train schedules are up for earilier in May, just not for July yet?

This is why I am using La Spezia. I would love to find a train at a reasonable time going from Monterosso to Florence.

If I weren't concerned about the global railpass my daughter holds and reserving a seat for her, I would take the chance and just do all train reservations when we get to Venice on the 28th of June. What are the opinions?

Thank You for your feedback, it is very helpful and I very much appreicate the time you take to help us all along. I'm getting better at this, believe it or not!

Yes many Italian trains are not loaded after summer schedules are due to begin in mid-June

You seem to want to book that train before leaving and i understand that - in that case i'd recommend calling BETS 800-441-2387 and talking to someone who is an expert in booking them and explaining the different trains and can get exact schedules, etc.
But really you won't have any problem getting these reservations at Monterosso or Venice stations IME

Looking at schedules on www.bahn.de - the German rail website that i find easiest to use for schedules for all of Europe there appear to be trains from LaSpezia to Florence throughout the day and most are regional or IC trains and thus you just hop on, or with IC make an optional reservation.

IME these trains are rarely overcrowded, etc.

Go to www.bahn.de and see what schedules show - and if schedules are not loaded for after mid-June yet, just put in a date prior to that for the same day of the week (Monday, etc.) and the schedule you get for that day will almost certainly be identical for schedules on days that are not loaded.