rockymountain

My wife and I will be traveling for the first time to Italy in September. We have experienced France and other European countries and have been very comfortable using only train transportation. Our itinerary/hotel reservations are reserved with stops in Venice, Lake Como, Cinque Terre, Florence and Rome. What/when would be the most economical way to purchase our train tickets to these spots, beginning in Venice and ending in Rome? We prefer the first class option with reserved seats, but do I need to reserve these well in adavnce, or simply wait until we arrive in Venice and purchase as we go? Thanks to all for any advise you may pass along. If you need further information, I will be happy to answer further questions.

kybourbon

September schedules aren't loaded yet. Summer schedules don't start until the second weekend in June (run through Dec.) and Trenitalia can be as late as the first week in June getting everything loaded.

For the fast trains (AV,ES,ESCity, IC) which run between major cities, you can buy 120 days in advance on Trenitalia. Discount tickets can be as little as 9€. The Supereconomy tickets can't be changed or refunded so you would need to know exactly when you want to travel.

For some of your routes (CT/Lake Como), you won't find service by the fast trains and may be served only by slow R (regional)trains. No point in buying these in advance and there are more restrictions for regional tickets if you do . They are cheap, there are no reserved seats, so can't sell out. Many R trains have no class option (only one class). You can't buy them online more than 7 days in advance. Buy when you get there.

First class rarely sells out. Second class is more often used by most people as travel times are short (Rome/Florence is only 90 minutes). Here's is a pic of 2nd class on the fast AV train. First class looks the same, but has three seats across.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ssainterno.jpg

Is your itinerary
Venice/Como
Como/CT
CT/Florence
Florence/Rome?

thursdaysd

What kybourbon said. I don't bother with first class, and on fast trains you will need a reservation even in second class anyway. For fast trains and reservations you should book as soon as the schedules post (provided your itinerary is set) for the best prices. For all the info you need on train travel in Italy (and elsewhere on other pages) see:

http://seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

rockymountain

Yes, that is exactly our itinerary. We are traveling to the Bellagio area of Lake Como. Thank you so much for your reply.

rockymountain

Thanks again to both of you for your time and replies. Very helpful, informative and saved me $ : )

kybourbon

I'm not sure whether it would be faster:

Venice/Milan (fast train), Milan/Varenna (only slow trains), ferry Varenna/Bellagio

or

Venice/Milan (fast train), Milan/Como S. Giovanni (fast international EC train or R train), bus or ferry Como/Bellagio.

I posted on your other thread. I don't think you have time for both Como and CT. You need to plot out your days:

Day 1 arrive Venice 11 am, transfer to hotel (may take an hour),etc.

Day ? - Depart Venice, check out/transfer to train station (1 hour), train to Milan (2 1/2 hours), train to Como (1/2 - 1 hour), bus or ferry to Bellagio (1 hour?).

See how you lose a day to travel?

When you get with in the purchase time frame and know your itinerary, you can buy your fast trains on Trenitalia. Do pay attention to the 1st class prices if that's what you really want. You can often get the Venice/Milan ticket 2nd class super economy for 9€ on this route, but sometimes when 2nd class super economy and economy are sold out, 1st class super economy and economy are still available. You can sometimes get 1st class cheaper than the full base fare for 2nd class.

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...0080a3e90aRCRD

Tickets for R trains must be validated trackside before boarding (look for yellow machine). Fast trains include seat reservations and don't need to be validated. They will be checked on board.