We land in Milan 9am, in 5 days from today,need to be in Venice by 5pm, the same day-how do we travel? Do we have to make a reservation on Trenitatalia? I know we need to go to Milan Centrale from the Milan airport and from there we go to Venice. Is there a chance there will be no seats, there are 4 of us in group. Worry about plane delays. But don't want to chance having to delay. From Venice we go to Florence 4-5days. How should we travel there, and can we make it a scenic route? We don't intend to drive. Thanks for any help , we are confused by the website for tickets!

Confused by Trenitalia.com - welcome to the gang of Fodorites so flummoxed - first IME you will always be able to buy seats on trains to Venice upon arrival at Milan Airport's train station or or rail desk if it is still there opposite the arrivals halls - the worst possible scenario would be to have to go first class and IME first class has significant benefits over 2nd class - especially for novice train users and those with perhaps way too much luggage. Lots more room to stow luggage in first class - often empty seat near your to put them on vs a ususally but not always crowded 2nd class.

But it would be very very rare for first-class to be sold out on all the many many Milan to Venice daily trains - just go to the airport train station and ask for the next easily available to get too train from Milano Centrale to Venice Santa Lucia - the Venetian station right in the heart of Venice - right on a main canal with water taxis and public boats which serve as buses in Venice waiting out front.

There are several types trains too - from regional trains to IC trains to the best and most expensive trains - regional trains can never sell out because they do not take seat reservations - thus you will get to Venice - put angst to rest.

The problem with reserving a train ahead on www.trenitalia.com or www.italiarail.com (same trains many report much easier to use) when landing is you never know when you will land - so if you book a discounted ticket that would be train-specific and non-changeable non-refundble I do believe - full fare is not that much on the Milan to Venice route so just buy that when landing.

Now Venice to Florence since you know exactly when you will be able to take a train then yes try booking if any discounted ticket are avaialable still and save perhaps a good amount - actually www.raileurope.com - in the U.S. now have some fares as low as trenitalia.com on its system - as low as 29 euros or less I've found so if you can't get www.trenitalia.com to work check out www.raileurope.com or www.italiarail.com and www.trenoitalia.com

Lots more room to stow luggage in first class - often empty seat near your to put them on vs a ususally but not always crowded 2nd class.

At this point most discounted tickets are likely to be sold out but there are also discounted tickets in first class that can at times be only a bit more than the cheapest 2nd class fares - check all the sources for your Venice Santa Lucia (Venezia S L) to Florence S M N - Santa Maria Novella - the main station right in the heart of Florence.

Again you can always get on trains by walking up IME - with first-class rarely rarely being sold out but try to book ahead on this leg.

For lots of great info on Italian trains in general check www.seat61.com - good info on discounted tickets; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

You will take a train from the airport (assuming you are arriving Malpensa) to Milan Centrale train station. No advance purchase or reservation necessary since there are no reserved seats on this train.

When you get to Milano Centrale, you will need to book a train for Venice. While you could buy this online in advance, you would be buying a ticket for a specific seat on a specific train. If your flight is late and you miss this train, there is no refund unless you pay full price for tickets (same as walk up cost). Trains between Milan/Venice are frequent so you would get a train, but perhaps not the next one departing.

If you want to look at schedules from Milan/Venice, enter your cities/date on Trenitalia. You must use the Italian spellings (it will start to autofill as you type). Milano Centrale and Venezia S. Lucia.

From Venice to Florence, if you are certain of your departure date/time, you could go on and book it and perhaps snag a discount. Venezia S. Lucia and Firenze SM Novella.

I forgot Trenitalia's link.

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

You could book Malpensa Aeroporto/Milan Centrale in advance if you wanted. Trenord operates the trains around Milan. You can buy that ticket (12€) on their website and you will have a four hour time window to use it. Otherwise, just buy it at the airport. There are 2-3 trains per hour. One takes almost an hour and the other 35 minutes.

http://www.trenord.it/EN/

harakamom - kybourbon is a total expert on using www.trenitalia.com and has helped so many in the past get the site to work and save money - for the Venice to Florence segment try booking it and if problems just ask - kybourbon or some other Italian train fare guru will help you thru it.

I envy this expedition. I was there two years ago

thank you so very very much for all the information.I will sleep better this evening.
One more question, what would be a day trip,from Florence,maybe small town, scenery, wine tasting,any suggestions. Maybe leave early and do some sightseeing.I have heard so much about Lucca.

Lucca, Siena, Panzano. Eirher rent a car or book a rojr.

Or, take train or bus!

>>>One more question, what would be a day trip,from Florence,maybe small town, scenery, wine tasting,any suggestions. Maybe leave early and do some sightseeing.I have heard so much about Lucca.<<<

I'm not a fan of Lucca, but you can reach it in a little over an hour by bus or train from Florence. No need to buy tickets in advance as it's regional trains (no discounts, no reserved seating possible).

You can book a day trip to a winery, but it's not so easy to visit wineries by public transport. A lot of day tour companies operate out of Florence and the tourist board will have a list. CAF runs some fairly economical ones and has half day to full day.

http://www.caftours.com/excursions-and-day-trips.html

You can take a public bus to Greve in Chianti and there is an enoteca that has automated tasting machines (load a card with euro and make your selections) with many wine selections if you just want to taste. Panzano is a bit past Greve, but not quite as many busses continue on/back so check schedules. Chianti will likely have limited service on a Sunday.

http://www.enotecafalorni.it/#!wine-tour-english/c3yt

Siena is an easy option by bus (more central than the train). Takes about 75 minutes to reach (around 8€ one way).

Siena would be my favorite day trip from Florence but Lucca is to me an excpetional place - one of the finest towns in Italy but not a hill town - a flat town completely surrounded by intact medieval ramparts - Lucca is know for its many towers where rich folks once took refuge in the tops of to escape the rabble and pestilence that would occasionally roar below - many of these towers are left.

And there is a Roman theatre remains built right into the walls of the old town.

Siena is your iconic hill town but Lucca also is a nice nice exceptional to me place.

Pisa would be a day trip option for many because of its Leaning Tower but as a town nice but not exceptional.

Only go to Greve-Chianti if interested in Chianti tastings - nice enough town too.

IMO, Siena is far, FAR more scenic than Lucca and the duomo is an absolute MUST.

It's hard to compare the two Lucca and Siena - I agree Siena is more scenic, being that iconic if largish tuscan hill town - but Lucca is also exceptional - you can't go wrong. Lucca has a Duomo equal to Siena's as all largish towns have.

Thank you very much!!!!

Well, Pal, you and I can argue about whether or not that duomo in Lucca is as impressive as the one in Siena so let's start with those mosaics on the floor of the nave LOL.

Well I would not chose my day trip destination based on any mosaics in the floor - been to Siena several times and don't even recall them - I would chose Siena because it is the iconic Tuscan hill town draped over a hill which Lucca is not.

The few folks into church mosaics may chose according to a different criteria.

>>>Only go to Greve-Chianti if interested in Chianti tastings<<<

The enoteca I linked has 140 wines available for sampling. Not just Chianti although you will find a lot of Chianti to sample that isn't available in the US. They also have Brunello, Super Tuscans, etc.

I meant wines produced in the Chiiati D O C or whatever they label wine districts in Italy - me I'm not a wine snob so would not know a Brunello from a Super Tuscan though I do like Chianti though it seems at times fizzy compared to the Chianti I love back home.

You could possible do both Siena and Chianti town on one day trip from Florence though I am not sure how the buses would link exactly but Chianti seems somewhat half-way between Florence and Siena. kybourbon would know for sure!

(Where is the best whisky in Italy produced?)