We will be arriving in Milan around 8 A.M.and trying to catch a train to Rome afterwards depending where and how far the train station is. I have been on the Trenitalia web site a few times but it is confusing. We are family of 4( two adults and one 18 and one 13 year old).What type of tickets will I need ? Our route is Milan-Rome-Venice-Milan. Should we take the chance and buy our tickets when we get there or is it bettet to buy them on line?has anyone purchased the 3day in two months pass? Please help , thanks.

I would buy 2-48 hours before you plan to use the train (i.e., three). If you wish, you can buy the tickets for all the legs you intend to travel all at once.

For best results, have it written down to hand to the ticket agent, like this:

17 September
Milan -> Rome
dep 10:00 arr 14:30
2 adults, 2 children (18 yrs, 13 yrs)

Best wishes,

Rex

p.s. for information on railpass pricing (which will surely not save you money, but I could be wrong), see www.railsaver.com and make sure you click the box "only if it saves me money".

For Malpensa (you don't say that this is where you are arriving, but I assume) transfer choices to Milano Centrale (train station), see http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34763170

Forget the Italian railpass for your itinerary - pt - pt much much cheaper - you can buy your tickets upon arrival at Malpensa Airport Rail Desk - then hop the bus to Milan Centrale station for your train. two trains an hour Milan-Rome - worst you would do is have to buy first class is 2nd class not available - but that would only be about $70 full fare i suspect - try online at www.trenitalia.com - plenty of help from Fodorites who have done this though the trenitalia site can be very frustrating - but you don't really know when you're going to land so either leave lots of fudge time or just buy upon arrival.

Great advice from Rex - i'd only add that you should also write down 2nd class so you don't get a first class ticket by mistake - or you may want a first class ticket. I'd actually go to the trenitalia site and print out the various trains you may take and take the copy to the ticket window with the train number on it - then it's foolproof if you add the info Rex says - no language barrier.

All good advice. Just want to add that for the other journeys, you can use the electronic kiosks at the major train stations, which have English (and other languages) option. No need to go in line to talk to real person.

But for the very trip immediately after the flight, you should get your train ticket at MXP first; then take the Malpensa Shuttle bus (5 euro) to Centrale station. Give yourself some time, as it takes about 55-60 to get there, and you have to allow for traffic.

Thanks everyone for great advice.one last question, I went on the Trenitalia and tried to purchase tickets, since I haven't traveled on these trains ,couldn't tell if the seats are next to each other or across,for example 6 62,62,68,63.Is there a site where I can see the seating configuration for these trains? Thanks again.

Oops, for the seat number example, I meant to write 6 62,64,68,63.

See this thread of mine:

fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=34730224

The seats on Italian trains are like this:

w 61 63 a 67 65 w
w 62 68 a 64 66 w

w = window; a = aisle

That's one group of seats facing each other. The 51-58 is the previous group, 71-78 is the next.

So, you have three seats on one side (62, 68, 64), and one (63) facing 68.

The first number 6 is probably the car number.

depends on the type of Eurostar train:

ES trains use ETR stock but there are three different types:
ETR 500 61 is opp 62 and 63 is opposite 68 - these are two seats facing two seats (2nd cl) 64 would be across the aisle from 68

ETR460 (older trains)
same seating arrangement

ETR 450 oldest trains being phased out
64 and 66 are together 62 is across the aisle 63 is behind 64

these are train car make up charts issued by trenitalia.

rkkwan- so you're saying every Italian train has exact same seating? The charts from trenitalia indicate there are differences depending on the type of train. Me i don't know, just wanting to clarify what you're saying. IC ICp ES - is there a universal seating arrangement? thanks.

PalQ - I know the ETR500 and 460 (including Cisalpano) have those seating patterns. I don't know about the older ETR450, so you are probably right about them.

As all the trains the OP will be taking should be 460/500.

rkkwan - thanks - seems new trains are all the same as they should! Trenitalia.com must have seating diagrams somewhere?