questions about trains
 

Leaving for Rome in 4 days.... I have train ticket to Florence but not a reserved seat...1)Is it mandatory to have a reserved seat? 2) Can I wait til I get to Rome to purchase a reservation? 3)Is the worst that could happen would be that we would have to stand up? 4) do you have to punch your own ticket at the train terminal?

I haven't been there in the summer when it's really crowded. If you go to the station a few days ahead you should be ok.

Agreed. Since it is so crowded this time in Rome I would recommend getting seat reservations, a few days in advance should be fine. You will see a similar recent post on this if you do a search. And yes, you do punch your own ticket before boarding the train.

Yes, get a reservation for a seat and punch your ticket. The agent was kind to us, but I understand you can be fined for not punching in. Also, be sure you know the terminal point of the train. That is how it will be posted. Despite reading that information at least a dozen times on this post before I left for Italy, I failed to remember it until I was frantically seaching for my train to Rome in the Naples train station. It was on the board by some city north of Rome which was the terminal point. P Klontz

Brij, <BR>1) depends on the class of the train. Reservations are manditory for Eurostar trains (the fastest trains) and optional for other trains. For the slowest trains, reservations are not available. Your train tickets should indicate a class of service - if it is ES you can get a free reservation, if it is ordinary service you will need to pay a supplement to take the IC (intercity) or ES trains. <BR>2) you can get reservations up to a few hours before departure (assuming seats are still available) and you SHOULD be OK if you reserve a day or two in advance - you don't say in your post how long you will be in Rome before you leave for Florence <BR>3) I don't think that standing passengers are allowed on the Eurostar trains (I may be wrong) but you can stand on the other trains -- also some of the railcars have little seats that you can pull out of the wall in passageway <BR>4)yes, stamp your ticket in the yellow/orange box at the end of the platform

I just was on the Eurostar from Rome to Venice with a stop in Florence. <BR> <BR>GET A RESERVATION. The train was packed and there weren't any empty seats <BR>

Ditto <BR>Get a reservation, standing is miserable and hot. On one train from Genova to Nice cars were full of standing people and so was in between the cars where we had to stand. I tried to get a reservation too late because I didn't think that segment was too important. Also when I went to make a reservation from Rome to Florence a few days in advance only smoking was available so we took a train that was much less convenient.

Get a reservation period. I stood from Venice to Florence on the way to Rome and had reserved seats. The train was so full, people were seating in the aisles and between the cars. The conductor wasn't even able to check tickets. A young man from Florence told us many people take the last train out of Rome without tickets knowing that the train will be so full the ticket agent doesn't even try to check. Don't know if the story is true or we just had bad luck. We did enjoy talking to the young man.