Gallivanter

A month or so ago I asked all of you savvy Fodorites for advice concerning train travel in Europe. The info I received was spot on and I thank all of you who responded. As we near our departure date I do have one final issue regarding train travel that is bugging me just a little bit. On Aug. 21st my wife and I wish to travel from Nice to Venice. I know from your previous advice that our route will be Nice-Monaco-Ventimiglia-Milan-Venice. I also know (or think I know) that I can't book this entire trip in advance. I think I can book the Nice-Monaco-Ventimiglia part but from what I can gather pre-bookings are not available for Ventimiglia-Milan-Venice until we arrive in Italy. If this is true then only when we arrive at Ventimiglia can we attempt to reserve seats on trains bound that same day for Milan and then to Venice. What's bothering me is whether or not this may present a problem. I'm well aware that this is the height of the tourist season and I'm wondering if seating will be scarce. In addition, we will be using Eurail passes on this journey and I have read that seating is limited for users of these passes. We have budgeted the entire day to get from Nice to Venice but at the end of the day I want to lay my head on a pillow in our hotel room in Venice and not be stranded in a train station somewhere along the way. Am I worrying over nothing? My wife says I am. Ever the optimist, she says there will be plenty of trains and this is a non-issue. Is she right? Neither of us have any experience riding the rails in Europe (we've always rented a car) so we really don't know what to expect. Gimme your thoughts and advice, PLEASE.

TimS

When you get to Nice, go to the train station and ask if you can buy tickets all the way to Venice. You just might get lucky.

However, if you leave Nice at 07:23, you will have a 27-minute connection in Ventimiglia, plenty of time to buy your Ventimiglia-Milano and Milano-Venezia Santa Lucia tickets. Those two legs will be on IC trains for which seat reservations are required. The reservations are included in the price of the tickets and you can buy tickets right up to the last minute. The chances of those trains being sold out are very low. You should be fine.

If you weren't able to get tickets for the 08:58 train from Ventimiglia to Milano, the next one leaves at 10:28 and gets to Milano at 14:55. There are at least two trains/hour from Milano to Venezia, some direct and some requiring a connection in Bologna. You will not be stranded.

ellenem

I think TimS mis-wrote . . . Bologna would probably not come into play when traveling from Milan to Venice. Perhaps he was thinking of Florence?

Gallivanter

I just like to hear that we probably won't be stranded somewhere. We'll deal with the schedules as long as we can get to Venice that day. Never been there and don't want to get cheated out of even one day. Plus we're ancient and don't do well sleeping on seats in railroad stations. Thanks for the input.

TimS

Bologna is correct. While it is south of a direct line between Milan and Venice, Florence is even father south and would be well out of the way.

ellenem

I wasn't suggesting going to Florence to reach Venice. I was thinking that one would connect through Bologna to reach Florence, and probably NOT connect through Bologna to reach Venice. My first glance at trains for the OP's arrival time showed all direct trains from Milan to Venice--no need to detour to Bologna.

TimS

The direct IC and EC trains from Milan to Venice bypass Bologna. However, at certain times of the day the timetables show Milan-Bologna and Bologna-Venice on ES trains.

PalenQ

You will have no problem using a Eurailpass to get to Venice IME of using passes annually in each country -now you could have a problem getting a passholder fare going to Nice from Paris - this is a chronic complaint - limited number of passholder reservations granted per train - but not from Nice to Ventimiglia because you can take the hourly or more regional trains that do not require reservations - and your 27 mins connect time could be more by leaving earlier.

And in Italy i have never had a problem getting the required seat reservations with a railpass though you do have to go to the ticket window as the automatic ticketing machines in Italian stations just do not see to be able to accommodate pass-holder reservations. But you should be able, in first class especially as i assume your Eurailpasses are if over 25 years old - get both the Ventimiglia to Milan and Milan to Venice ones at Ventimiglia - if you take IC trains as TimS previsions then it is just a 5 euro seat reservation fee - but if you take the EurostarCity trains Milan to Venice then it's a 10 euro fee and these are marginally faster.

Gallivanter

Thanks,all of you. Great info.

TimS

Gallivanter,

After re-reading your first post, I see that your will have passes. You can ignore what I wrote about buying tickets, but I suggest that you ask in Nice if you can buy seat reservations for Ventimiglia-Milan and Milan-Venice. If that's not possible, then buy them in Ventimiglia.

Seat reservations on IC trains are 3 EUR, not 5 EUR, so it will cost you a total of 6 EUR to get from Ventimiglia to Venice.

PalenQ

Thanks TimS for correcting my 5 euros as it is now 3 euros after being 5 for several years (and was optional on IC trains until the past year - was mandatory on IC= trains and cost me 5 euros past several years - goes along with Trenitalia slashing the ES/AV high-speed train pass holder seat reservation fees from 15-25 euros or even higher i think on some now down to 10 euros for all - making a railpass more viable in Italy than before (as is a big boost in the cost of ordinary train tickets in Italy - where trains were dirt-cheap across the board but not the main faster trains are approaching pan-European pricing.

seeksocean

bookmarking

Rubicund

3 year old thread!