Train reservations - Are they necessary?
 

Hello!
We're going from Rome to Florence on the 27th of april and i'm not sure if it's necessary to book tickets through the internet.
We're arriving in Rome by plane and then we'll go straight to Florence, so i wouldn't like to book tickets in advance in case of plane delay etc.!
What do you suggest?

For Eurostar trains, seat reservation is compulsory, but this can be done at the station if seats are still available. For other trains, reservation is optional. As you are travelling midweek, chances are you can find spare seats at Termini. Just arrive early at the platform.

as Alec says, you should be fine. if there aren't seats available on the eurostar when you get there, then you can just take a different sort of train that doesn't require seat reservations, get to the platform as soon as it's announced and you'll be fine. it will take a little bit longer, though. The eurostar is quickest and most expensive, followed by the intercity (where you can choose to make seat reservations if you want) then "interregionale" / "regionale" which take a fair bit longer but are cheaper and you can't reserve seats.

in short, don't worry, there'll be a train of some sort that will get you to florence without having to reserve your seat in advance!

I have never book train tickets in advance in Italy. Just turn up & use the ticket machines to get tickets for the next convenient train.

Thanks for your replies.
I would like to go with the Eurostar though because it's much quicker.
I just hope that at noon i'll find two seats there... If it's full then i'll just be unlucky!!!

i would think you'd be able to get a seat. to be honest the eurostars run quite frequently between rome and florence. it might be that you can't get tickets for the 12.30 but the next one is 12.55, then 13.30 - you should be able to get tickets for one of those.

Hi C,

You can buy your tickets to Florence at the train station at FCO when you buy your ticket to Rome Termini.

Print out a list of the trains you want. The agent will put you on the next available one.

((I))

Thanks ira!
i didn't know, i could buy tickets at the FCO station. That's really convenient because by the time i'll be there, i'll know the time of arrival at Termini!

But do remember to give yourself a good 15 to 20 minutes to get from the platform where the express from Fiumicino arrives and the main station platforms where the Eurostars depart.

If you are taking the airport train to Termini allow time to get to your Rome/Florence train as they are not close together.

Thanks to all for the replies!!
You've been really helpful!