This my first trip to Italy. I'm just learning a bunch of things from this site. I have one question: To buy tickets to move from city to city in Italy, where is the best place to buy them? Is trenitalia the best website?

It is best to buy tickets before my trip?

Thanks for your help.

That's where I get them all of the time. Rail Europe is much too expensive. I've never had a problem with trenitalia.

If you know the exact dates and times you wish to travel and want to buy your tickets in advance, then book them at trenitalia.com to get the best price.

If you'd prefer to be flexible, then after you've picked a departure time, buy each ticket at a station the day before.

As Ann1 says, do NOT book them at Rail Europe.

Thanks a lot for the advice.

Depending on the complexity or simplicity of your trip, you can just go to the train station and buy them there. There isn't any advantage to prepurchasing point-to-point tickets for something like going from Venice to Florence during the day.

>There isn't any advantage to prepurchasing point-to-point tickets for something like going from Venice to Florence during the day.<

You can avoid standing in line, sometimes for hours.

With so many automatic machines available at many stations, "standing in line for hours" doesn't happen as much as in the past.

You can also buy tickets at local travel agents licensed to sell Trenitalia tickets--you'll see a sticker on their window. In 20 trips to Italy, I've never bought a ticket before arriving there, though I do usually book longer distances a day or two ahead. If you know your entire schedule, just book all your tickets at the first station or travel agent you come to.

I do use the Trenitiala site to check and print schedules so I'l know my options ahead. Then you can even hand the schedule to a ticket seller with yur slection circled, eliminating any confusion.