I'm not panicking yet, but how do I know whether or not the Trenitalia site is not loaded for late June travel or that seats are already booked solid? If the schedules and tickets are not displayed yet for that time period, do I simply keep checking back to the site or is there another way of finding out ticket status? My family is planning to fly to Milan and train to Iseo, Padua, Venice and back to Milan - open to any suggestions for the nuances of train travels in Lombardy.

I've taken a few trains in Italy and I've always been able to buy the tickets at the station day of the train


You might also want to check out Italo treno

The schedules for regional trains are not yet uploaded, and probably won't be for some time. Most of the high-speed train summer schedules are already on line, but I don't know what the percentage is.

The regional train tickets never sell out, as they're not for a specific train. If you buy them online, they're for a specific time window, and can't be changed or reimbursed for any reason. If you buy them at a train station in Italy, the travel can be at any time in the successive several months, and you can apply their value towards a different ticket, with a small service fee. Therefore, I suggest you buy regional train tickets at a train station, because they're much more flexible. Because of their open-date nature, they have to be stamped in a little machine near the track, which puts a date/time stamp on the ticket and prevents it from being re-used.

Other train tickets are for specific reserved-seat trains, and these can sell out, although it isn't very common, especially not weeks in advance. I suggest you keep checking the web site, and buy your high-speed train tickets as soon as they're available, to get the best prices. (However, discounted tickets are also non-refundable.)

If you want an idea of the times and prices of the regional trains, use a date in the upcoming week, the same as the day of the week you want to travel. The schedules and prices usually don't change much. Then check again closer to your travel date. Regional train tickets are not sold more than a week in advance online, so be sure to use a date in the upcoming week, because otherwise they'll show them as not available.

thank you both - exactly the specific information I was seeking. grazie

Fast services with reserved seats are already sold out <B>in some fare categories</B>. I know this because I went through the whole procedure for tickets between Venice, Verona, Milan, and Zurich some weeks ago.