Trains - Reserve Ahead or Not in Nov
 

Hi

We will be traveling from Venice to Florence on Nov 3 (Friday) & Florence to Rome Nov 5 (Sunday). Is it necessary to book our trains ahead of time? I am staying at the Loconda Oresolo in Venice which is located next to a travel agent, where I can get reservations. I am staying at the Hotel Davanzati in Florence and was e-mailed that the hotel can make train reservations.

Thanks!

No, it is not necessary to make reservations ahead of time. Both routes are served by very frequent trains.

The italian rail website www.trenitalia.com does offer web specials on some routes like Florence - Rome that are a great deal (I think as low as 29Euro), that do require an advance purchase. If you're not going for the web special then you can simply purchase tickets when you arrive in Venice.

Are there frequent trains on Sunday? Also, do you know what it would normally cost to go from Florence to Rome?

It's been a while so I don't know the rack rate. You can check the website I gave above for schedules.

Hi Rutgers,

I will be a few days behind you on both journeys.

I have never been to Italy before but having read for a while here and on the Trenitalia website it looks pretty straightforward.

I am a little conflicted about the discount for booking ahead. I love a discount but I also value the idea of flexibility...do I want to linger as long as possible in city A? Or rush off as early as possible to city B? Maybe we will stop in an intermediate city?

I will probably forego the discount to preserve the option to travel any time I want.

Let us know what you decide to do.

Hi Olive Oil,

Where are you going in Italy and where are you staying?

Rutgers77

Hi rutgers, I have never ever reserved way ahead of time. Just buy your tickets for Florence and also for Florence to Rome when you first get to Venice. And have a wonderful time in these three fantatic cities!

Rutgers -- not necessary to buy ahead, but if you decide you do, you may want to see if Orseolo (rather than the travel agent) will help you purchase the tickets.

Enjoy Orseolo - the hospitality is amazing...they will you treat you like family and you will feel at home in Venice!

LovItaly, is it still true that reservations are a good idea, in addition to point-to-point tickets? We bought first-class tickets between Milan to Venice in 2002 and were surprised to find people standing in the aisles with their luggage the whole four-hour trip. The only way to be assure a seat was to reserve one, for a little extra cost. Ever since, I've always asked just gone ahead and reserved the seat when I bought the ticket.

Hi Rutgers77,

My sister and I are flying to Venice on Nov 7, train to Florence on Nov 10, and train to Rome on Nov 14. Then we return home on the 18th.

So we will be traveling right behind you.

The folks on this board have borne with me while I agonized over what is a pretty straightforward itinerary and given me plenty of good advice.

Our sight-seeing plans are pretty basic, I will try not to rush around too much.

Now I check in on this board just capturing restaurant rec's. Or looking for info I might not have seen or paid attention to like Mary Fran's comment above on reservations.And just getting myself all worked up with excitement about this trip--58 days away.

Oh, and we are staying at the Villa Igea in Venice, Il Guelfo Bianco in Florence,and the Hotel Regno in Rome.

I took advice on hotels from a travel agent--that's the part of trip planning I like least.

Where will you be staying?

Hi Oilive Oil

I will be staying 2 nights at the Loconda Oresolo in Venice, 2 nights at the Hotel Davantzati in Florence and 4 nights a the Residenza Cellini in Rome. All of these are very popluar places to stay on traveladvisor.com. Additionally, if you bring the Rick Steves' 2006 book to the hotel in Florecne & Rome, you can get an addtional discount.

Rutgers77

Hello MaryFran. Was your train ride from Milan to Venice later in the afternoon on a Friday by any chance? I ask because a lot of business people and also university students are in Milan all week and than take the train home to different places in Veneto for the weekend. One of my friends that works in Milan and takes this route always has dinner in Milan before training home.

For the route that rutgers is going I have just purchased the train tickets when I first arrive in Veneto and all of my Italian friends do the same thing when they use this train route, even during the busy tourist season. But of course each traveller should do what they feel the most comfortable with.

Trains between Florence and Rome can sometimes be very crowded.

We were on a long-distance train - from Strasbourg to Rome - so reserved seats in first class. We were fine - 4 of us in compartment for 6 - no other passengers until we got to Florence and a mob boarded the train.

Three Italians (2 female, one male, seemed to be on business - briefcases only) came into out compartment, tried to squish into the 2 seats and started to smoke (in the one non-smoking car). We asked politely, then told them to stop - they were rude in Italian in return. So - we gave us and got the conductor - who ushered them away - I think to a second class car.

But we may have hit some special business event with a lot of people returning to Rome on Friday afternoon. We got our reservations 2 days before when we bought our tickets.

Thank you all for your advice. We will be traveling in early November, does that make a difference? Are the trains crowded in November on the Venice to Florence to Rome route.

Also, are we locked into a certain time if we make book before hand? Can we change the time at a later date?

Hi Olive Oil,
I am booked into the Hotel Regno for two nights at the end of this month. The travel agent that I am using in Australia, suggested this Hotel and she has also had other clients return from Rome who had stayed there and they gave a good report back to her. I am travelling with my daughter, this Hotel certainly looks central to many things in Rome. We join a Globus tour on Sunday 1st October and will have to change hotels to the Hotel Cicerone, so it will be nice to have the comparison of two places.
In regards to the original question about booking train travel I have booked for 3 of my journeys. This is a Venice-Florence, Florence-Naples and Naples-Rome. I am happier within myself knowing that I have a reserved seat in a particular carriage for the trips. These legs were at good times of the day for me to travel, are on the Eurostar, 1st class, and I was able to get quite good deals on the Trenitalia website, I do not have to change trains, and the Eurostar offered the quicker journey times. I have made the bookings in the last 10 days, and could get my preferred times. I was getting anxious about leaving the purchase of tickets until we arrived in Italy. I did get 29 Euro per person for one journey and the Naples/Rome was a special of "two for one" price and is on the relatively new super fast AV train.

If you travel on Eurostar(ES) trains no one will be standing in the aisles as all seats are reserved. Your seat reservation is included in the ticket price whether you purchase online or in Italy.

If you travel IC trains then you will need to pay extra if you want to reserve a seat.

R and D trains don't have seat reservations.

I'd reserve ahead since 1 November is a holiday and at least in France many take long 5-day weekends (I'll be in Barcelona myself)...