amanda

I will be taking the train from venice to florence the end of May. I looked on the trenitalia website. Will be taking the eurostar train-1st class and have gotten the times of departure/arrival. There are really only 2 trains i would look into because of the times-12:30 and 2:30 pm. <BR>Do these trains book up fast? I would like to really wait until we get there to save $$ on this but am I taking a gamble? It will be my first time in italy-what should i do?<BR>Thanks in advance

dave

tt

elaine

amanda<BR>It's the seat reservation that needs to be considered. Even if you get a ticket at the last minute during that very busy travel time, if you don't have a seat reservation you sometimes don't get a seat. If you are in Venice (or elsewhere in Italy) for a few days, you can take a little time to book your ticket and seat reservation in advance before your trip to Florence. That will be easily done.<BR>If you fly into Venice and are immediately leaving for Florence that same day, I would pay the premium now to assure myself of the seat, and to have one fewer thing to worry about on my first visit. Whether paying that premium is worth it is an individual decision; we all have different concerns.

Rex

Well, naturally, anyone's experience will be rather anecdotal, as is my own.<BR><BR>Wanted the 12:30 on a Wednesday in May, 2001 for six people. Wasn't entirely sure what to get, as my m/f-in-law are smokers (but willing to get up), and my wife, uncle and aunt are not (aunt rather non-tolerant of smoke, rest of us more okay with it).<BR><BR>I went about 7 that same morning to buy the tickets, to save time and avoid surprises.<BR><BR>The ticket agent insisted on selling us three smoking, first-class and three non-smoking, first-class. I am pretty sure that all six in non-smoking was not an option he had. Both "triplets" of tickets got a mini-group discount applied.<BR><BR>In reality we moved around a fair amount. the four of them went to lunch in the dining car at the early seating (my wife and I each sat in one seat of the two "trios" so that all the stuff was never unattended). Then we went to the second seating. We did see people simply bring their luggage with them to the dining car.<BR><BR>So, maybe you might choose to buy 24 hours in advance, or even more if you are a large party. For one or for two, I think you could buy 30 minutes beforehand.<BR><BR>Sundays (departing Venice) or Fridays (headed to Venice) might be somewhat different. It's a popular weekend getaway, even for Italians.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

paula

Similar / follow up question: If I book now over the internet at Trenitalia it says I can pick up the tickets at a self service machine, however I can't check whether the stations I am going to depart from have those machines: Rome Termini, Venice SL and Chiusi. Anyone know? Thanks

amanda

We will be in venice for 4 nights before heading to florence. So maybe I should just buy them when i get off the train? <BR>If i bought them here and picked them up-would i still pay the higher amount? or would it be the same as buying them there?

ttt

ttt

Liesl

Paula,<BR>To see which stations have automated machines, click "purchasing guide" on the bottom menu of the Trenitalia site. Then click "self-service ticket distributors"; you will see a list of all stations with the machines. All three of the stations you're interested in have them.<BR><BR>One other thing to keep in mind is that you can always print tickets ahead of time at a station with the machines if you know that you will be at another station without. This is what I did last year. The tickets do not have an expiration until you timestamp them before boarding the train.<BR><BR>Liesl