I will be traveling to Italy in early July and travelling via train, first from Rome to Naples on July 5,then from Naples to Florence on July 8and finally from Florence to Venice on July 11. I'd like to travel in first class - my question - should I book my trains in advance on the trenitalia site, or can I safely wait until I get to each train station to purchase tickets on the spot?

In first class you should not have any problem booking once there - 2nd class either for that matter - so many trains - two an hour Rome-Naples and though only about every two hours perhaps Naples-Florence there are two trains/hr Naples-Rome then Rome-florence.

But you may find greatly reduced online only fares for these trains on www.trenitalia.com

Dumb question - If I do reserve in advance but then miss the train for some reason can I get a refund or use that ticket for the next train?

i think that depends on whether it's a regular full fare ticket then it's flexible and can be easily changed i've read here.

If it's an online discount special i think the answer is no change no refund.

But there are others here like Ira who are more versed in nuances of trenitalia tickets than I.

If you buy reeserved tickets--all ES trains are reserved--you would have to rereserve on a new train if you miss yours, paying an extra fee to do so.

Hi S,

Your train ticket is good.

Your reservation is forfeit.

This can cost about 3-12E, depending on the class of train.

Got it. Thanks for the info!