Venice to Verona Train Question
 

We'll be in Venice in a couple of weeks and while there will take a day trip to Verona. I know there is frequent train service between the two. I've been assuming we could just buy the tickets at the station the morning we go. Am I being too casual - is it necessary to purchase them in advance (by a day or two)?

I made that journey over the New Year period and we just showed up at the station and jumped on the next train. It was half empty and there was zero problem at all!

Thanks for the quick response. That's pretty much what we planned on doing - my only concern was that with so many tourists around during the summer, the train might be more crowded, necessitating advance purchase (I assume that's a pretty popular route at this time of year.)

No problem. Venice itself was packed over the new year period, but still not that many people were making the journey over to Verona. Anyway, if you plan on going midweek then the trains are very regular - about three per hour. The train I was on had no sign of reserved seats - unless you want first class travel you can get on any train you like (as long as it's within 90 minutes of validating your ticket on the platform!) - have a lovely time, I enjoyed Verona almost as much as Venice!

A standard Italian train ticket can be used on any train within two months of buying it, so long as you stamp it in the yellow machine before boarding the train. However, if you go on an Intercity train, you have a pay a supplement. If you get on an Intercity train without the supplementary ticket and a ticket inspector checks your ticket, then the supplement will cost more than if you'd paid it in the station. From Venezia to Verona there are Inter-regional and stopping trains which don't require a supplement. If you join the train at Venezia Santa Lucia station, you shouldn't have a problem finding empty seats.

Like any train service, the answer to your question really depends on day and time of travel. I prefer to have all my tickets pre-purchased because I don't enjoy stress and long lines are usually the norm in Italy. You could throw off your schedule by missing your train simply by trying to purchase your ticket. Peace of mind always works best for me.

Mid-week, beyond rush hours, should be no problem. Friday, 4- 6 PM, could be difficult.

Venice can be unpredictable, depending on the flow of day-trippers in and out. These trains don't just stop in Verona mind you.

Ferrovia has terrific, all language kiosks but they too, can have lengthy lines. Don't waste your time in the longer line that offers Italian personnel unless ATM-style machines really intimidate you. It takes awhile to figure out navigation on these machines but it's not much different than buying stamps at your USA post office. Just ignore the folks behind you breathing down your neck.

Ferrovia's station is open fairly late and I usually pop over their after dinner one night and take care of my pre-purchase. The place is pretty quiet after 9 PM.

To save some money, I would take one of the Interregionali trains between Venice and Verona: they cost less than the Intercity, don't take THAT much longer, and leave at least hourly. Italian Regional Railways are now every equipping SOME of these Interregionali trains with air conditioning, something which until recently was found ONLY on Intercity and Eurostar trains. You should not have to wait more than 15/20 minutes in line at the ticket window to purchase the ticket. You can buy a round trip at Venezia Santa Lucia and avoid standing in line at Verona Porta Nuova.

For most travelers to/in Italy, Verona is either on your way "into" or "out of" Venice (or both). Why not simply move for one of your Venice nights, rather than pay the time and expense of staying in Venice, only to go off day tripping somewhere else.

This is a somewhat general point - - I have never really understood staying in "the big expensive city" (could be London, Paris, Rome as well), paying those high lodging rates and expending the time to go out and come back in - - to get out and visit some far less expensive place for the day. I would rather just go and stay in that less expensive place.

Best wishes,

Rex

Thanks to all for the helpful train advice.

Rex - re: your comments on our itinerary - we travel in Europe fairly often and I well understand that there are certain benefits to staying a night or two in a less expensive ('day trip')location, instead of the bigger, more expensive city. However, we are committed to staying in Venice this trip for reasons which I prefer not to share here. SO thanks for your advice, but it's really not relevant to my plans at this point. I was simply seeking the type of helpful info I received above, not asking for a critique of my desire to take a day trip to Verona.

Rex

That was a most interesting idea, and while I don't think I'll use it myself, someone else who could benefit might well stumble upon it. Arrivederci.

Rex/Sue -

I apologize if I sounded a little prickly in my message above. Perhaps it's just been one of those days...I just felt a little put off by feeling the need to justify my plans (and I may have misinterpreted Rex's message as being a bit condescending.)Like I said, it's been a hell of a day.

In any case, Sue - you are correct. Someone will probably benefit from Rex's good advice, so sorry about that.

Rex has posted this alternative to daytripping from Venice on this forum many times. I don't think it's occurred to him that some people simply want to get out of Venice during the crowded daytime, and like to spend the evening/night/early morning there, regardless of the hotel prices.

I'll apologize for might sound condescending. I tried using the phrase "as a general point" because I don't think it occurs so often to travelers with less experience abroad.

I will take your point Holly, and simply say that it doesn't appeal to ME (at least not ususally). I have indeed stated often that in Venice (particularly in Venice, but also true in many other cities), the best two hours of the day are the first hour after awakening, and the last hour before you go to bed.

I also understand the appeal of the greater diversity of restaurants available to those who stay "in the big city" (at night) and use (one or more of) their days to get out and se places outSIDE the city.

I think I bring this point up for Venice because it IS time-consuming to get from almost anywhere IN Venice to Mestre (and you have to do that coming AND going) - - and your day-trip "commute time" is usually mentally measured from Mestre (or Santa Lucia). It's like two hours coming and ging to destinations that are less than an hour away as the crow flies.

I encounter a somewhat similar situation now that I have moved to the (Indiana side of the) Louisville, KY area. Many of the places that I want to go, there is the time involved to get TO one of the two bridges (and crossing your finger as to which one is least congested) and then get FROM the bridge to where you're actually headed.

I'm sure that I would not be cut out to live in Manhattan and feel the need to travel all around the tri-state area.

Oy.

I must be missing your point entirely, Rex. Every daytrip I've taken from Venice, I got on the train at St. Lucia, it stopped for a minute or two in Mestre, then proceeded on to wherever. Not like I had to travel to Mestre, then hang around waiting for a train to somewhere else. As for the time it takes to get from hotel/apartment to the St. Lucia train station, well, anything in Venice is just a stroll away anyway.

Holly - - I might have to concede that it's my own hangup about there being only way into or our of Venice. Sant Lucia "just a stroll away"? Well, I don't think that I agree with that - - but then again, it's not like there is zero time involved to get from a hotel to a station like Gare du Nord or Waterloo or Termini.

I think I am revealing my suburbanite personality (andI realize that this getting further and further off the subject of the original question). I like to walk 15 seconds from inside my house to my garage, and boom, I'm on my way. For the past 28 years, I have lived in Indianapolis, Sacramento or Columbus (Ohio) - - these are flat cities with freeways going in essentially every direction and no geographic boundaries that require you to cross a bridge or a lagoon.

I'll go back to my point that Verona is worthy of 24 hours, just as much as it is of a day trip.

I like the major cities of Europe for what they have to offer, and the smaller cities, towns and countryside for what they have to offer - - and I usually spend time in very close proximity to where we sleep at night.

Do those local trains always come hourly? I stopped over carrying a bahn.de schedule printout that showed big holes in the schedule where eurostar instead of local trains ran. Supposedly you cannot get on a eurostar at the last minute due to a 3 hour reservation ahead rule (although some report this waived).

So naturally when I was mopping up my last sights in Verona, I noticed about a 3 hour hole in the local-to-venice schedule and had to run the miserable miles of boring no-man's-land that seperates the train station from city sights. Maybe the schedule just printed eurostars instead of locals which were still running.

Anyway, Verona seemed the worst use of time of the many happy sidetrips I've taken in Italy. Badly located train station, severe tour-group crowding, and sights that don't compensate for these inconveniences like they do in so many other Italian towns.