When to buy train tickets?
 

When is it best to buy tickets for the overnight Paris to Venice train? Can we wait and get them in Paris or should we buy them in advance? We'll be in Paris for 4 days before we need them.

Thanks, as always, for your great help!

Sara

I'm being lazy and replying to myself on this :-)

Lesson learned the hard (but fun) way:

We did not attempt to buy our tickets from Venice to Florence until the morning we needed them (Friday, April 21st). Turned out all trains out of Venice that day - and the next! - were full. Going anywhere. The soonest we could get from Venice to Florence by train was Sunday, the 23rd. After a little bit of panic, we decided that we'd get ourselves to the airport and (gulp) rent a car.

In the end, renting a car from Hertz for three days was about the same as paying for another night in Venice (much less two) and we had the advantage of being able to drive through the Tuscan countryside.

Lesson learned: it doesn't hurt to plan ahead when you need to get from point A to point B... don't assume you can just waltz up to the ticket counter an hour before you want to go! (Or maybe we're the only three people in the world who WOULD be that stupid!)

Sara

The trains from Venezia cannot have been fully booked. There are, for example, hourly, IR trains from Venezia to Bologna on which seats cannot be reserved. There are IC trains from Bologna to Firenze for which seat reservations are optional.
The night train from Paris to Venezia has only sleepers and couchettes, which should be booked in advance. I'd guess the train would be busiest around public holidays and on Friday and Saturday nights.

Popular night trains (like Paris-Venice) can fill up well ahead of the departure date. It's best to book ASAP (up to 90 days in advance at sncf.com). Besides, doing so allows you to buy PREM'S (discount) tickets, if any are available. They're sold online, you print them yourself, and you're done. (However, do not choose cancellation insurance with PREM'S or you won't be allowed to print them.) You can also book regular tickets online, but then you need to choose the option of picking them up at a station or ticket boutique. Be sure to have the confirmation number you'll be given along with the credit card used for booking the tickets.

This is a very common confusion. The problem arises when someone mixes the term "ticket" and "reservation". A ticket is good for travel from A to B, on any train (ex those requiring surcharge or mandatory seat reservation). A reservation is just that, it reserves a particular seat on a specific train, usually cost about 3 Euro, and is in addition to, not separate from a ticket.

You may not have been able to get a reserved seat, but you could have purchased a ticket from Venice to Florence and hopped on the next train. No particular seat guaranteed, but you can claim any open, unreserved seat.

Tim, sasayra said Venice to Florence was sold out, not Paris to Venice. The latter I agree should be booked in advance, but the former just requires a ticket, and hop on the the next train.

I have waited to buy until I was in Europe. But I went to the train station 3-4 days before I wanted to travel.