If we are traveling from Rome to Florence and later from Florence to Venice, will this take two separate transactions on Trenitalia to book? And if 2 people are traveling second class, are the seats assigned? And if we travel first class and have assigned seats, do we have to choose them? If we leave the seat choice blank will we get 2 seats next to eaxh other?

There also doesn't appear to be a place to register and get a pin. Do I have to act as if I'm buying the tickets to be prompted for this?

I know this question has been discussed ad- nauseum but I'm still unsure if there is any real benefit to buying the ticktes on-line. It doesn't appear that there are any on-line specials for these routes so perhaps we should just wait and buy tickets when we're in Italy. The part that thinks it's better to buy ahead is about having the tickets in hand and not having to try to figure out how to buy the right tickets when we're there (we don't speak Italian!)

Thanks for any help!

Leave the Q's for Ira - but have no fear of buying tickets in Italy - can do so easily at Rome Airport train station or in the oodles of idiot-proof automatic ticket machines in train stations - it's all in English and easy to do.

I guess my only question is do these machines accept American credit cards as in countries like Holland and France in stations they appear not to.

If not have your info written down and wade thru the lines at ticket windows.

But have no fear of getting on trains as there are so many.

If you are traveling on two different ES trains, it's two different tickets. The computer will choose seats as near as possible to one another for you. All ES tickets, all classes, have assigned seats.

I always wait to buy my tickets once i arrive in Italy--20+ visits and counting.

Hi P,

There are no discounts on this route, so buying in advance will only save you time.

If you buy your tickets online, you will get a confirmation number. Show that and your ID to the conductor.

Your R/F and F/V trips have to be separately ticketed.

All ES* trains are reserved seat only.

Currently at www.trenitalia.com you can choose "window", "middle" ans "aisle", but you can't choose two seats next to each other on one transaction.

To register, go to "Customers Area" and click "Do you want to register?".

PalenQ,

U.S. credit cards are on the same basic systems as the rest of the world, the answer is yes.

You do have to remember to wait for your tickets to drop and to get your receipt.

The wait is deceptively long, sometimes, so make sure you get everything.

Thanks Ira and everyone. It seems to make the most sense to just wait and purchase in Italy. We have 6 days in Rome before we head to Florence and 2 ES trains leave within a half hour of each other when we want to travel.We'll be taking a taxi from FCO to our hotel so we won't be in the train station on the day we arrive. Does anyone know of a convenient location of a TA to purhcase the tickets few days before our actual departure?. We're staying in Trastevere, but of course we'll be all over Rome in the 6 days we're there. I assume we can buy the tickets for our Florence/Venice leg at the same time as the Rome/Florence tickets?

Hi plafield, you can get your train tickets at the American Express office by the Spanish Stairs. Or ask at your hotel if there is a TA near where you are staying that sells the train tickets. And have a wonderful time in beautiful Italy!!