Help with train from Florence to Venice San Lucia

[vacation fool]

I have read all I can find on this subject. I have gone to the italiarail site which i think is trenitalia? I have printed a schedule for the dates i want to go and return. The rates for standard are $23 US and 1st class $41 Should I book now or do rates stay the same til a few months out?

 

Before I book want to make sure I am on correct website with fast train? It says it takes 2hrs 5 min. Also is standard ok? Don't know what 1st class difference would be. We will have basically a small roller bag each as we are leaving the bulk of our luggage in florence.

 

All information/suggestions appreciated before i pull the trigger. :) Thanks

[map70065]

It's been a couple years, so things may have changed, but I think the fares are set - I never saw them fluctuate when I was looking. Can't help with anything but difference between first and standard class. The biggest difference we noticed was air conditioning. We went in the fall, so it wasn't important to us (although some days we would have liked it) on short trains but in summer I'd go with first class.

[cruisemom42]

First -- there are two train services in Italy: trenitalia (http://www.trenitalia.com) and italo (http://www.italotreni.it). Be sure you aren't on the website of a middleman agency that sells tickets for these lines -- go directly to these websites for best prices.

 

I have no experience with Italo, but Trenitalia tickets do get more expensive closer to your date of travel. So buying in advance will save you money -- once the tickets at the lower fares are gone, that's it. Hard to predict how quickly that will happen.

 

On Trenitalia, the fast trains have the prefix Frecci-. On the route you are looking at, it would be either the Frecciargento or the Frecciarosa.

 

There's not a significant difference between first class and standard (not like on airlines), but the seats are a bit wider.

[Twickenham]

I have read all I can find on this subject. I have gone to the italiarail site which i think is trenitalia? I have printed a schedule for the dates i want to go and return. The rates for standard are $23 US and 1st class $41 Should I book now or do rates stay the same til a few months out?

 

Before I book want to make sure I am on correct website with fast train? It says it takes 2hrs 5 min. Also is standard ok? Don't know what 1st class difference would be. We will have basically a small roller bag each as we are leaving the bulk of our luggage in florence.

 

All information/suggestions appreciated before i pull the trigger. :) Thanks

 

A couple of points:

 

-Italian rail tickets are only available 3-4 months out, so if you're finding pricing for journeys beyond that it's probably from a 3rd party site. Go to trenitalia.com for the official Trenitalia site;

-As for airfare, there are different price classes, and the cheapest tend to sell out first, so yes you're best to buy in advance. Note that the different classes also have different cancellation conditions, so take note of that and purchase accordingly (i.e., if you're plans are set you can buy the cheapest non-changeable tickets, but if you think you might have a change of plans, purchase a class that allows for that).

[euro cruiser]

Italotreno has similar fare classes and the lowest ones sell out first, but the fares themselves do not fluctuate by capacity the way airline fares do.

 

Use the web sites provided by CruiseMom to purchase tickets.

 

I too feel that first class is not worth paying extra for but always check all of the fares, sometimes it just works out that there is a promotional fare for business or first class that is the same as second.

[slidergirl]

I book my Trenitalia tickets as soon as I know my plans. I frequently am able to snag a Business seat for an early reservation price for what a Coach seat will be later. Since I travel solo, I like the single seat side of the train. In Business, there is free Wifi, power ports, and I love the snack and espresso that I get! But, if I miss the window for the cheap Business, I'll do Coach and be sure my electronics (can't take a train in Italy without listening to Andrea Bocelli!!) are all charged up.

As others have said - buy directly from the trenitalia.it site (it's easy and has an English option) or the website for Italo (never used them). No reason to pay extra to use a middleman. When you go to reserve, be sure you click on the button where you can choose your seats - you can go through the various cars to find what you want.

[vacation fool]

wow, thanks to everyone. I went back to italiarail and it says "powered by trenitalia" which is very misleading. It turns out it is a third party seller who lists the exact same times as the trenitalia site. I am sure many get fooled by it as it is easier to navigate than trenitalia. Also, the tickets were not able to be purchased yet for my dates-they wont be released until end of june. So thankfully i avoided a mistake. I will use one of the sites cruiser mom suggested. You are all great. Many thanks :)