Hi all. I wish to take a day train from Nice to venice. You change trains in Milan and there is a scheduled 15 mins changeover. Various posts on this site say that the time period is OK in Milan as there are no stairs. However, I would be grateful if anyone could tell me what happens if you have booked the Milan- Venice train and the Nice train arrives late. There is another train 1 hour later but I will not have a booking. Can I %26quot;swap%26quot; my tickets? If so does that have to be done at the ticket counter? I presume so. Any advice about whether to book the earlier or later train would be helpful. It seems I can book the entire journey on the SCNF site and they are cheaper than Trenitalia.com !
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Check the price on trenitalia.it
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Don%26#39;t know about swapping tickets etc, so I%26#39;m not sure if this will be of much help, but...
I caught trains last year from Venice to Lucerne via Milan and, being a novice re train travel in Europe, I was a bit worried about what I saw as the narrow changeover time - about 10 minutes - between trains. I tried to book two trains that had a good 35 minutes between them, but the second one I wanted wasn%26#39;t running that day... So I went with the original option.
The Venice-Milan train ran about 3 minutes late. The bonus was that, yes, there weren%26#39;t any problems lugging a sizeable bag up and down stairs. But I was travelling in a rear compartment and the platform was long and crowded, so it was a bit of a hurry to get up to the main area with all of the screens etc. Then, trying to find the platform for the next train to Lucerne was a little difficult - it wasn%26#39;t where I first looked for it amongst the main indicator boards (my mistake, entirely). I eventually found the right platform, complete with train waiting at it, hauled my bag down to the far end and made it on to the train literally about 2 minutes before it departed. All slightly frantic.
So, which trains to book depends on your comfort level. Being a ridiculously punctual type that would rather wait for an hour than risk missing a connection or being late for something, I%26#39;d book the later train and hang around at the station - but that%26#39;s just me!
Someone on the forum will know what the state of play is regarding ticket validity and swapping. But I thought I%26#39;d share my experience for what it%26#39;s worth!
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The previous poster%26#39;s remark about your comfort level is exactly right.
You have a high chance of missing your connection: at least 1 in 4 and possibly 1 in 2. These trains are often late, and it only needs to be 10 minutes late for you to need to rebook free at the ticket counter (your train one hour later is an InterCity Plus with compulsory reservation, and while you%26#39;d probably be OK without rebooking, it would be much safer to follow the rules, and by doing so get yourself your own seat allocation on the next train).
If you%26#39;re happy about taking the chance and you like living with uncertainty, book the tight connection. Personally, I%26#39;d book the later one (which you are virtually certain to make) and look forward to a bit of chilling out and people-watching in a cafe between trains.
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Hi Andie, this exact thing happened to my daughter and I this summer. We had purchased tickets in advance when we were visiting Paris. We just happened to walk by an SNCF office one day and decided to enquire. Later when we took the train from Nice...it was VERY slow and made many stops on the way. We arrived in Milan almost 30 minutes late. Many passengers were late for other connections too. The station was under construction so I waited with the luggage while my daughter ran around trying to find an info desk to ask %26#39;what happens to our pre purchased tickets?%26#39;. We were told to just get on the next train and show our ticket to the conductor but if we were in someone else%26#39;s seat that we would have to move. We just walked along the concourse a couple tracks over from where we got off to wait for the Milan to Venice train. We did not have to move our seats and when the conductor came along he did not even blink twice at our tickets. From what I understand...this happens alot on this line. It might be less stressful to just book a later connection. The next train for us was only an hour later departure then the one we actually booked. Have fun! The scenery along the Riviera is gorgeous and the vineyards in Italy lovely to look at.
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Thank you kindly for your postings. Very relevant information. I think I know how it works in Italy now - I am sure that will be proved wrong !! I will book the Milan to Venice train one hour later.
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