>Can anyone tell me ... it is rumoured that if the majority of our tour signs
>up for the optional to Pisa, then the bus will go straight to Pisa from
>Venice, instead of stopping at our hotel first in Montecatini as scheduled.
>We do not want to go to Pisa ... instead we were taking the train from hotel
>in Montecatini to Florence for the day. If we find out that everyone is
>going to Pisa, is it possible to take a train directly from Venice to
>Florence, so we aren't forced to ride to Pisa? Florence is on the main train line from Venice to Rome, so plenty of trains (I guess every hour) and the ride should be about 3 hours. Cost? I'm not sure about it but not that much.

What about luggage ...could we take it with us
>on train and possibly store it at the train station in Florence in a locker
>until we go to Montecatini that night via train to meet back up with our
>tour? Overhead storage racks are large enough for standard suitcases and there's a baggage storage room in every station, you pay when you withdraw them.

>(can you buy train tickets one way?) Of course!

>One piece of our luggage is fairly large ... 29x20x10 Have some trouble converting inches into cms., but if it doesn't fit overhead you can place it on the floor, assuming the train isn't very crowded. If you can, reserve the seats at the railway station or a tourist agency the day before.

Ciao

Paolo