I have just returned from a business trip to Italy which involved three trips by train - Milan to Florence, Florence to Viareggio, Viareggio back to Milan. I prebooked all trips via a rail booking agency here in the UK.

I am someone who normally travels second class unless there is a good reason to go first (e.g., travelling at peak commuting time)... so this is what I booked for my Italian trip:

Milan to Florence - first (as it was fairly early on a Monday morning)

Florence to Viareggio - second (short journey in the middle of the day, no reason to go first)

Viareggio to Milan - first (early evening on a Friday)

I am now wondering if I got it all the wrong way round.

Milan to Florance: First class was packed. I didn't actually see the second class accommodation but assumed (at the time) that it would have been equally packed... but after what I saw on Friday I wonder if maybe it wasn't.

Florence to Viareggio: Not too bad between Florence and Pisa (where we were made to get on a different train as ours had broken down). Not too bad between Pisa and the first stop after Pisa... where our train got invaded by hordes of student leaving barely even any standing room.

Viareggio to Milan: Getting on the first train (Viareggio to Genoa) I ended up having to walk through a couple of second class coaches to get to my reserved seat in first. I couldn't help noticing that second seemed a lot emptier than first... but at least my first class seat was nice and comfortable (in an open-plan coach). Changing at Genoa I again had to walk through a couple of second class coaches... which were almost completely empty. First class, on the other hand, was packed, and my reserved seat was in a six-seat enclosed compartment which already had five people in it, all large men... I took one look and beat a hasty retreat back to second where I had eight seats all to myself (four for myself, four for my bags...)

Is this normal in Italy? Are Italians particularly fond of travelling first class? Would I be better off sticking to second class in future, at least on long-distance journeys, or does second class get packed too?