kawh

we are considering whether or not to get a 3 day italy rail pass. we have used them in the past (international passes) and not sure whether or not a pass would be a good thing, since we have to make seat reservations for all of our legs anyway. i read at the Eurrail site that italy is one of only a handful of countries that lets you make your reservations online. however, when i look aat trenitalia's site, i see no way to make a reservation without purchasing a ticket. has anyone done this in italy?? thanks much for any help.
kawh

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Click on the "Reservations" tab here, and you'll see the price to be paid for each and every seat you reserve when travelling with that pass..

http://www.eurail.com/countries/italy/trains-italy

In contrast, those fees are included within the fares shown on the Trenitalia website!

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...0080a3e90aRCRD

Peter

A_Brit_In_Ischia

And in fact that Eurail list appears to be a little out of date... for instance:

InterCity; ICN, EXP (only seats)
Reservation: recommended, not required
Fees: 2nd class: € 3 / 1st class: € 3

For quite a while now, it's been necessary to have a reservation on even these trains - although I can't immediately locate a scale of charges on the Trenitalia website, which would have been helpful?

But Eurail do offer some advice on how to arrange reservations when using their passes - here...

http://www.eurail.com/countries/ital...n-reservations

Peter

kawh

peter-- thanks much. the information under eurail's 'reservations online' is much more complete than the part i was looking at. now i just have to decide whether or not it's worth it to get the pass. kawh

kybourbon

It's probably not worth the cost of a pass, but would depend on if you are traveling long distances. The cost between Rome/Florence and Florence/Venice is about 40-45€, but you can save booking in advance online on Trenitalia (discount Mini Fare). Short train rides such as Florence/Pisa or Florence/Siena are less than 10€.

If you are interested in the fast trains only between major cities, use this Trenitalia link (it doesn't include the slow trains that serve smaller towns). You must use the Italian spelling of the cities on this link.
http://www.fsitaliane.it/cms/v/index...003f16f90aRCRD

If you want to price all trains and book seats, use this Trenitalia link.
http://www.fsitaliane.it/homepage_en.html

To book a reservation for a pass, enter your cites/dates (can't book more than four months in advance). Select the train you want from the list of trains and click continue. In the drop down box under the fares that says more fares, select Global Pass. Slow R trains do not have reserved seats.