Best train passes for first Italy trip
 

Honeymooning in Italy Late June-July 2003, 2wks. First time for us both! From researching the net, it seems like we shld train from city to city and maybe rent a car for Siena/Florence. Do you recommend the kilometer pass for 3000km (we think we could hit this) or just doing the trains point to point? What other options make sense? Flying into Milan. Thinking frm there to Venice, Florence/Tuscany Region, Cinque Terre, and back up. NOt sure how to fit in Lake COmo. !? Also thought we might head into Switzerland for a few days. We plan to take an italian class this winter and are open to any suggestions of stops to make and places to go. About a $4K budget but we're pretty good at keeping costs down. Thank you!

You have the rough skeleton outline of an ambitious (yet still doable) plan. You will almost surely be alright with just point to point tickets. No rail pass fits your plans without adding unnecessary costs, as far as I can see.<BR><BR>I would argue against Switzerland if you hope to enjoy Lake Como - - and the &quot;far dolce niente&quot; that comes so naturally there.<BR><BR>Congratulations on your new life in marriage.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

Point to point makes sense.<BR>Why fly into Milan if you want Venice?<BR>See my budget article at slowtrav.com<BR><BR>Good luck !

Try Rail Europe's website. www.raileurope.com. They have passes and individual tickets. You can review schedules and prices. It costs a bit more that buying on the spot but worth the savings in time. As for Lake Como, don't skip it, it is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been. It actually is quite close to Milan (1-1/2 hour drive or less from the rail station and maybe even less from the airport which is a long way from the city) so maybe you want to skip staying in the city (which is not as great as the other Italian cities such as Rome, Florence and Siena) and go directly to there from the Milan airport or end there before returning home from Milan airport. You could rent a car for Lake Como or not. The little ferries go between all of the towns and the ride is beautiful.

Roz, my wife and I did our first Italy trip last spring, and I would recommend just doing the city to city tickets, individually. We loved having the flexibility it gave us, although we were in early spring, and not being in the peak season gave us added flexibilty on hotel plans, as well. In mid-summer, I imagine you're going to make reservations, therefore locking in your schedule (sort of, at least).<BR><BR>Regarding your schedule, I think you're allowing a perfect amount of time to cover the areas you mentioned. Milan wasn't that interesting to us - a good full day &amp; night was plenty of time to check it out. Be sure to climb to the top of the Duomo for a view of the city. <BR><BR>We visited Milan, Venice, Rome, Orvieto and Florence in just over a week (whirlwind, you can imagine)....but if given a second chance, I'd leave out Milan &amp; Florence, and spend more time in the Umbria/Tuscany region, enjoying the slower pace and beauty of the region.<BR>

we did nearly the same trip last summer, but not as a honeymoon. we were totally exhausted after about 17 days - trying to see it all - so i wouldn't really recommend the entire trip for a honeymoon. DEFINITELY do lake como. we flew into milan-malpensa and took a &quot;tour&quot; bus up to como. you can then take the hydrofoil up into the lake wherever you want to sty. we stayed at a lovely little place called hotel florence (booked over the internet) - make sure you ask for a room on the lake. it doesn't have a/c but it wasn't too bad in july last summer.<BR><BR>we went from como down to lerici -beautiful coastal town. friendly little hotel called hotel florida. did the c.t. and other fun sea activities, including drinking 2 bottles of wine for lunch and then sleeping on the beach for the afternoon!<BR><BR>trained through to pisa and on to florence for a few nights. then we had to rent a car to go to siena and back to florence for the train to venice. it was toooooo much to see and do - unless you have a month!<BR><BR>if you really wanted to be ambitious but romantic, i would recommend the como - lerici/coast - florence - venice part and leave off the hill towns. they are beautiful but could/should be a trip alone. if not too ambitious, then leave off the lerici/coast part.<BR><BR>we bought a 15 day rail pass - again, all online...the only time we needed a reservation for first class was from como down to the coast. otherwise, there were always seats for the 4 of us. the trains in italy are a lot less predictable/on time than in other european countries....but still ok if you're flexible.<BR><BR>have fun!

Roz: Do some homework on the rail passes vs. point-to-point tickets. We did a similar itinerary using a kilometric pass in Oct. 2001 and did a great deal of research ahead of time and found the kilo pass was cheaper by quite a bit. <BR><BR>I agree with previous posters regarding Milan. Just land there and be off to Lake Como. There are buses straight from the airport now, I understand, so you don't even have to go into the main station in Milan to go to Lake Como. (That will save you an hour's ride).<BR><BR>Enjoy your trip!

Hi Roz<BR> Take a look at www.railsaver.com. You can compare your point-to-point with various railpasses to find the lowest rate.

Roz,<BR><BR>I would recommend getting at least a 5-day, 3-country Eurail Selectpass Saver ($294 each).<BR><BR>It's true: most of Italy can be bought point-to-point for less than the $59/day of the Eurailpass. You should do that when the trip is under three hours. (A second-class ticket from, say, Assisi to Rome is about $19 per seat.) But longer trips on the Pendolino or CIS-Alpine trains -- say, Milan to Florence -- will run more. <BR><BR>AND: If you get ambitions, the Pass gives you a $75 discount on overnight sleeper trains (for example, Rome-Zurich). <BR><BR>PLUS: If you're impulsive (or late to the station), you can get on any train (that you can fit on) in Italy without standing in line to buy/program a ticket -- just flash the Pass to the conductor.<BR><BR>PLUS: If you get real, real ambitious and make Greece the third country (after Italy/Switzerland), you get ferry passage from Brindisi to Patras and the Greek islands.

Tim makes the point beautifully. Spend $294 or more if you want to ensure that you have pre-paid to see a lot more of the inside of a train than you would otherwise choose.<BR><BR>Or if you would rather see Europe, buy point to point tickets. And don't travel so much. The place you are, and its adjacent nearby regions might prove to be just as cool or cooler than that faraway place. Don't get trapped into thinking that you just have to add all those far-flung destinations into this trip.<BR>

I agree with xxx - Do less, Enjoy it more. <BR>Regarding destinations, let's count the days you have available - two weeks, 14 days. You immediately lose two for travel to/from your home. <BR>So, in 12 days you're thinking of: Milan -&gt; Venice -&gt; Florence and other parts of Tuscany -&gt; Cinque Terre -&gt; maybe Lake Como and maybe Switzerland. <BR>Consider that everytime you travel to a new destination, check out of your old hotel and into a new one you take up at least 1/2 day. <BR>If it were me, I'd ask myself these questions: When will I actually get to SEE the town I'm in? Enjoy it? Relax? Would I rather check lots of towns off my list or would I rather savor just a few? <BR>As you can tell, I think your list of destinations is way too ambitious, especially for a honeymoon! <BR>But ... it's your trip, so whatever your final itinerary, Enjoy ... and Congratulations.

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