Trying to map out transport on trains in Europe. My question is this: If I board a train in Italy bound for Switzerland, does that day of travel count against an Italian rail pass?

I'm trying to figure out costs of Eurail passes vs point-to-point vs country passes.

>If I board a train in Italy bound for Switzerland, does that day of travel count against an Italian rail pass?

Up until the Swiss border there is no difference where the train is bound for - if you use a train in Italy you have either to buy a ticket or use a pass day.
Of course if you have, say, 10 km from your starting point to the border it doesn´t make sense to lose a pass day - just spend 2-3 Euro for the ticket.

Have you entered your itinerary at www.railpass.com for a comparison?

altamiro-
Does the pass day count towards both countries, or just the country of origin? (Can you tell I'm clueless?)

Dukey -
Thanks for the site. I'll do some comparisons there.

The Rick Steves site gives pretty comprehensive information about how railpasses work:
http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/howrailworks.htm

>Does the pass day count towards both countries, or just the country of origin?

Not sure what you mean. A pass day is a pass day. If your pass covers several countries, it is still one pass day whether you travel in one or severalcountries. If you have separate passes for Italy and Switzerland, then you have to use a pass day on either of them - IF the distance you travel in each merits a pass day and not just a single ticket.

P.S. A railpass in Italy is almost never a good deal in comparison with normal tickets, due to fare structure (low basis fares and very high supplement for high-speed trains, which yu would have to pay with a railpass). In Switzerland, a Swiss Pass often pays off.

Thanks.

My question was essentially: if I have an Italian pass and a Swiss pass (not Eurail), do I use days on both passes if I'm traveling from one country to the other?

We probably will get point to point for Italy because their fares are so complicated with passes.

The Swiss rail pass does seem to be a good choice for us.

What's your itinerary? A pass is rarely economical for Italy and it's very likely point-to-point will be cheaper(at least for the Italy portion). For example, you can get fares for as little as 19€ between Milan and Zurich.

Also, keep in mind that your pass will not include seat reservations (required)on the fast Italian trains(AV,ES,ICPlus) where the prices listed on Trenitalia will include the seat. Seats on AV or ES will cost an additional 15€ ($23) and ICplus seats will be a bit cheaper.

It may be best to buy point-to-point for Italy and some type of Swiss pass for Switzerland (which incudes more than just trains) depending on how much you are actually training.

Definitely buy point-to-point in Italy. If you want to cover much of Switzerland by train, bus and boat the Swiss Pass is worthwhile and very convenient. Don't forget to check the museums included too. Mountain railways generally offer a 50% discount if you hold a Swiss Pass.