PalenQ

Thanks for the added clarifications, all. The only reason I considered passes at all was because children under 14 actually do now ride free with adults. (I believe this is a new offer by Eurail starting in 2015.) That and the 15% discount for traveling as a group of 5 with Eurail.>

checking with raileurope.com - who wholesales and retails these passes and up to two kids 4-11 travel free - over 12 still needs their own pass.

And currently with some 5-day flexipasses you get 2 added free travel days to change the equations a bit for many if not you. That special ends March 30, 2015.

kybourbon

>>>For what it's worth, we'll stay in Florence (considering day trips to Pisa, San Gimignano, <<<

One thing you need more clarification on is some of your day trips are simply not possible by train at all. San G has no train service so you would be using a bus. Buses are not part of a train pass. At Como, you would be using some buses or ferries.

You will not be going to Bolzano. It would take 5 hours one way from Como. I agree with bvlenci about staying in Como. I would stay elsewhere (mid-lake). Take the train from Milan to Varenna (about 5€)

>>>Finally, on the Milan to Como route, most of the trains were cheaper regional trains that took no longer than the more expensive EC train (which actually is an international train heading to Switzerland). I chose the EC train, again, to make the worst case for single tickets. <<<<

Trenord operate the trains in Lombardy and you can book a ticket Milan/Como for about 5€. I don't know if they would honor a pass as they offer their own.

http://www.trenord.it/EN/

>>>Palenq, in Italy all except regional trains need reservations, and buying one in the station is a much bigger hassle than buying a ticket, because you can't use the machines. In France there are limits on the numbers of passholders who can ride on some trains, and TGV trains have mandatory reservations. Maybe 30 years ago a pass allowed you to hop on whichever train you pleased, but those days are gone.<<<

A correction here (for anyone searching pass info in the future). You can book seat reservations only on Trenitalia's website when using a pass. After you select your cities/date and get a list of train choices, choose your train and you get a chart with all the ticket price options for that train. Scroll below the chart and click "view other offers". On this screen, click the type of service and then click the down arrow in the box under offer (it's usually defaulted to economy). Scroll down that list until you get to Global Pass. Select this and the the price will change to 10€ to book your seat. At this point, it will ask for your pass number (it actually says ticket number and below it says only for passes). Note that on trains that offer 5-6 levels of service you can't select Premium (premium is really 2nd class) or Executive (a level above business)for pass use. It does let you select Business or Business Silenzio 10€(you would need a 1st class pass for it). You can also select Business Salottino (also 1st cl pass)but the price for that is 28€ instead of 10€.

PalenQ

Trenord operate the trains in Lombardy and you can book a ticket Milan/Como for about 5€. I don't know if they would honor a pass as they offer their own.>

IME no they do not honor multiple country or even Eurail Italy passes, much like several short commuter lines in Italy (Trains Sud-Est; Perugia to Todi, Milan/Serano to Como Nord) - you can use a pass to get to Como's mainline station but it is a good mile from the boat docks where Tren Nord dumps you off - the fare on that is so cheap you would never want to use a pass if possible.

bvlenci

KYBourbon is correct that you can buy reservations on the Trenitalia web site. I hope I didn't mislead anyone; I was responding to Palenq's statement that it was very easy to buy the reservations at the last minute at the station, and my point was that it's even easier to buy a ticket at the last minute.

Has anyone living in the US tried to change the currency on the Italiarail site from US$ (the default) to euros? I'm really curious if that choice is offered outside of Europe.

Christina

Someone above says they bought on Italiarail and said they wanted to be charged in euro. I suspect that what they meant was really as simple as changing the currency box to euro from USD, that's all, it really wasn't a dialogue. I'm just guessing.

I haven't used it to buy tickets but just went to it and changed the box to euro and it quoted fares in euro with no problem so I don't know why one couldn't do that. It has lots of currency choices, not just USD and euro. However, when you go to buy, if you say your residence is the US, it puts some pass in your cart without you asking that costs 15 euro. If you try to remove it (not obvious, but you can just by clicking on it at the left), it will take it off but then charges you a 3.50 euro "processing fee" even though it says it is an eticket.

PalenQ

I was responding to Palenq's statement that it was very easy to buy the reservations at the last minute at the station, and my point was that it's even easier to buy a ticket at the last minute.>

either Italian train guru: So can one buy the necessary 5 or 10 euro railpass supplemental fee also on train station automatic ticketing machines?

Thanks in advance.

kybourbon

>>>you can use a pass to get to Como's mainline station but it is a good mile from the boat docks where Tren Nord dumps you off<<<

You can buy a ticket on Trenord from Milan Centrale to Como S Giovanni (the station you pass thru on the way to Switzerland and a hike from the lake) or to Como Nord Lago (on the lake), but it requires changing trains in Saronno. Both are the same price 4.80€.

>>>So can one buy the necessary 5 or 10 euro railpass supplemental fee also on train station automatic ticketing machines?<<<

Yes, you just select Global Pass in the fare choices. This link is old so some things have changed (name of promos, etc.), but scroll down to the screen after he selects his train (don't click any links, just scroll). You will see Global Pass listed as a choice just as it is on the website.

http://www.roninrome.com/%20transpor...ickets-updated

I haven't looked at the Trenitalia app, but I would think you could also just book it on your phone if you've downloaded the app (ProntoTreno is the app).

In the past, to get discounts between countries (Smart Fare, Go, etc.) you had to click "view other offers". Trenitalia seems to have made these pop up without doing that since their site upgrade last weekend. You would still need to do if you were using a pass between countries. Just looked at Milan/Zuerich and the Global Pass popped up as 11€ (2ndcl), not 10€.

PalenQ

thnaks a lot for that update and it seems much easier now - can make a booking ahead of your trip and if you want to change it or just don't show up you are only out the reservation fee.

PalenQ

Though this OP is taking very short trips and thus not merit looking at passes at all - for those who are drawn by the title and maybe are taking muchmore extensive trips in more than two countries will find buying a pass before the end of March 2015 makes it a sweeter deal - 5/day flexipasses now get two days free - longer passes get 2 or 3 days free - not on all passes however - see Rail Europe site for details. And there is now a first-class Eurail Youthpass too instead of just the old only 2nd class one.