Eurailpass
 

My husband and I will be arriving in Rome on the 18th of December. We will be going to Sicily (both sides of Island), Sorrento (Naples/Pompei), Sienna, skiing in France, onto St. Anton Austria, back to Venice then onto Milan.

We will be gone one month. We were thinking a Eurailpass Flexi Saver ($592. USD per person)would be a good way to go.

I don't know anything about the Eurailpass & am concerned about not being able to use the Eurostar Italia trains or other local trains. Also, is it convenient crossing borders?

Is there a way to find out distances and times between places in Italy as well as to France, France to Austria?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

First of all, go to www.railsaver.com and input your proposed itinerary to find out whether or not a pass would be economical vs. point-to-point tickets.

You probably don't need a full Eurailpass...you can get a pass which covers the four countries you are visitng...HOWEVER you would not be able to transit Switzerland traveling from France to Austria unless you had a pass that covered that country also. (Not trying to confuse you on this, please believe me..you could buy a separate point-to-point ticket to cross Switzerland if that were necessary).

You can use ALL the trains in all the countries with a Eurailpass or a multi-country pass including the Italian Eurostar services..but for those you'll have to pay for the seat reservation (only) and you'll pay a lot less for that if you get it after you arrive in Europe.

Crossing borders is basically a non-issue. Immigration officials will pass through the train as it is in transit..they may or may not ask to see a passport. In the "new" country there will also be a "new" railroad, the "conductor" will pass through and ask to see your pass once again.

You can use the www.trenitalia.com site for some journey times. The GermanRail site is more comprehensive and you can check schedules and times there for all the countries involved. The site address is http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Have a great trip.

Hey TopMan,

Thanks and have a great weekend!

You will have a few "extras" to pay for, like the seat reservation for the ES, but also keep in mind that the commuter train between Naples and Sorrento is NOT part of the Eurailpass, so you have to pay for that (a few euro only).

It's very convenient crossing borders, no problem with the pass at all.

If you go to the German rail website, and plug in information (it will ask for the date, but just make one up, since you need to plug in a date within a few months of the date you are inputting), it will come up with various plans for train travel and times. It doesn't provide you with distances, but you can sort of figure it out from the time schedules.

When you go to

<b>http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en</b>

be sure you enter a date that is the same day of the week as your proposed travel. Many trains run different schedules on weekdays and weekends.

cordoba, you will find the Thomas Cook European Timetable is just what you need for the trip you are planning. Order it at
http://www.thomascooktimetables.com/...amp;book_id=44

Crossing borders in central Europe nowadays is like crossing state lines in the USA, except Switzerland.