Finding point-to-point fares between countries
 

Hello all! It's been quite a while since the last time I posted here, but I am planning another Europe stint in May.

I am currently trying to decide whether it would be more cost-effective to get a Eurail Pass or do point-to point travel. In researching the point-to-point train tickets, I have found that I can't see the fares for travel between two different countries.

For example, I want to travel from Munich to Venice, but when I enter the departure into the Bahn website fare finder, I can't see the fares. The same thing happened for the TrenItalia fare finder when I entered a Genoa to Aix-En-Provence departure. Am I doing something wrong? I'm not sure how to compare Eurail vs point-to-point if I can't see the between-country fares.

This is the tentative schedule for my trip, if it helps:

Stuttgart -> Munich
Munich -> Venice
Venice-> Genoa (or some other Northwestern Italy coastal town)
Genoa -> Aix-En-Provence
Aix -> Avignon
Avignon -> Paris
Paris -> Stuttgart

Thank you in advance!

It's probably the dates you are entering are too far in advance (summer prices aren't entered until close to mid-June). Entering dates within a week should show all fares except discounts that require advance purchase. Trenitalia only allows booking/shows fares 4 months in advance for the fast trains. If R trains are involved those prices don't tend to show up unless you put a date within a week.

reiseauskunft.bahn.de definitely shows the fare for Stuffgart Hbf - München Hbf as €47 or €53.

For cross boarder trip, you need to find the "extent" of the national railroad system. For example use www.ferroviedellostato.it to find the fare of €9.30 or €16 between Genova Piazza Principe - Ventimiglia, then use www.voyage-sncf.com to find the Ventimiglia- Aix-en-Provence fare of €43. How do I know to user Ventimiglia? Use reiseauskunft.bahn.de to find the breaks in trips. Use one of the boarder stop to compute the fares.

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/timecostmap.htm shows quick estimates if that is all you need.

Also keep in mind that passes don't include seat reservations which are required on all trains in Italy except R trains and on some trains in other countries while point-to-point tickets usually include seats (on all trains in Italy except R where no seat reservations are possible). Prices are 10€ for most Italian trains, but higher in some other countries. Here's a list of seat reservation fees.
http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/pdfs/reservations.pdf

Trenitalia shows Venice/Munich at 115€.

The dates I entered were for next week...

Ok so in your opinion, would it be better for me to get a pass or do point-to-point, considering all the fees I will most likely end up paying along with the price of the pass?