ChrisAndSarah

Hi all! My boyfriend and I are going to Italy at the end of May and need some help figuring out how we should do train tickets from city to city. The trip is a total of 10 nights, and we are doing 2 nights in Venice, 1 night in Florence (want to take early train from Venice and an afternoon train when we leave), 3 nights in Sorrento (with trips to Capri, Amalfi coast - leaning towards Positano), then 4 nights in Rome (stopping at Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius on the way). We are flying into Rome and then plan on taking a train immediately to Venice. We are leaning towards the saver pass for 2 Adults. We could also get a Youth 2nd class and an Adult 2nd class pass, as I am only 25. Or we could do point to point tickets. We are confused about the reservations with the pass and when we need those and how much extra they cost. Also, is it worth it paying a little extra for the first class? So many options!

The boyfriend wants to know where to get the best steak in Florence at a reasonable price?

Any other ideas, thoughts, or tips on our trip would be appreciated! But we already have all of our hotels booked so the schedule is pretty much set in stone.

kybourbon

To see if a pass is cost effective, you can price point-to-point tickets on Trenitalia. The prices on Trenitalia include your seat reservation which is mandatory on all, but the slow R trains.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...0080a3e90aRCRD

I don't think you can combine a youth pass and a saver. A youth pass only comes as 2nd class. In addition to the price of the pass, you would need the seat reservations at 10€ per train ride per person. The train to and from the airport would not be included with the pass nor would the Circumvesuviana train between Sorrento/Pompeii/Naples.

You need:
FCO/Rome 14€ each (no seat reservations possible)
Rome/Venice
Venice/Florence
Florence to Naples or Salerno (depending on where you decide to stay on the coast)
Naples or Salerno to Rome
Plus Circumvesuviana tickets (they are about 3.50€ Naples/Sorrento) and Sita bus tickets.

ira

Hi CaS,

I assume that you have your airline tickets and can't fly into Venice VCE or Milan.

You can find the ticket prices for most of your route at www.trenitalia.com.
The Circumvesuviana fare from Sorrento to Naples is small, and isn;t covered by a railpass.

>3 nights in Sorrento (with trips to Capri, Amalfi coast - leaning towards Positano), then 4 nights in Rome (stopping at Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius on the way). <

You are going to Pompeii and Vesuvius on the same day while carrying your luggage? I suggest that you do these as daytrip(s) from Sorrento.

The best steak in Florence will be very expensive and nowhere near as good as one in Chicago or Kansas City.

OTOH, fish, pasta and pizza are excellent. Make sure to have gelato.

Enjoy your visit.

ChrisAndSarah

ira - We were planning to store our luggage at the train station when we do vesuvius and pompeii. i am assuming that there are lockers because the last time I was in Europe I remember there being lockers for luggage at train and bus stations. Do you know if the train station stops along the Circumvesuviana have these?

Thanks for the advice!

ChrisAndSarah

And yes we already have our plane tickets. It was cheaper to fly into Rome and take the train to Venice and we would get there at about the same time anyways.

ellenem

The Circumvesuviana is a commuter railroad (like a subway), so the stations do not have luggage storage. Pompeii has luggage storage at the visitor entrance.

PalenQ

I don't think you can combine a youth pass and a saver.>

No you cannot but if you look at the typical pricing structure of Eurailpasses (this is the Eurail Italy Pass you are talking about) then the cost for a solo adult pass and a solo youthpass nearly always seems to equal the price of a Saverpass at the adult rate so a non-issue - two names on one pass or if you want individual flexibility then two solo passes. A wash usually but I have not looked at the Eurail Italy pricing. Lots of great info on Italian trains - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com - from your itinerary I think the Italy Railpass will save you money unless perhaps you can get the fickle trenitalia.com site to work with advance discount tickets - but if you want flexibility to decide which trains to take as you go the pass should be a good deal IMO.

PalenQ

talking about the Circumvesuviana Railway between Naples and Sorrento via Pompeii Scavi station - railpasses are not valid on this commuter railway but the fare - all the way to Sorrento from Naples is just about 3 euros!

PalenQ

Not nearly all train stations in Italy have luggage lockers - in fact none IME have lockers at all though you may see some around but have been closed due to terrorist concerns I believe - main stations do have manual left-luggage counters. as said there is a bag storage at or near the entrance to Pompeii (Pompeii Scavi train station).

rineurope

Here's a posting with a list of the rail stations on the State lines that do have luggage storage facilities (and a few airports): http://tinyurl.com/Left-Luggage

You may do better buying MINI discount tickets in advance for the routes on the Trenitalia system. You can save up to 70% - but the MINI tickets are limited by Trenitalia and you have to get your credit card to work on the Trenitalia website. Look at this post for more info on the MINI discounted ticket: http://tinyurl.com/MINI-fare

You could also wait until you arrived and still purchase MINI or other discount tickets at a kiosk in any train station. They have new kiosks in many of the terminals. Here's a post with the updated kiosks and how to purchase tickets, step-by-step: http://tinyurl.com/buy-tickets-2011

Try Trattoria Sostanza in Florence for a good steak (and incredible chicken) Reservations are suggested: Via Porcellana 25r near Santa Maria Novella - Phone 055-212-691)