Does anyone have experience with the Italy Rail 'n Drive pass offered by RailEurope ? Any problem using the pass for the train or reserving a car with this pass ?

More information availabe at:
http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/ra...rail_drive.htm

Thanks for any feedback.

My experience is quite ancient; to make it even less relevant, it was for France, and back then there was something called a FlyRail'n'Drive pass (you could have either one or two AirFrance segments). It was excellent, and the ability to rent a car in multiple short segments is/was a bargain compared to separate short car rental periods at the "going rate".

I've vaguely kept these passes on my radar screen, and I think they could still be valid bargains. (By contrast, I am eternally haranguing about what a <i>bad</i> deal a rail pass is for most people, most of the time - - <i>especially</i> in Italy where train fares are cheap to start with).

Still, keep in mind that Trenitalia is on a price-cutting rampage (for some seats on soome trains), to fight back against some of the low-cost intra-Europe airfares - - see any of several recent posts by GAC about this. So, just run the numbers diligently.

Best wishes,

Rex

Hi jd,

You have to run the numbers for your itinerary..

I compared the $490 pass to the cost of 2cl train travel for two and renting a compact car from NovaRentaCar, pick up in Venice and drop off in Florence.

Train RT Rome/Naples, Train Rome/Venice, Train RT Venice/Verona.

It came out at $440.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

Crunching the numbers-wise, the Rail 'n Drive Pass would be more economical for the two of us. My doubts are in how to &quot;redeem&quot; the pass. The website is parse on details on how to reserve seats on a train.

We've been to Europe before and usually book the tickets and seat reservations at a station a few days before the ride.

Hi jd,

&gt;The website is sparse on details on how to reserve seats on a train.&lt;

Same way you would if you had the usual railpass -

a. Have Eurail make your reservations - about $12 per reservation + S&amp;H.

b. Have a TA in Italy do it for you - about $12 for ES*, about $4 for IC - possible small fee.

c. Do it yourself upon arrival -same charges for the reservations, no fee.