We are a family of 3 travelling to Italy during Easter. We are flying to Venice, travel from Venice-Florence, Florence-Siena, Orvieto-Rome and Rome-Naples by rail. Right now, based on books I have read, we have quite a few choices for rail travel: buy point-to-point, Italian kilometric, Italy railpass, Italian flexipass, Italian rail/drive. Fellow Fodorites, which one do you think is the best alternative

For whatever reason my posting was not completed. So here is the continuation. I am planning to buy the point-to-point (including the supplement and reservation) when we arrive in Venice but will that be too risky, especially during Easter? What about taking the bus, will it take longer or shorter? Thanks for any info.

Hello. I was in Italy last Easter and traveled by rail. I can remember trying to figure out which of the various rail plans to buy. Unfortunately, I do not remember all of my research, but did decide to simply buy the tickets point to point as I went along. This worked fine and allows for ultimate flexibility. While in other countries rail passes make a lot of sense, rail is so reasonable in Italy that for my trip (the lakes in the North to Rome) it was not cost effective. I was in particular thinking of the kilo pass for a while because it too seemed cheap, but you must still wait in line to get each ticket so it did not seem worth it for me. I am not familiar with the rail/drive pass. We did rent a car to from Florence to Rome to see the small towns. Enjoy!

We had no problem with rail travel during Easter. We never bought a ticket more than an hour before the train was to leave and we always were able to buy a ticket although once or twice the trains were quite full. As you surely know, Italian rail is not as timely as in other locals and strikes do happen so do allow for a little flexibility.

Stephen posted a lot of his travel experiences in Italy (mostly by rail). I found them very informative and detailed. Stephen, where are you and your famous commentaries?

Thanks, I appreciate all of your comments. I am planning to just buy point-to-point tickets for all our destinations (Florence, Siena, Rome, Naples) when we arrive in Italy (Venice). I am a bit nervous about it but hopefully it will work. I will post my experience when I come back.