Rail pass or point-to-point??
 

My husband and I are planning a 14-day trip to Italy... in THREE days! I am trying to figure out whether it would be cheaper to buy a rail pass but can't quite figure it out...

We will be taking trains for 5 days, EuroStar if possible, 2nd class.
Day 1: arriving at FCO airport and immediately train to Florence.
Day 2: Florence to Cinque Terre round trip.
Day 3: Florence to Venice
Day 4: Venice to Rome
Day 5: Rome to Pompeii round trip

The total price of purchasing point-to-point tickets is 288.80 euro. The price of a 6-day (no 5-day available) rail pass is 189.00. So far it looks cheaper... but then when I was reading similar topic on this forum, people were saying that if I want to take any ES trains, I would have to purchase additional reservations on top of my rail pass. I tried to search on the Trenitalia site but couldn't find out what the current reservation price is per trip. Does anyone have information on that? And more importantly, am I looking at the comparison properly?!

10 euro per ticket reservation fee.

Chances are the trips to which I have added asterisks will require reservations.

Day 1: FCO-Rome; Rome-Florence*
Day 2: Florence-La Spezia*; Local train within Cinque Terre; La Spezia-Florence*
Day 3: Florence-Venice*
Day 4: Venice-Rome*
Day 5: Rome-Naples*; Local Circumvesuviana train Naples-Pompeii round trip; Rome-Naples*

7 asterisks = 70 euro per person in reservation fees.

The train to La Spezia may be IC rather than ES.

Also keep in mind, if you buy all your train tickets when you first arrive in Italy, you may qualify for some discounts for purchasing ahead.

Are you thinking of a Eurail pass? I think they need to be purchased and delivered in the U.S. The extra reservation fees for the pass are usually not more than a few dollars. I have received great information when I have called Rick Steves' company about purchasing rail passes and whether there is a cost/convenience savings. Sorry I don't have specific price info for you but this will at least top your post!

Ellenem, thanks for your info! It looks like the pass would be slightly cheaper. Do you know if I need to purchase separate tickets for the Leonardo express from fco to termini station?

Cls2paris, I am talking about the railpass for Italy only.

Aside from the price, do you guys think buying the railpass will be worthwhile? I know some people suggested that buying reservations would require lining up, which can take a lot of time...

I still think you may need to purchase a railpass in the U.S. unless you are talking about a Trenitalia pass.

Leonardo Express needs its own special ticket, not on a pass.

I'd probably woldn't buy a pass but would buy the ticket when I first arrived to snag the "meno 15" and "meno 30" discounts as I could.

Here's Rick Steves' word on an Italy Pass

http://www.ricksteves.com/rail/italy.cfm

The Eurail Italy Pass must be purchased in the U.S.--it cannot be purchased in Italy.

The ptop sound high. Where did you price the individual tickets?

I'm not sure where you got your pass price, but RailEurope lists the 6 day 2nd cl pass at $255 and the 6 day saver pass at $237. Even a 6 day youth pass is $228.

I priced everything on the trenitalia site... I am getting more confused. Is the rail pass a bad idea?

No, according to your math a rail pass is not a bad idea. Neither is simply buying point to point tickets. As pointed out above, you may be able to snag some discounts if you purchase ahead of time, so it may turn out to be a wash.

Since you need to buy a seat reservation for most of the trains anyway you aren't saving any time.

You can purchase an Italy Interail pass online today and pick it up at any Trenitalia ticket window at FCO when you arrive.

>>>I priced everything on the trenitalia site... I am getting more confused. Is the rail pass a bad idea?<<

You can not price (or buy) a pass on Trenitalia. The passes on Trenitalia are Interrail passes for Europeans only. You have to buy a Eurail pass, not an Interrail pass and you have to purchase it before you leave the US. You can buy a 5 day Eurail pass. Didn't you notice when you were asked to fill in your personal information that only a handful of countries were listed? Those are the countries you have to live in to buy that pass. Since you are leaving in three days you don't have time to get a Eurail pass, but here is the link for Eurail passes for Italy.
http://www.raileurope.com/rail-ticke...d-pricing.html