I am traveling to Italy in September (Milan, Venice, Florence, Positano, & Rome). Do I need to make my rail pass reservations before I go or can I wait until I get there to book them? If I need to make them before I go, what is the best way to book them?

I'm unclear about what you are asking.

Do you already have a rail pass and you just looking to reserve seats with your pass?

If you don't have a rail pass, are you just looking to reserve point-to-point tickets?

Hi RB,

You will not need a Railpass. Don't buy one.

You can purchase all of your tickets at the same time after you arrive.

To get from Rome to Positano you purchase a ticket to Naples. From there, take the Circumvesuviana commuter train (no reservations) to Sorrento. The bus to Positano leaves from directly opposite the train station. Buy a ticket before you board the bus.

Alternatively, you can train to Salerno. The ferry docks are 3 blks from the train station. The ferry will take you to Positano. You can then take the bus to Sorrento and the train top Naples.

This way, you will see the AC from the water and the water from the Coast road.

Enjoy your visit.

My plan is to get a rail pass for four travel days (I was asking about reservations for rail passes because I heard they were required for some of the trains.) So ira, are you saying that I don't need a rail pass at all for the number of days that I will traveling?

The only way to know if a pass is a good idea to to price individual tickets for your trips. Go to Trenitalia.com and price the individual trips for regular point-to-point tickets. In some cases, you might get significant MINI discount for advance purchase.

A pass may offer you no savings, especially when you factor in the need to pay 3-10 for each seat you must reserve with your pass. Regular point-to-point tickets already come with the necessary seat reservations.

For example, I just priced tickets for mid-July for these routes:

Milan-Venice
Venice-Florence
Florence-Naples
Naples-Rome
(Trains don't go all the way to Positano. You will need to take Circumvesuviana local train and/or bus and/or ferry.)

Regular tickets on fastest trains totaled 1st class 266€, 2nd class 193€.
Because I used test dates for far-away July, I was given options to buy MINI discounted tickets for the exact same trains that totaled 1st class 202€, 2nd class 157€.

Since all the trains I priced were the fastest type, a reservation fee for these same train seats with a pass would cost 10€ per ticket, a total of 40€ in addition to the cost of your pass.

If you are new to European rail travel, you may be under the impression that rail passes are always cheaper/better. Me - I am generally a fan of them but because they offer me flexibility, NOT because they are always cheaper -although sometimes they are.

I like the flexibility of being able to take any train I want, anywhere I want. So I often buy rail passes. But if you are a good planner, stick to your plans (ie: don't miss a train) you can get excellent point to point prices.

So, just take a moment to figure out how you wish to travel.

What's the disadvantage of getting MINI tickets (i understand that they are only available for advance booking)? just that you cant change the time and that you get either 1st class or 2nd class depending on the availability at that time? I read the little "more info" next to the MINI fare but it was confusing as hell!

I believe MINI tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable. Once you buy them, you are stuck with them. MINI tickets are available on a limited basis, a bit like frequent flyer mileage tickets, so the closer you get to the actual travel date, the lower your chance of getting a MINI discount.

Unfortunately, at this point all Italian trains, except for the slowest Regionales, now require seats reservations, so much of the just-hop-on convenience has been lost. Passholders have to purchase a seat reservation before hopping on, an extra step that didn't exist until about two year ago.

Answered on your other query (MXP to Venice) that may not be necessary to purchase tix until you actually get to Italy.