I have been trying to decide between a railpass or just buying a point to point ticket for my trip to Europe and have a few quetions.

My itinerary is this:
London to Amsterdam: I am thinking i will fly with easyjet
Amsterdam to Paris,
Paris to Nice,
Nice to Milan
Milan to Venice via Verona
Venice to Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre to Florence
Florence to Sorrento
Sorrento to Rome

I have been debating between getting a France/Italy/Beneleux eight day rail pass but I have heard that it is cheaper to buy the train ticket in Italy then to use the Italy rail pass. Is this true?

Also, I was wondering if it might just be more convenient to get a rail pass than always having to buy the ticket at the train station that day. Do I have to pay for reservations on all the Italy/France trains.
Lastly, if can I travel from Nice to Milan on a Beneleux-France pass or do I need an Italy pass as well.

Thanks for all you help

<<more convenient to get a rail pass than always having to buy the ticket at the train station that day.>>

In Italy, once you arrive you can buy all you tickets for all your trips at the same time.

In Italy with a pass, if you want to travel on trains that are all reserved (like ES, ICplus), you will have to purchase reservations separately.

Test your itinerary at railsaver.com, being sure to click "only if it saves me money."

I just tried your itinerary at Railsaver and for me it recommended buying

Point-to-point Amsterdam for Lille

Then the Eurail France-Italy 7-day 2nd Class Adult Flexipass ($443) for
Lille to Paris
Paris to Nice
Nice to Milan
Milan to Venice
Venice to La Spezia (CT)

Point-to-point for La Spezia to Florence

Back on the pass for
Florence to Sorrento
Sorrento to Rome

Don't know your actual dates and age, so you find different results.

You would only want to consider the cheaper France-Italy railpass since you are not doing any rail in Benelux

A 2-country pass - France-Italy Flexipass - good for a two month period and you use a number of days (min 4, max 10 i believe) whenever you want as you go along - that's a flexipass - a Saverpass is two names on one pass and is cheaper than two individual passes

The France-Italy pass comes in 2nd class (unlike the Eurail SelectPass you first mentioned) and thus is significantly cheaper than the Eurail Select pass, even in first class, of course. For lots of railpasses and train travel in these countries i always recommend www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com as they have a wealth of info and not just the usual pass prices and buy button. the budgeteuropetravel site lets you request their free European Planning & Rail guide that is a good primer on rail travel in these countries. That said your itinerary will probably be cheaper than a pass if you go to www.voyages-sncf.com and look for PREM or discounted advance tickets - but you should hop on those if they are available as there is a limit on how many are sold - ditto for www.trenitalia.com for italian trains - note though that both the French and Italian sites can be horrifically frustrating many many fodorites report. But there are helpful fodorites like TimS and Ira who usually are lurking around to help you with those sites if you post 'Help Needed booking thru sncf, trenitalia, etc.'

Railsaver.com is of limited help because it only compares the cost of standard fare tickets to the cost of a pass.

Trains within Italy are relatively inexpensive. Simply buying point-to-point tickets when you get to Italy may be your best choice. On routes that offer them you can get Amica fares (20% discount) up to midnight of the day before departure. A pass for Italy alone is not cost effective, but a combination pass for Italy and France may be since standard fares in France are fairly steep.

Howver, if you're willing to commit to specific dates and times and book well in advance (usually up to 90 days allowed) on the various train sites (not Rail Europe), you can save big on Amsterdam-Paris, Paris-Nice, and Nice-Milan. Examples: Amsterdam-Paris Mini fare is 25€ while the standard 2nd class fare is 82€. Paris-Nice Prem's fare is as low as 22€ while the standard fare is 102€. There are also discount fares for the Paris-Nice night train. Nice-Milan discount fare is 15€ while the standard fare is 30€.

Thanks for all the advice. If I buy a train ticket online will they mail it to me or can I pick it up at the train station. I am leaving in a month, so I am not sure that I will have enough time for them to mail me the tickets.

If you can get a Mini fare for Amsterdam-Paris at www.thalys.com, you can print it yourself. You can pick up a standard fare ticket at the station.

If you can get a Prem's fare for Paris-Nice at www.voyages-sncf.com, you can print it yourself. You can pick up a standard fare ticket or a Loisirs fare (discount, but not as cheap as Prem's) ticket at any mainline station or SNCF boutique in France.

You can pick up a Nice-Milano ticket at any mainline station or SNCF boutique in France.

Nice-Milan 'Riviera trains' also offer deep discounts - even Raileurope has at times $25 Nice-Milan tickets so scour voyages-sncf.com for them as well - even though that fare on a full fare is not so great as Paris-Nice and thus potential savings less.

< That said your itinerary will probably be cheaper than a pass if you go to www.voyages-sncf.com and look for PREM or discounted advance tickets - but you should hop on those if they are available as there is a limit on how many are sold >

Is there an English version of this site?

I know that I waste money, but I aways buy a Global 15 Day Pass. If I decide to take a day trip to where-ever and then decide to go to any place, I can just jump on the train. I know you can buy tickets from machines if the station is not open, and this is the case in many of the small towns that I have visited, but it is just more convenient for me to go at any time on any train. Yes, there are trains that you will need reservations, but I still prefer the pass. I buy night train reservations by phone before I leave home. The private compartments sell out fast.

Is there an English version of this site?

Yes but apparently this throws you over the U.S. based RailEurope, largely owned by the French Railways

hit the British flag if there is one