RAIL PASSES
 

We haven't traveled by rail in Europe for a few years but it seems things have changed. We used to buy 3 or 4 country passes with 2 people traveling together at a pretty good price. This September we will be traveling, by rail, in Italy and Switzerland but I can't find any deals,
not even an Italy/Switzerland pass. Have all the old offers gone away?

There is still an Italy-Switzerland pass but you have to do some homework to see if it is worth the money.

Hi sr,

The railpasses still exist.

You might find that having one in Italy is not cost effective.

Check www.trenitalia.com for discount fares up to 90 days in advance.

((I))

Depends whether you want a 'deal' or a railpass.

In Italy, the railpass is now the expensive gold-plated unlimited travel option. 50, 60, 70 euros per day. Plus agency booking fees plus 10 euros a pop fast train fee in Italy.

The cheap deal is simply to pre-book a 19 euros Rome-Florence or Florence-Venice super-economy fare with reservation included direct from operator www.trenitalia.com and print your own ticket.

In Switzerland a Swiss Pass can save money over relative expensive regular fares, but you have to do the maths, it depends how much mileage you do.

Italy - forget a pass.

Switzerland - do the math.

Once you decide you itinerary for Switzerland, you can look at the various Swiss passes and see if any apply.

http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/en/home.html