Hi Guys, Just wondering if anyone is aware of the best way to travel from Switzerland to italy as me and my husband are arguing (lol) about getting a euro pass from here or just getting our tickets there... If anyone has the answer please let me know ASAP as we leave on Wed... i know its crazy!! we are wanting to do 10 days around Italy and have family in Modena and Venice and salerno but not really sure how we should do this - thanks to u all!!
BTW here is from Australia and the only reason we are in Switzerland is for my husbands family and then we want to end up in Calabria so we can go to Sicily - sorry that is a lot of info so i dearly appreciate it!!

>If anyone has the answer please let me know ASAP as we leave on Wed... i know its crazy!!

1) you can forget about Eurail Pass even if it would make sense - not enough time for delivery.
2) Whether a pass makes sense or not, the answer is really "do your math".
Prices for Swiwtzerland:
www.rail.ch
For Italy
www.trenitalia.com

If traveling in Italy by train for 10 days then the Italy Railpass may well be cost-effective for you but not a Eurail Pass. Like altamiro says check prices for your Italian trains at trenitalia.com - in euros and then check Italy Railpass prices at Raileurope.com - click on Australia for prices you can buy the pass for in Australia - cannot buy in Italy to my knowledge - Travel agents like STA Travel in Australia can do walk in service for passes i would think - just like here.

Right now it does seem you are traveling longish distances - Venice to Salerno and back perhaps may make the pass pay off. And BTW pay no heed to the Fodor's mantra that 'railpasses in Italy are rarely cost effective' as that advice is based on dated info before Trenitalia jacked prices - so what was true a few years back is not now - yet folks keep saying that passes here are rarely cost effective when in fact for many typical itineraries they definitely are.
But without know your exact rail travel plans i could not say whether a pass is good for you or not - the point is to price out each - point to point from Trenitalia.com - the price you will pay at the station in Italy vs Italy Railpass - Saverpass - for two or more people traveling together.
For loads of neat info on Italian trains i always spotlight these info-laden sites: www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

A usually good "rule of thumb" is the longer you use a pass the more cost-effective it becomes regardless of where you use it.

The best way to tell is to do a cost comparison of point-to-point tickets vs. using a pass so good advice from Pal IMO

I don't think you really have time for all the places in Italy you listed in 10 days. There are cheap flights from Milan to Sicily (25-50€)or perhaps fly from Switzerland (flights won't be as cheap, but depends on where in Switzerland you are). You could also check for flights from Bologna and Venice or Verona.

Take a look at budget flights on whichbudget.com or skyscanner.net.

You don't have to go all the way to Calabria to get to Sicily. You can take a ferry from Salerno.

I'm assuming you have your return flight already booked, yes? What airport is it?

Or you can take an overnight train from Rome or Milan to Sicily - arriving in Sicily the next morning.