Train ?
 

Hi,

As you may well know from my other post that I and my boyfriend will be going to rome, venice and milan for christmas. But I don't know anything about transportation. Up to now, train seems to be the best and only option for me (since i can't drive :))

How much does it cost to take train from airport(leonardo da vinci) to rome, rome to venice, venice to milan and milan to airport (malpensa)? As we are still students in the age of 28, is there any offers for students, 2-customer tickets or a kind of saver pass?

Thanks.
Seren

go to trenitalia.com. you can price everything on there. I know from Rome Airport to the city is is 9.5 euros on the Leonardo Express.

You can get an estimate of individual trip costs and whether a pass is a better value by logging on to Railsaver (http://www.railsaver.com/railsaver.asp) and entering your itinerary.

There are few special offers on Italian trains but basic fares are very low by European standards. If you want to save money, look for ordinary regional trains rather than Intercity or (even more expensive) Eurostars. For many shorter journeys, there isn't a big difference in journey times, but you'll pay a lot less. A rail pass will certainly not be worthwhile in Italy unless you're doing a lot of rail travel.

Also keep in mind that most trains will offer both first and second class. Second class might be less comfortable, but would certainly be less costly.

Also, to get from Milan to the airport, many find the airport express bus a more convenient choice.

If you don't already have one, buy a guidebook for Italy -- Lonely Planet, Let's Go, Rough Guide, whatever. It will pay for itself many times over, as it will save you from making heaps of mistakes that otherwise would waste your time and money.

See http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34543774 and/or numerous other recent pots by GAC on special low-cost train fares in Italy.

Best wishes,

Rex

I'm a big fan of rail passes but generally speaking, to simply travel between these three cities passes probably aren't your best value since the more you use passes the more economical they become.

I second (strongly!!) JN's recommendation of inputting your proposed itinerary at either railpass.com or railsaver.com to see if a pass would save you money.

And before you even ask about "is it worth paying more for First Class tickets?" be aware that First Class generally has fewer seats in the same amount of space occupied by more seats in Second Class.

Both classes arrive at the station at the same time.

Second Class often fills up sooner than First since a lot of people opt for the cheaper tickets.

You can meet jsut as many "locals" in either class; the difference is the ones in First were willing to pay more than the ones in Second..but they are still "local."

Only YOu can decide if one class is more "worth it" than the other.

Enjoy your trip

Hi seren,

www.trenitalia.com/en for schedules and prices.

You can book your tickets online if you wish.

It's 9.5E from FCO to Roma TE.

Saturday fares are 15E for 2 cl anywhere in Italy.

Thanks for the responses. I got one more question to ask.

Do I need to buy the ticket now (online), cos we will be traveling at christmas?

And do I need to reserve seat? Is the trains full at christmas times?

Hi seren,

>Do I need to buy the ticket now (online), cos we will be traveling at christmas?

And do I need to reserve seat? <

I prefer getting tickets in advance when I know I will be traveling on a certain date.

For ES* trains, the seat reservation is required and is part of the cost of the ticket. You can change to another train for a small fee, prior to the train leaving.

For IC and IR trains, reservations ar not required, but seats are not guaranteed. A reservation is about 3E extra. If you change your mind, you can board any train, but if you want a reserved seat you will have to buy a new reservation.