TheSauls

New poster....first trip to Europe coming in September. We are flying into Prague. I plan to buy a Eurail Pass for three countries. We will spend 3-4 nights in Prague, train to Vienna for 3-4 nights, then to Milan for 3-4 nights. My questions (how much time is EVER enough for new and wonderful cities): 1) Is this a good split of our time? We will use Milan as a 'base' to go to Florence, Riviera, Venice for day trips as time allows. 2) Will the Eurail Pass give us good passage in Italy to major cities, or will we also need the Trenitalia?

Thanks!

Travelnut

If you're only traveling by train between these cities, tickets might be cheaper than passes.
Go to www.railsaver.com and enter your itinerary to see which is best in your case.
Maybe it's a combination of point2point tickets and an Italy pass..

Dukey

You may be confusing a couple of concepts.

Travelnut has given excellent advice re comparing the cost of point-to-point tickets with the cost of a pass. I also would NOT rely on ticket agency prices for point-to-point tickets (such as Railsaver, Raileurope, etc., because <b>sometimes</b> there can be significant mark-ups.

If point to point tickets are the best deal then you can consider waiting until you <b>arrive</b> in Europe and then buy all the tickets at once.

You ask about the pass vs. relying on Trenitalia.

Trenitalia is the name of the main Italian railroad company <b>on which</b> passes are honored. For your particular routes you will undoubtedly be taking Trenitalia trains.

I am assuming you have picked Milan as a base point due to its being central to the other places (and probably cheaper to stay in than Venice) you want to visit vs. going from Vienna to Venice and then westward.

Although technically it can be done I question the utility of a day trip from Milan to Venice but if that works best for you then go for it.

hopscotch

For a European rail virgin and Fodor's newbie I suggest that you start by using the &quot;search this forum&quot; box above and enter <b>rail europe</b>. Then use the search box for the cities you plan to visit. There is a huge knowledge base here.

To save time and money use the night trains, especially from Vienna to Milan.

treble

I don't think Milan is a good base for Florence or Venice. Just go to Venice and then to Milan. (and Florence if you want) A three hour train ride coming and going plus a full sightseeing day is a bit long. We really enjoyed Milan, used two and a half full days of sightseeing there, also took a half day to see Como/Bellagio, and spent 4 total nights. We spent six nights, five sightseeing days in Vienna, and did not run out of interesting stuff to do. We don't spend much time shopping. Also, Venice could use up 3 days, 4 if you get lost!!! If you want to fall in love with any city, and treasure your trip, then stay long enough to do all the sights you feel you must see, then have an extra day to discover the city off the beaten track. You could also consider Verona, and day trip to Venice (though it is not the same as staying there!) and Milan. I had good service from BETS re train questions and reservations.

WallyKringen

Do I take it from your post that after you you fly into Prague you will fly back home out of Milan? That's how it should be.

Forget the Eurail Pass - it's hugely expensive, covers most of Europe (but not the Czech Republic) - many more countries than you're visiting, and exceeds by far the money you'll be spending on your proposed trip.

There is an Austria pass, and a combined Austria/Switzerland pass also, but if you're only zipping through Austria from Vienna to Italy in one direction, a pass for Austria is not worth it.

There is no combined pass for Austria and Italy, so the only pass you could use is the Italy rail pass.

I doubt that you'd get your money back on that one, but it's easy for you to figure out: Simply bring up the trips you're planning, one by one, and add up the cost, then compare the total to the price of the pass.

You'll be coming from Vienna past Venice, so it makes no sense to go to Milan then turn around and go back to Venice. Get off the train from Vienna at the station called Venezia-Mestre, it's the industrial part of Venice up on the mainland - you change to the local train that goes along the causeway to the Venice by the canals, the station there is called Venezia Santa Lucia, it's a ten minute ride or so.

When computing your fares, start at the Austrian border, input Tarvisio Boscoverde (often the first stop inside Italy) - I see Euros 34.10 for one-way 2nd class full-fare adult to Milan.

Milan - Florence (on EuroStar with compulsory seat reservation included) costs &euro;28.92, or &euro;24.69 on the slightly slower IC train, one way 2nd class full fare adult.

There are family reductions of 15 and 25 percent - see the website for details:

On www.trenitalia.it (Trenitalia is the site of the Italian train system called Ferrovie dello Stato - FS - Railways of the State) you input the trips - no further out than 60 days (use dummy dates if needed) to see the prices.

On www.ricksteves.com there is much good info about passes, and a whole lot of shared travelers' experiences in the section of his site called Graffiti Wall.

Hope this helps

WK

ben_haines_london

Yes: a good split of your time is 3-4 nights in Prague, train to Vienna for 3-4 nights, then to Milan for 3-4 nights. You save hotel costs and travel time if you book sleepers thus. Prague Hlavni board about 2310 (beware pickpockets) leave 2345, Vienna South 0603. Vienna South 1936, Milan Central 0855.

Buffet car trains leave Milan Central about 0700 to reach Nice at 1210, Florence at 0945, and Venice Santa Lucia at 0938. For Florence and Venice you pay a supplement of 8 euros to use Eurostar Italia.

Ben Haines, London
[email protected]

TheSauls

Wow! Great feedback, and in the same time that you have been giving aid, we did find the day trips from Milan are questionable....so we'll enjoy the area and move on. Thanks for the train tips...I would have wasted lots of money so it seems!

ira

&gt;we did find the day trips from Milan are questionable....so we'll enjoy the area and move on. &lt;

?????

Are you skipping Venice?

massagediva

Help!Help!Ira needs his nitroglycerin!

Dukey

Ira: lots of people skip Venice..you KNOW that...

we are all wondering why you haven't been to ROME and
why that link to the Bonaparte pictures on the aris Hotel post didn't work for ME...let's set our priorities correctly, Man LOL

massagediva

Hey,I was the only one really scratching my head over the Rome part!C'mon,Ira,you might like it!

massagediva

I meant to say I thought I was the only one scratching my head

suze

Sounds like you already figured this out but a day trip from Milan to Venice (~3 hours each way on the train) really doesn't work. I assume the same for Florence. Especially only having 3-4 days to work with in MilN.

It doesn't seem at a glance that you are traveling enough to need any type of a rail pass. I'm no train expert, but am guessing simple 2nd class point-to-point bought at the train station after arrival will work for what you describe (after you trim up the itinerary).

Personally I would put those 3-4 days in Venice (skip Milan, Florence, and the Riviera). That's simply too much.

Have you purchased plane tickets already? You mention flying into Prague... are you flying home from their also?

ben_haines_london

You can find whether you need a pass or point to point tickets if you e-mail and phone two agents

Budget Europe Travel Service, phone 800-441-9413 or 800-441-2387, site http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/

Euraide of Florida, E-mail [email protected], phone
at the Florida office 941/480-1555, site http://www.euraide.com

Ben Haines, London

ira

Hi dukey,

Thanks for the heads up about the link.

This one works, if you need it
http://tinyurl.com/ludgd

TheSauls

Ira - we are NOT skipping Venice. We will leave Milan for Florence, then Venice, before moving on to Vienna and returning to Prague for departure.

MaureenB

Do you mean you will fly into and out of Prague? Could you do it otherwise, like into Prague and out of Italy someplace? Or maybe use an inexpensive airline to fly back to Prague, if you must do it that way. It sounds like a lot of backtracking.

Dukey

Yes, Maureen but please remember the IMPORTANT thing is they aren't &quot;skipping Venice&quot; LOL!

Anya

If you are booked into flying into and out of Prague, you can fly back to Prague from Milan on skyeurope.com. It can be under $100. You can go Prg-Vienna-Venice-Florence-Milan and fly back.