everyone suggested that instead of renting a car from milan to bologna i should take the train. naviagating on that site (trenitalia) was quite confusing for me because I didn't see roundtip fares and the cost was quite high(68.08euros one way)to rent a car with advantage was only $52.80. am i missing something? also we were leaning towards a car to see the country side and stop along the way. Is this a bad idea?
roxy

http://www.raileurope.com/fs/us/fsre...amp;s=Continue

I show $38.00 US for a 2nd class ticket, one way.

It's not that a card is a BAD idea, it's just a DIFFERENT idea. You may have headaches with a car that you don't have with taking the train, but you also have more freedom. It's all about what you want to accomplish and what you don't mind putting up with to get it.

Sorry...CAR not CARD

I don't know where you got your fare; on a Eurostar train (with seat reservation included) the fare is 32.54 Euro in first class and 22.72 Euro in second class. For a trip that takes 1 hour 42 minutes, you don't need first class. Roundtrip fares are double one-way fares: 65.08 Euro in first class and 45.44 Euro in second.

I can't imagine that car rental for more than one day -- I don't suppose you are going to Bologna and returning to Milan on the same day -- would be only $52.80.

The countryside between Milan and Bologna is not, to my mind, very interesting.

P.S. Do <b>not</b> buy your tickets through Raileurope; they charge a hefty surcharge. As far as I can tell, on the one-way second-class ticket, the surcharge is about $10.00.

H F,

Train schedules and prices are at www.trenitalia.com.

You can buy your ticket as early as 60 days in advance.

They do not sell RT tickets. They are just 2x the price of a 1 way.

the raileurope cost was in USD, the other costs quoted were in euro.

I'm aware that you were quoting in US$. Euro 22.72 is US$28.37 according to one foreign currency exchange Web site.

38.00 - 28.37 = US$ 9.63, which is pretty darn close to US$ 10.

So sorry to have questioned your math Eloise.