asbury10

My wife, daughter and I are headed to Italy in June, flying in to Rome. I have planned the itinerary with all hotel reservations for Rome, Florence, Venice, Varenna and Milan. We will be using trains. We need to go from Rome to Florence on a Sunday morning, Florence to Venice on a Wednesday, Venice to Varenna via Milan on a Friday, and Varenna to Milan on a Sunday, and to MXP for home flight. We want to be sure we have seats on morning trains, but is it necessary to make reservations here in the US before we arrive in Italy? It seems like raileurope's surcharge for buying point to point tickets here in the US is so high compared to getting them in Italy. However, I don't want to get there and then not be able to get seats or have to stand in line. First class point to point would be OK if second class is too crowded. If the regular Inter-City trains are not too much slower, that would be fine instead of Eurostar Italia. I also just read that rail strikes have been taking place on Sundays, monthly, threatening my plan for Rome-Florence. Any thoughts about these matters? Is it worth the peace of mind to go ahead and buy all tickets here, but at a much greater cost?

ira

Hi asbury,<BR> I sympathize with your dilemma.<BR><BR> First: have you gone to www.railsaver.com to see if a railpass might be better?<BR> Second: most posters have said that it is not necessary to make reservations from the US.<BR> Third: sometimes ES* is cheaper than IC trains.<BR> Finally: you are going to Europe. The unions go on strike on an irregular schedule, often for no particular reason other than to demonstrate that they can do it. Just accept the fact that your schedule will be disrupted at some point. Go have a drink and calm down.<BR>

Melissa1

I say don't worry about anything, come here to Italy, and buy the tickets when you arrive.<BR>I have never bought a ticket in advance and have never had a problem going anywhere. It's a rare day when a train is completly full. Once you get into town, have your hotel reccommend a good agency to get you all your tickets. It should be easy if you already have an exact itinerary. A good site to check out is www.raileurope.com . Their prices seem to be similar to those at the station. <BR>Strikes happen, so just be sure to ask your hotel before leaving if there is a strike that day. Not fun, but not something to ruin a vacation over.<BR>Anyway, I'm sure you won't have any problems sitting together. It may sound more difficult when you're far away, but it really is quite simple once you're here.<BR>Hope you enjoy your trip. Melissa

Alice_Twain

I doubt that a pass will give you better value. My suggestion is to buy tickets and reserve seats as you arrive in Italy. The very day you arrive, right at the Fiumicino airport, there is a ticket selling service where you can buy your tickets from. If you prefer to skip lines, than as you arrive in ROme itself look for a travel agency. Make very sure that you want to reserve seats and not just buy the tickets. That's all you need to do, Usually buying tickets a couple of days in advance is fine. Also, Intercity trains can be or not slower than Eurostars, depending on the line. Milano-Venice Intercity trains are only slighlty slower, but they are also more costly than Eurostars, while Milano-Rome Intercity are cheaper but hte trip takes 6-7 hours instead of 4 and a half hours.

Melissa1

I forgot to mention that the Eurostar is a nicer train than the Inter-City ones. More modern, and while first class is nice, 2nd is just as nice. The I-C trains tend to be older and stop much more. Raileurope.com has descriptions of the trains too.<BR>Ciao, Melissa

LarryJ

Here is a website that gives information regarding transportation strikes in Italy. It is updated regularly. It may be of some value in scheduling your trip.<BR><BR>http://www.seekitaly.com/news/from_roma.html<BR><BR>Regarding a rail pass: You would have to travel an awful lot in Italy to make a pass pay for itself. Train travel in Italy is cheap relative to the rest of Europe. I always buy point to point tickets in Italy and never, ever buy ahead of time from the USA. Much too expensive. You will save up to 30% by buying tickets in Italy. I usually buy my ticket at the station minutes before boarding the train. If it makes you feel more relaxed buy all your tickets in Italy the day you arrive. You will be fine. Trust me.<BR><BR>Second class is plenty good for me, much cheaper than first class and on the ES (Eurostar Italia) trains it's very comparable to first class.<BR><BR>Have a great trip.<BR>Larry J

GAC

Reserve your seats one or two days prior to your date of departure. Don't pay a surcharge by reserving in the US. Not necessary. Remember that Rome to Florence Eurostars depart hourly, as do Venice to Milan Intercity trains, whereas Florence to Venice Eurostars run every two hours. Milan to Varenna and return are on local trains, for which no reservation is possible. When travelling on Eurostar, you automatically purchase a reserved seat. On Intercity, you must specifically request to purchase a reservation (3 Euros per seat). Between Venice and Milan on Intercity, I would suggest reserving a seat if travelling in second class, since some of these trains, on certain days and at certain hours, are jammed with passengers standing in the corridor. Fridays and weekends can get crowded. On Eurostar, second class is absolutely fine as long as you're under six feet in height (leg room)