Train Tickets: Pass or Poin to Point or?
 

I am sooo confuse on what "type" of train ticket to get ; eurorail pass or what....Traveling with my husband and 11 yo daughter. Flying in to Milan on 7/29/10. Stay in Milan for 2 days and here is the start of our "train ride" experience:
1. Milan to Venice - train ( Venice stay is 2N/3D)
2. Venice to Florence - train ( Florence stay is 2N/3D)
* around Florence thinking of either buying the hop in/ hop out ?
* taking a day trip to Pisa - again would like to take the train on this day
3. Florence to Rome - train ( Rome stay 4N/5D)
* 4 days in Rome - either take the train around the city or again, hop in/hop out bus?
- if taking train around rome, is it bette to just buy the ticket on the train stations? Is this what is called point to point?

From Rome will fly to Nice:

1. Nice - staying for 4N/5D
* would like the possibility of seeing Cannes and Monte Carlo
2. Nice to Lyon - train
* stay 2N/3D in Lyon and just relax and explore the city
3. Lyon to Paris - train - this is our second time in Paris so we kinda know of where we want to go and how to get there.

All in all, the 3 of us will be taking 6 train rides to connect to major cities...In Italy from Milan to Venice to Florence [ to Pisa ( Day trip and back to Florence) ] to rome. In France, from Nice to lyon to Paris. We would like to take the train to enjoy the view and relax. We don't like to rush-rush to see everything. We like to see few but really enjoy them. We like to do our train travel on 1st class. Question now is: what should I get? if I buy a pass, can I use the pass to book on a TGV travel from Nice to Lyon and from Lyon to Paris?

I have booked all our accomodations except in Nice. That is another forum question from me. Please help anyone....

Thank you so much!

You need to price this out and compare to the cost per day of the pass. Florence/Pisa is only 10€ round trip. You won't be riding trains around Rome although you might use the metro, but that wouldn't be included on a pass. Your tickets between the other cities in Italy would range from 30-45€. A pass will likely cost more than that per day and it won't include the mandatory seat reservations required in Italy (10€ each per train). You can price the Italy trains on Trenitalia (their prices include seats).
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

Your group of 3—you, husband, 11-year-old daughter—will be eligible for Family ticket discounts.

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

When you enter your cities on Trenitalia, select your train, you will get a list of fares. The family discount will not be showing. You must select your 2 adults and 1 child before the family discount selection pops up.

Milan/Venice ES train for 3 = 48.80€
Florence/Venice AV/ES train for 3 = 67.20€
Florence/Rome AV/ES train for 3 = 70.40€

Add in your Florence/Pisa and your total train costs for point-to-point tickets in Italy will be about 220€ for the three of you.

In Rome, you might want to get the 3 day Roma Pass for 25€. It's a 3 day transport pass plus admission to your first two sites (3 consecutive days) with discounts after the free ones. Best value use of the pass is for the Borghese (regular price 8.50+2 reserve fee - reservations required - must call to make for pass) and the Colosseum/Forum/Palantine (regular price 12€ - counts as one admission of the pass and can be revisited over the three days). I don't think there is a child rate for the Roma Pass.
http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?l=en&tid=2

Thank you for the information. Now, it finally made sense. I read Eurorails information and the choices nor offers does not make sense. I did a comparison between trenitalia and a pass from eurorail...by far, getting them from trenitalia is way cheaper than a pass because of our intentions of how many and when to use the train. Again, thank you kybourbon and ellenem.

In first class, highly recommended IME in Italy the pass may well pay off - in second class perhaps not i suspect.

First class has loads more room for luggage - larger seats and you often get a cuppa of java and a pastry to boot - in all a more leisurely trip

even though second class on the best trains is OK don't get me wrong just that first class you often have IME of four decades of Italian rail travel empty seats by you - i nearly always have room to put my bags right next to me and not have to like in second class fend for space in the often crowded luggage racks.

If you book your Nice-Lyon and Lyon-Paris tickets ASAP at www.tgv-europe.com, you still may be able to get discount fares. To keep the site in English and to avoid being bumped to the Rail Europe site which doesn't offer discount fares choose Great Britain as your country of residence. Pick up your tickets at any SNCF station in France.

svarcue - The tickets I priced for you were 2nd class (AV/ES/ESCity trains) as I don't see much difference on the fast AV/ES trains between 1st and 2nd, especially for short rides. Your longest ride in Italy is only 2 1/2 hours (Milan/Venice). Here's pictures of 1st and 2nd class on these trains.
http://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.h...0trains%20like

bookmarking

kybourbon - perfect timing! I was just about to book our trains per your recommendation. Veru VALUABLE information. thanks again.

TimS - thank you for the tip. I booked it ASAP and actually saved $200++ from TGV-Europe rather than Eurorail for the exact same train schedule. Thank you again!!!!

kybourbon - perfect timing! I was just about to book our trains per your recommendation. Veru VALUABLE information. thanks again>

yes indeedy IMO a very valuable resource and one who tirelessly helps folks not versed in the nitty-gritty of Italian trains and various fares and TimS in other countries too.