Hello everybody, we are headed to Italy in a few weeks. Fly into Venice, then to Florence, then to Sorento and finally Rome. (we fly out of Rome) So my question is, what is the best way to buy rail passes and who should I get them through. Also, should I pre buy them or wait until we get to Venice and buy as we go. We are novices at this.

Thanks

It dosn;t sound like you'll be traveling enough to need a pass (whcih MUST be bought in the US). I would wait and buy tickets when you reach Italy to avoid paying the premium for US service companies. When you arrive in each city just buy tickets for the train to the next to meet your schedule.

ditto to nytraveler - railpass does not nearly come close to paying off on your itinerary - especially with the pass where you must pay a 15 euro supplement to ride the fastest Eurostar Italia (ES) trains that you will be taking.

can try www.trenitalia.com for online specials but these often sell out when they come on 60 or so days before.

Train travel is so cheap in Italy anyway - buy all your tickets at once in Venice if you want.

Took trains from Venice to Padova, then Verona, then back to Venice.

They never once checked for tickets on board.

Except for a very early morning train, they were packed.

Saw plenty of TrenItalia workers but they never bothered to check for tickets. Unlike in Switzerland (but they charge so much more, I guess it makes sense to enforce it).

Similarly, bought a 7-day Venice Card to cover Vaporetto and never saw them check anyone on board because they're so packed and you have hordes boarding and deboarding at some stops. Would cost them more to probably have turnstiles (would also reduce throughput) or more employees to check for tix.

Now that I think about it, in Rome, you're suppose to validate but the bus driver doesn't really check. Contrast that to London buses.

I hope these Italian transit systems are getting good cash flow that they don't really enforce against free riders.

Oh and some trains, it's only second-class cars. Even though in many cases, the difference in fare isn't that great. But second-class is fine, just packed.

I rode at least 30 trains in Italy in January and it seemed was checked on every one - i had a railpass and i have the punches on the dates where the conductor punches it. so ticket checks are done IME

I think the variance in checking may be due to a different region - in Veneto conductors may operate different than where i was - Naples-Rome-Florence-Bologna - believe rail workers are grouped by district and may work differently. and with the plethora of non-refundable non-changeable tickets on Italian trains now there may not be as much need to check.

Why not simply purchase point-to-point 2nd class tickets after you arrive Italy? You can buy them one at a time, or all at once at your first stop.

Go to EurAide.com! I found out about this on Rick Steves' website. I saved over $1200.00 (half the total cost) on our train travel with this company! My other quote was from AAA! No bargain there! EuAide was very helpful, also.
DEFINITELY pre-buy, as many trains require a reservation.

But your tickets in Italy or from Trenitalia - the Italian Train System. Most EuRail/Euraide/RailEurope type websites mark the tickets up and charge to mail them. You are not traveling enough to make a pass worthwhile. Much cheaper to buy from Trenitalia. Your travel routes will cost roughly:

Venice/Florence ES train about 30E 2nd cl (includes seats).

Florence/Sorrento (actually Naples - the train doesn't go to Sorrento) AV train 53E 2nd cl for two people. The Av (newer/fastest trains) 2for1 special must be purchased in advance (no more than 60 days)on Trenitalia. ES train 2nd cl is 48E for one person.

Naples/Rome- AV 2for1 33E 2n cl or ES 2n cl 25E.

Total for 1 person if you book both 2for1 is 73E or about $100 US. I think a 4 day Italy train pass is over $200. I thought I saw somewhere on the Trenitalia webiste that AV DueperUno specials must be booked 2 weeks in advance.

In Naples, you have to change to a local commuter/subway type of train which will cost about 5E.
www.trenitalia.com