train travel
 

We are flying into Rome for 3 days then we need to get to the Amalfi coast for 4 days then to florence and then to Barga for a week then we need to get back to Pisa for a flight to Spain.
PLEASE can anyone help , what is the best way to go and the best train pass for us??
Estrella

If you're going to spend a whole week in Barga, I suspect you'll need to rent a car. You can drive the car to the airport in Pisa.

Where on the Amalfi coast will you be staying? How you get there depends.

In general, you'll want to use the train elsewhere in Italy. Probably a train pass is not adviseable. That's the conventional wisdom, but I'm not up on the latest train fares.

we are staying at Villa Rina it is within walking distance of the coast.and in Barga we are staying at Casa Fontina and they also said we would realy not need a car being it is close to town. We really have no idea!
Estrella

Are these the places where you have reservations?:

http://www.casalevillarena.it/

http://www.casa-fontana.com/

our place on the Amalfi coast is bed and breakfast Villa Rina
and the one in Barga is correct.

My mistake. You mean this place?:

http://www.amalfivillarina.it/

I am not sure there is an easy way to get to Barga by public transport without changing. You can probably fly from Naples into Pisa, get a bus to Lucca, then the bus on from Lucca to Barga. Alternately Train to Florence, then train to Lucca and then on to the bus.

The problem with taking a train into Lucca, is it then puts you some distance from the bus depot. It may be possible to take a bus from either Pisa or Florence to Lucca, so at least your bus ends up at the same place as the next departs.

A train pass would almost certainly cost more than point-to-point tickets, particularly since some of your trips will be on inexpensive Regionale trains.

Rome to the Villa Rina is by train (Trenitalia) to Salerno, then bus (Sita Bus) or boat (Cooperativa Sant'Andrea) to Amalfi. Train Salerno to Florence to Barga to Pisa Aeroporto.

P.S. The train station in Barga is not very close to Barga Vecchia; Vai Bus from Lucca will probably take you closer. And Lazzi Bus will take you from Lucca to Pisa airport.

1. Use www.trenitalia.com (the Italian railways website) to find train times Rome-Naples/Salerno & Naples/salerno-Florence. You want Rome Satzione Termini, Florence SMN and Napoli Centrale, these are all central. Booking opens 90 days ahead, you can't book until reservations open.

2. There's no station at Amalfi or for that matter Prainao or Positano. Either takea bus from Salerno to Positano & Amalfi (every hour or two), or a local Circumvesuviana (non-Trenitalia) train (every 30 minutes) Naples (Porta Garibaldi station, right next door to Naples Centrale) to Sorrento (journey time 1 hour) then a bus to Amalfi (the local train Naples-Sorrento calls at Pompeii, you'd be crazy not to stop off and see that!). More details and links to bus operator in the Amalfi Coast section on www.seat61.com/Itay.htm.

3. Passes typically work out at around 50 euros per day, plus 15 euro passholder surcharge for every Eurostar Italia fast train. Rome-Florence only costs 39 euros or so full-fare, even bought on the day, including Eurostar Italia reservation, if booked at www.trenitalia.com. You can get a 15%, 30% or even 60% discount if you pre-book. So passes seldom make financiual sense unlss you plan to commute between Milan and Sicily. The only issue is getting trenitalia.com to accept your credit card, some it does, some it doesn't.

The above prices are a bit out of date. Rome/Florence is 44€ (2nd cl)when purchased online from Trenitalia (seat reservation included). Online prices are 5% discount. Seat reservations cost 10€ for passes which are mandatory for AV, ES, IC and ICPlus trains.

A whole week in Barga, with only the bus to do excursions. Well, that is slower travel.

As for reaching Amalfi, as well as the bus from Salerno, there are ferries (traghetti) from Salerno in season.