My husband and I will be doing limited train travel in Italy (Rome to Venice, Venice to Lake Como, and Lake Como to Milan). Should we purchase a pass before we leave to Italy? The Fodor's book references an Italian Flexi Rail Card Saver which is for a limited number of travel days within one month - is this the way to go? Thanks is advance for your suggestions!

I would be surprised if a pass is a good bargain for you - - you can check it out on www.railsaver.com<BR><BR>So often, simple point to point tickets are the better priced option for an itinerary like yours.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

I second what Rex stated. I've debated the point (with myself) numerous times in that past, and I've usually found that for me a pass is just not economical. In addition to railsaver.com, I would recommend visiting www.fs-online.com which is the Italian railway website and seeing what your point-to-point tickets would cost. This will give you something to compare the pass cost to.

Minor point:<BR><BR>It's fs-on-line.com (note the second hyphen) or fs-online.it (only one hyphen) or www.trenitalia.com<BR><BR>All the same website.<BR>

I know this is a bit second-hand, since I read it in Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door, but you might want to check on the Italian Kilometric pass. If they still offer it, it's good for up to 5(?) people to travel up to 3,000km in Italy, and it's fairly cheap. I think Steves put it at around $150, but that was in 1999 or 2000.<BR><BR>Anyone know if these rail passes still exist? I'm thinking one would be perfect for a trip I'm taking, as well.

Virtually certain that the kilometric pass has been discontinued.<BR>

Doh! That was a good deal!

In any case kilometric pass was not very conveniennt. It worked ponly on the slower and less comfortable Espresso, Interregionale, Regionale and Diretto trains, while on any other train you had to purchase separately a &quot;cambio servizio&quot; (suplement) and seat reservation, which ranged from 3 euro per person to over 40 euro per person, depending on where you were headed. besides, it was only convenient for those who were to fully use it, travelling for at least 3000 km (on the slowere train). I used it once for travelling every 15 days from Milano to Bergamo with 2 companions and for over a year, but never again.