trains in italy
Jun 3rd, 2009, 05:25 PM
#1
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trains in italy
Hello, I am pretty confused about the train system in Italy. I went on Eurorail.com and I don't understand if I am supposed to buy 2 things: reservations and a rail pass, or will it be enough to just book reservations. Do I need a railpass in addition to the reservations? also what about another website called: italiarail.com. How is that different?
Thank you so much.
Thank you so much.
Jun 3rd, 2009, 05:31 PM
#2
They are both resellers. The train company for Italy is Trenitalia and a railpass is almost never cost effective for Italy. Railpasses don't include seat reservations which are required on the fast trains (AV 20€, ES 15€, ICPlus 5€?) in Italy. On Trenitalia, your seat reservation is included in the price of the ticket.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...0080a3e90aRCRD
Just enter a date in the next week to get a price.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...0080a3e90aRCRD
Just enter a date in the next week to get a price.
Jun 3rd, 2009, 06:42 PM
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Yes--passes are better for multiple countries or when travel a number of trips over long distances. The average visitor to Italy will not travel enough to warrant a pass. And in most cases, you can wait until you arrive in Italy to purchase the tickets.
Jun 3rd, 2009, 06:53 PM
#6
Train travel is cheaper in Italy, but many times passes aren't economical. Often, in Italy, a bus can be a better solution for some cities since the bus station may be in the city center while the rail station is at the edge of the city (such as Siena). Many smaller cities in Italy only have bus service.
Many fast trains in other countries also require supplemental fees to ride or even for regular trains your pass just gets you on the train, it doesn't guarantee a seat. I think there is a lot of hype about passes being cheap and convenient from sources like Rick Steve (he sells them). A pass can make more sense/economical if you are traveling for more days (the more days the less the cost per day), longer distances, multi-country. With the dozens of budget airlines in Europe, you can often fly much cheaper than taking a train (especially between countries). For budget flights look at www.whichbudget.com or www.skyscanner.net
You can use a site like railsaver.com to see if a pass saves you money for most countries, but they don't take into account any ticket discounts/seats you can get on each countries rail website (such as France's sncf which has cheap prem fares in advance) if you purchase in advance. If you have a good idea of your itinerary, you can enter it and click (in lower left corner) only if a pass saves me money.
http://www.railsaver.com/railsaver.asp
Trenitalia also offers cheap advance tickets (subject to availability), but they don't readily take American credit cards and most people can't get their order to process.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD
Many fast trains in other countries also require supplemental fees to ride or even for regular trains your pass just gets you on the train, it doesn't guarantee a seat. I think there is a lot of hype about passes being cheap and convenient from sources like Rick Steve (he sells them). A pass can make more sense/economical if you are traveling for more days (the more days the less the cost per day), longer distances, multi-country. With the dozens of budget airlines in Europe, you can often fly much cheaper than taking a train (especially between countries). For budget flights look at www.whichbudget.com or www.skyscanner.net
You can use a site like railsaver.com to see if a pass saves you money for most countries, but they don't take into account any ticket discounts/seats you can get on each countries rail website (such as France's sncf which has cheap prem fares in advance) if you purchase in advance. If you have a good idea of your itinerary, you can enter it and click (in lower left corner) only if a pass saves me money.
http://www.railsaver.com/railsaver.asp
Trenitalia also offers cheap advance tickets (subject to availability), but they don't readily take American credit cards and most people can't get their order to process.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD
