We are travelling to Italy this summer. We plan on taking a train from Venice to Florence; Florence to Rome and finally Rome to Varenna then we want to drive or take a train into Switzerland. Which is the best way to go? Purchase a rail europe pass for 4 days of travel or purchase individual trips? We want to be economical but want our travel to be smooth. What can we expect in the summer months? What is the newer train company Italo like?

You are making this trip too roundabout. Have you already booked flights? If not, fly into Rome, train next to Florence, then Venice, then Varenna and on to Switzerland. Are you planning to fly home from Switzerland.

You can book advance purchase discount tickets online for the fast trains in Italy. You can probably find tickets between Rome/Florence and Florence/Venice for about 19€ on Trenitalia or 20€ on Italorail.

I can't see a railpass being economical for this as it doesn't include the mandatory seat reservations (10€ each) for the fast trains.

If for some reason, you can't pre-book your tickets (I had nothing but trouble with Trenitalia, but it may have changed in the last two years), and your first stop is Venice, there's a nice travel agency just past St. Mark's square. I simply printed out the trains I wanted and walked in. I think in addition to the tickets, they charged about 3euro for booking my tickets from Venice to Florence, Florence to Naples and Naples to Rome. I don't remember the name of the agency, but they spoke fluent English and it was really easy. It took about 30 minutes including waiting time to get it done. Stay away from the railpass.

Rome to Florence: (Venice-Florence very similar):

1) Railpass option €55-€70 per day + €10 reservation fee. 1st class.

2) Point to point bought at station: €44 2nd class, €63 1st class.

3) Point to point advance-purchase fares (limited refund & changes): from €19 in 2nd/standard class, from €39 in 1st/business class.

Not a rocket science decision!

Do you need flexibility, or are happy to book in advnace and commit with no changes allowed? Do you really want 1st class, or is 2nd class fine for you (it is for most people)

Oh, and the point to points include reservation. www.trenitalia.com

A 4-day saverpass costs $235 in 2nd class and $288 in 1st class - that makes $72 plus $13 e for seat charge = $85/day or about 64 euros a day nogt the 70 euros Man in Seat 61 calculates and if you pay in euros you also have to figure in credit card charges of up to 3% for foreign transaction fees. So in first class a pass may indeed save a few bucks - 2nd class passes are not that much less so they are not a good deal.

IME - pay the extra for first class on the trip of a lifetime - second class is not a cattle car but first class IME is much more relaxed - based on riding and observing zillion of Italian trains.

For lots of great info on Italian trains check out not only Man in Seat 61's coimmercial site - www.seat61.com but also www.ricksteves.com and Biking is nice but with any amount of luggage impossible. For Italy Railpass prices click on www.seat61.com's commercial link to raileurope.com. Someties there are specials on Italian railpasses where you get an extra day free, etc. so check about that always as can change the calculations.

We followed Man in Seat 61's advice and pre-booked our seats all through Italy last month (April 2013). Second class was fine with us. Seat reservations were included in the price.

Your boarding passes (which we printed at home before arriving in Italy) aren't checked until you are on board.

Cost from 19 to 29 Euros per trip each person.

Not sure what we would have done in the case of strike, but we were really happy with the way our train travel panned out last month.

Can't help with Italo. We did everything with Trenitalia. We were glad we had seat reservations - a couple of times the trains were packed and it was spring not summer.

Don't think you can go wrong with Man in Seat 61!!

I too have become a fan of the man-in-seat-61, but am a bit surprised at his endorsement of buying tickets via Italiarail.

I guess I was naive and assummed they inflated the prices---like Raileurope---but that does not seem to be the case. Have others used Italiarail, and did you like the expereince? It seems too easy---what is the catch?

Thank you very much for the great advice. You have all been very helpful.

bob I actually prefer bahn.de for just about everything, but I always research with the man.

We traveled around Italy on Trenitalia in July 2011. Despite the holiday we:
- never had trouble getting seats / reservations
- found the timetables more extensive than those offered by EuropRail
- found the tickets were cheaper, and as we bought them when we needed them, more flexible.

Just make sure plan what you are doing. And if you speak Italian or can get help from Italian speakers, it is a bonus.

Italiarail charges a small fee (a few dollars) to book, but they offer the same discounts as Trenitalia. The problem is you can't change a ticket with them like you can on Trenitalia. I would not use them to book.

Don't confuse Italiarail (a booking agent for Trenitalia in the US and charges in dollars) with Italorail, the new Italian train company that started running trains in Italy two years ago. Italo has their own trains (new) between the major cities only in Italy and you can book directly with their website (can purchase through mid-Dec. right now).

http://www.italiarail.com/

http://www.italotreno.it/EN/Pages/default.aspx

A poster a few days ago needed to change a Trenitalia ticket she had purchased through Italiarail. Had she purchased on Trenitalia, she could have logged on and changed her ticket to the later train she wanted. Since she purchased on Italiarail, no way to access her ticket online or change it(Italiarail states no changes even on the full fare tickets). Buyer beware.

Grazie ky---that is a very good point.
BTW, I always think of you when I pour myself a drink of Makers Mark---my fav for 30 years.

Blasphemy Bob! Elijah Craig is my ancestor. Suggest you upgrade your bourbon choice immediately. EC single barrel.

http://www.bardstownwhiskeysociety.c...gle-barrel.php

Kentucky bourbon knows her bourbon IMO!

Prost!

Hmmm !
May have to check it out.