I am planning to purchase a Trenitalia Rail Pass for a September 2005 trip. Do I have to make reservations when purchasing the pass, or can we make reservations without difficulty once in Italy? We want to remain somewhat flexible, but do have specific reservations at hotels in Venice, Florence and Lucca.

A &quot;pass&quot; <i>from</i> Trenitalia? or from RailEurope? I think that I am among any number of people who would say &quot;I'm not sure what you're talking about&quot;.

For the passes from RailEurope, I routinely recommend &quot;analyzing&quot; your itinerary on www.railsaver.com - - be sure you click on &quot;only if it saves me money&quot;.

Best wishes,

Rex

Thanks Rex. I checked the Railsaver.com website and came up with the same price that RailEurope and the Trenitalia website provided. Would you suggest I make definite reservations for the first leg of our trip or is a day or two in advance enough time to make reservations?

I can't imagine railsaver.com recommending a pass of any kind for these 3 cities. What pass was recommended? Venice-Florence ES train is 26E and Florence-Lucca is 4.70E. A 4 day Trenitalia pass is 174E.

Italian trains are cheap. Unless you plan to go all over Italy, spending days and nights on trains, it's not worth getting a pass. If you buy an ordinary ticket in Italy, it is valid for two months. Seat reservations are optional for Intercity trains and impossible for slower trains. On most routes, trains are frequent: from Venezia to Bologna, for example, they're at least every hour. You don't need to buy a pass to be flexible.

Dear AC,

For your listed itinerary, buy point-to-point tickets after you arrive in Italy.

You can get them at any train station or travel agent.

You don't need a pass of any sort. It will cost much, much more.

Passes are good only for a certain number of days in a period of time and cost too much.

If you plan on very long trips, a pass may save money. Also, if you ride the faster non-stop EuroStar (ES), you useually have to pay a supplement.

When I went, I took 6 trips in 5 days (3 on the ES) and spent right at $100.
A pass would have cost $200+ and would have been good only for three days.

Rex's idea is good, compare before you buy.