Rachellia

I have read in some places that my Eurail pass for 9 days train travel in Italy, Austria, and Germany, may not cover all trains in Italy.

Does anyone one know which Italian trains railpasses typically do not cover?

The connections I need to make are: Rome-Naples, Naples-Pompeii (I heard the Circumvesuvia train to the excavations was not covered), Rome-Orvieto, Orvieto-Assisi, and Assisi-Florence.

Should I expect that my railpass won't cover Regionale trains in-general, or should I be okay?

ira

Hi R,

Your railpass will cover all R and IC Trenitalia trains.

The Naples/Pompei link is on the Circumvesuviana commuter train. It is not covered.

If you want to take the high-speed and reliable ES* trains, you will have to get a seat reservation - about 9E each.

Are you sure that you need a railpass? You can get a partial refund.

Enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and click "only if it saves money".

PalenQ

EuroStar Italia seat reservations were costing 15 euros a seat, flat fee, in January when i was there with a pass.

5 euros on InterCityPlus trains

passes cover all Trenitalia trains, including regional milk trains.

But do not cover non-Trenitalia lines such as CircumVesuvian, CircumEtna, some lines of Nord Milano trains such as Milano-Como (one line - the mainline Milan-Como is covered) and some trains in the Todi-Perugia area and a few others. All trains not covered seem to be dirt cheap - like 3 euros i think Naples-Sorrento. If you have any rail questions you can always call BETS (800-441-2387) for definitive answers - even if you have bought your pass elsewhere. Passes are rarely a good deal if just in Italy where train fares are still a fraction of what they are in other countries such as Germany and Austria, where the Eurail Select Pass good in Germany, Austria and Italy often is a great deal. No trains in Germany or Austria charge supplements with passes nor require reservations so you can just hop on. (Practically non - the few ICESprinter trains in Germany do but you'd rarely encounter them and there will be alternatives just as convenient.

ira

>EuroStar Italia seat reservations were costing 15 euros a seat, flat fee, in January when i was there with a pass.<

Thanks for the update, PQ.

That's quite a hike.

Rachellia

Hey Ira!

Thanks for the "do i need a railpass" link, that should be handy on future trips.

Yes, for this trip I need it, as it will not only cover those connections, but also Florence-Salzburg, Salzburg-Munich, and Munich-Leipzig. It's going to be a pretty crazy trip in terms of all the rail travel!

PalenQ

Still some of those regional Italian trips you have outlined are so cheap (Rome-Orvieto; Orvieto-Assisi and Assisi-Florence) you probably don't want to buy an extra day on your Eurail Select Pass to use on them - just the longer Italian trips.

Steve_James

Hi PalQ - 'EuroStar Italia seat reservations were costing 15 euros a seat, flat fee, in January when i was there with a pass.'

That won't have been just the 'seat reservation' charge. A large part of it will have been a 'supplement' for using ES trains.

I believe the reservation charge for ES and IC trains is still a standard € 3.

Steve

PalenQ

You're probably right, but what i meant was to ride a Eurostar train with a pass you must pay a supplement of 15 euros that includes a seat reservation.

ICplus 5 euros.