Still in the early stages of planning a trip to Austria & Northern Italy in May/June '09. There will be 2-4 of us traveling together for about 3 weeks. This is the plan: Vienna-St. Polten-Salzburg-Venice-Torino-Aquino via Rome(ending here because we have family there). We might add another small city (or 2) in Italy. My question -- should we get a rail pass or would it be cheaper to just buy tickets for the regional trains as we need them?
Posted by
Pearland, TX, USA
852 posts
Hi Sarah,
Your analysis of the costs might get a good start by clicking on "Railpasses" at the top of this RS web site. You will find the personnel at RS very helpful in this.
All the best,
P.
Posted by
Hendersonvlle, NC
486 posts
Go to raileurope.com (but never buy a ticket from them). Put in your city pairs and you will find the approximate worst case fares for your itinerary. Add them up. Then look at the railpass choices. Likely you will find that the railpass is not worth it.
If it isn't worth it when using their site, it definitely is not worth it if you plan well. e.g. Try getting Amica fares in Italy or doing first class (if that is what you choose) only for long distance trains and using second class for short runs.
Look at flex-passes that allow you x number of days in a period and look at your most expensive trips and see if the railpass is cheaper for them with individual tickets for the other runs.
Posted by
Bonne Terre, Missouri, USA
29 posts
I agree with the above posts. Check some websites to see if you are better off with a pass or not. If it's close, I would recommend purchasing point to point tickets. I went on a 4 week trip to Europe with a 4 country railpass. There were many "extra fees" involved with the railpass (mandatory reservations, etc.) that I failed to add in when I did a cost analysis. Plus I was paranoid about losing my railpass. I'm over 26, so I had to purchase the first class railpass. If you're under 26, you may be better off with a railpass (it's cheaper).