Help with trains!!

We've priced out Eurail passes vs a la carte for several previous trips and never found the former to be a savings. Buying the high speed tickets in advance usually amounted to a good saving. If you aren't used to the European rail systems, The Man in Seat 61 website is extremely informative.

https://www.seat61.com/

Unfortunately you do need to run the numbers to see if the rail pass is cost effective. At one time it was a no-brainer but not anymore. Most of the rail systems offer advance purchase, discount ticket that match or exceed the savings from a rail pass. In addition a rail pass can require a seat reservation at an additional cost. Probably the main advantage for a rail pass is the flexibility it can provide. Have you reviewed Seat61.com?

I have used the trains in France, Switzerland and Italy. I prefer to book directly through the primary company, they offer lower prices 3 - 4 months out, you are able to select your seat location for the most part, and sometimes the First Class is as low as the Second Class. This way if there is an issue I can deal directly with them at the train station. Most of their sites offer an App which provides a copy of your ticket, departure information and sometimes track numbers assigned for arrival & departure. Folks have used a Third Party vendor, Trainline.eu, with success.

a rail pass can require a seat reservation at an additional cost

Doesn't look like you will be using German Rail, but they have one of the best reservation policies I know of. Few, if any, DB trains require reservation, and the cost is only for reserving a seat. Most, if not all, regional trains don't even reserve seats; they are only for high speed trains, and they are not required, although they are often a good idea. Reservations for second class is 4.50€ for a single seat, 9,-€ for your entire family. It's 5,90€ and 11,80€ in first class, but advance purchase tickets, both flexible price and savings fares, come with seat reservation.

Not so good in Italy, France, and on Thalys. These system require rail pass holder to pay for what they call a "reservation", Although these "reservations" do include a seat assignment, they are in reality a supplement for riding in a train that the systems consider to be too good for rail pass holders. Full price tickets for these trains come with a seat reservation.

No, the Underground (aka the Tube) in London, and the Metro in Paris, are not part of the train systems so they are not covered by Eurail. There are other convenient ways to cover those costs - Oyster Card in London is one such option.

I think you're hoping that the Eurail Pass would simplify things for you, but the reality is that its more complicated than jumping on the train and flashing your pass, as it may have been in the past. So I wouldn't even consider that.

nursejenn,

None of the rail trips you're taking are difficult, so with good planning everything should work out well. You can research trips using the Bahn.de (German rail website) or the individual country rail websites You won't be able to buy tickets for the places you're travelling on the Bahn site.

I haven't checked the costs but I doubt very much if a Railpass would be a cost effective option. You're correct that Railpasses do not cover the subway systems in cities. I would highly recommend having a look at the Rick Steves guidebooks for the places you'll be visiting as there's lots of information there on buying tickets, as well as some potentially expensive caveats to be aware of. One example is that when using Metro tickets in Paris, you must retain these until you exit the system, or you can face hefty fines. That also applies to Vaporetto tickets in Venice, which must be validated before use or again, hefty fines.

A few thoughts on each of your rail trips......

• London to Paris - it's a good idea to buy tickets well in advance. The website is https://www.eurostar.com/rw-en . Note that you'll need to arrive at least an hour before departure, as you'll be clearing French border control in London. The train departs London St. Pancras and arrives at Gare du Nord.
• Paris to Basel - That trip is via high speed TGV and you'll depart from Paris Est and arrive at Basel SBB. There will be at least one change. You can either buy tickets locally in Paris, use SNCF or a reseller such as Trainline.com (which sells tickets for several rail networks in Europe, but not for Switzerland AFAIK).
• Lugano to Venice - some trains on this route have one change but there are a few direct trains with a travel time of ~4H:10M. The arrival station will be Venezia Santa Lucia. You can buy tickets in Lugano or at SBB.ch. Note that the tickets will come with compulsory seat reservations.
• Venice to Rome - this is a very quick and easy trip using high speed Freccia or Italo trains. If you're willing to commit to a specific departure, advance tickets can save money. You can use either rail network... whichever provides the best price and timing for your Itinerary. You can buy tickets online at Trenitalia.com or Italo.com, or at the Trainline website listed above. These trains also have compulsory reservations which will specify the Carozza (coach number) and Posti (seat numbers) where you must sit. Note that tickets for express trains in Italy are specific to train, date and departure time, and if you board the wrong train by mistake you may face hefty fines which are collected on the spot!

You may find this website on Rome tickets to be helpful - https://help-tourists-in-rome.com/en/arrival-transportation/underground/rome-metro-tickets-and-prices-for-the-metro-in-rome-tips-information/ . If you buy an individual Metro ticket from a machine, these have to be validated before use. If you buy a daily pass, these are usually validated before the first trip only.

I'm sure that I've forgotten something but it's late and I'm starting to "fade". If you have any other questions, post another reply here.

The Eurail Pass is no longer the care-free, economical way to travel that it once was. What I found from multiple trips to Europe is that it only pencils out in a one to two month itinerary if you are taking trains vast distances through multiple countries and you are changing locations every 2-3 days. If you want to slow down the pace after a couple weeks of blitz travel, the savings of the pass is lost.
For your itinerary, you've received good advice to buy the Eurostar tickets way in advance when you can get adult tickets for $76. Your children's tix may cost less. www.Eurostar.com is the site to look at.
For France, I buy second-class TGV tickets 90-120 days in advance when the adult fare is below 25 euros. These tickets are refundable and changeable. Do this for your Paris to Basel leg.

In Italy, you will be able to do the same for the Milan to Venice and Venice to Rome legs which have high-speed trains
whose seats go on sale 6 months in advance at deeply discounted prices for the non-refundable tickets These can be as low as $19 and $39 for those two trips respectively for adults and half that for children or $180 total. The Lugano to Milan trip takes a little more than 1 hour and can be as little as $13. For an idea of fares and costs I take a quick look at www.TheTrainline.com. You can then buy them at www.Italiarail.com .
That leaves Switzerland- one of the most expensive countries in the world. You will need to look at what the true cost of renting a car in Switzerland is going to be with insurance, gasoline, the cost of parking and a vignette-- the decal you must buy to drive on Swiss roads .Booking a car 6 months in advance through a site such as www.RentalCars.com or similar will yield some savings. The adult train ticket from Basel to Lauterbrunnen in standard class starts at $76. For children it's about $42. The fare from Lauterbrunnen to Lugano is $101. So, just with those two legs of the itinerary the costs are at the point where a flexible Swiss Travel Pass sold by The Swiss national train company, SBB, is going to be the way to go. The Travel Pass covers all train travel and can be used for 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 non-consecutive days during a month. The passes also give you 50% discounts in the Berner Oberland for the gondolas and cogwheel trains up to Murren and Wengen from Lauterbrunnen and more discounts on the scenic mountain trips. Many museums and boat rides on the lakes are free with the pass during the days you validate it. A car rental is not going to help with any of that. And here's the kicker-- children up to 16 years of age (1-15-year-olds) travel for free when the parents have passes.

The Rick Steves book on Switzerland gives a detailed explanation of all the Swiss Travel Pass covers and there's an excellent illustration of transport costs in the Berner Oberland.

The price of an Adult Flexible Swiss Travel Pass in 2022 covering 3 days is 232 Swiss francs; for 4 days it is 281 Swiss francs; for 6 days it is 359 Swiss francs. There also are 8 day and 15-day passes available. The website for the Swiss national train company is www.SBB.ch
Finally, after buying the least expensive non-refundable airfare and non-refundable train tickets, I buy travel insurance for medical coverage and travel expenses to return home in the event I have an accident or serious illness. In that case, the non-refundable ticket costs are reimbursed. www.InsureMyTrip.com has the scoop on travel insurance.
Have a great trip!

Unless you have multiple trains a day, the pass is probably not worth it. As was stated, www.seat61.com is a great resource as is www.rome2rio.com. I know this isn't a popular suggestion but raileurope.com is the easiest (and sometimes the same price) way to book trains from the U.S. Pack light!

The train station in Lugano is pretty small. (One of my best friends lives there.)

There's a bus that can take you from the train station down to Milan Malpensa Airport in about 45 minutes.

You can connect to the Milan main train station and catch a train there over to Venice.

Lugano has regular rail service to various locations and (IMO) that would be the best and most comfortable way to travel. On the current schedules, there's an EC departure from Lugano to Venezia Santa Lucia at 08:32, arriving 12:42 (time 4H:10M with no changes). That's a very easy trip.

The station in Lugano is on the side of a hill above the town, but is easily accessible via Funicular - https://www.ticino.ch/en/commons/details/Funicular-Lugano-Train-Station/92040.html . You could also use a taxi from your hotel to the station. It's a short trip so not too costly.