Hello...
I am going to be in Italy and start in Rome, then to Florence, to Venice, to Paris.
I hear that the Eurail Pass will work for me.
What do you think?
If I pay for one, is that all I need to get around?
Once I get it, how do I use it? For example, to go from Rome to Florence, do I still need to book the train I need to take. Does this ticket work with ALL trains?
I am so confused --
I doubt you would save any money with a pass. Italian rail prices are cheap. Ridiculously cheap if you buy the discounted advance purchase tickets ( but these are nonrefundable and good only for a specific train at a specific time). Both of those train trips in Italy are on high speed trains, and I think in Italy you would be required to purchase a seat reservation IN ADDITION to a rail pass. Same thing for the Venice to Paris trip.
Which brings up the alternative of flying. That's a loooong train trip to Paris, and not cheap. Flying on a discount airline would definitely be faster, and likely less expensive.
I can't see the value of the EurailPass at this time. We were just in Europe. We often booked trains 1-2 days prior to the departure. It was easy, very easy. In addition, there were bargains. We were going from Munchen to Zagreb, which is usually 199 E for 2. However, if we chose to go at 4 PM instead of 5:30, the tickets were 99 E. Such a deal. The DB Reiseburo clerk helped us buy the tickets. I am sure that the Italian sites are just as helpful. As to train vs plane, I think that the tradeoff comes at about 6 hours. It's so easy to get on the train, and so comfortable, that I favor the trains for anything under 500 Km. We took a train from Frankfurt to Berlin, and I might have flown today. Same with Munich to Zagreb. Maybe a little too long.
Yes many come here often confused about the well promoted Eurail pass and buy them without understanding how they work.
in your case it seems you do no need it; You just need to book the long distance trains ( e.g. Rome to Florence ) in advance piece meal. http://www.trenitalia.com/
then you can fly to Paris from Italy easily cheaply.
The medium-speed and faster trains in both Italy and France require a paid seat reservation with a rail pass. The international TGV reservation price this year is about $36 in 2nd class and higher in 1st. The 2-country pass starts at a minimum of 4 travel days when you might only need 3 days. Single adults also pay more for a pass than do youths (under age 28) or people traveling together. So the pass doesn't end up saving money or adding convenience on your route.
If you buy separate train tickets either in advance or as you go, they'll already include reserved dates, times, and seat assignments but most won't be refundable or changeable. See more on our Italy and France rail pages.
Venice to Paris by train takes 10-12 hours and is not cheap, even if you book in mid-December to get the best rates for April travel. Flying from Venice to Paris for about $50 is often a better deal; see www.skyscanner.com.
"I hear that the Eurail Pass will work for me. "
Alas, you've heard wrong, which is why you're so confused! Whoever promoted Eurail Passes years ago was a genius; now that they're not a good deal for most travelers, they are still the only thing that anyone's heard of for European train travel. For your itinerary, you'll do much better with individual tickets.
As you have been told above, for your trips within Italy, there are two rail companies that make these journeys: Trenitalia http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en and Italo http://www.italotreno.it/en. Each has advance purchase non-refundable tickets that are cheaper, but full fare tickets are not that expensive. Any ticket for these routes - discount or full fare, bought in advance or on the day of travel, bought on line or in a station - includes the required reservation.
So, look at those websites for your travel dates. Use the Italian names of the main stations for each city:
Rome - Roma Termini
Florence - Firenze Santa Maria Novella (Firenze SMN)
Venice - Venezia Santa Lucia (Venezia SL)
If you pick a particular train and click on the details, you will see if there are discount tickets left and what the restrictions are. You can also see the full price. If the full price is acceptable to you, no need to buy in advance. If you can accept the restrictions on a discount ticket, book now for the savings. Either way works fine.
I agree with flying from Venice to Paris. Just note that some airlines use the "real" Venice airport (code VCE), and others use Treviso airport (TSF). Both can be a bit of a pain to reach, particularly for an early flight; research options for getting to the airport in time for your flight, before booking. Similarly, Paris has three airports. Orly (ORY) is smaller and closer to the city than Charles de Gaulle (CDG), but both work fine. Beauvais (BVA) is much farther from Paris. To find flight options, use Skyscanner: https://www.skyscanner.com/
It's easy to understand why some newbie travelers are so enthralled about Eurail Passes. After all they are sold here by RS and actually heavily promoted. It's actually very interesting to hear the RS mode of travel "through the back door" implying the simple and cheap method of travel and then hear and see the promotions of the totally overpriced, over touted and cumbersome-to-use Eurail Pass.
