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Train: Germany - Italy

Posted by (Lone Tree, Colorado (adjacent to Highlands Ranch)) on

In September, spending 7 days seeing Bavaria -- then to Tuscany Region of Italy for 7 days.
Final day/night in Germany sees us taking the 1 hour train ride from Mittenwald to Innsbruck, Austria on DB Bahn.

Question: Going by train -- without advance reservations -- from Innsbruck to Florence -- is that as simple as going to the train station in Innsbruck and buying the cheapest 2nd class tickets ...... any need to worry about the fact -- Innsbruck to Florence -- you're passing thru 2 countries, and possibly different train systems, without a multi-country rail pass?

RS train map says cost/time from Innsbruck/Florence is $95 and 8 hours -- is that still about right??
Thanks --- Jim/Lone Tree, CO.

Posted by
32801 posts

You can't turn up and buy "the cheapest 2nd class tickets". They will have all been sold in advance.

You CAN turn up and buy the most expensive 2nd class tickets.

Posted by
20143 posts

Believe it or not, that's the way it works. Millions of Europeans do it every year. Buy ticket from one country to another and just get on the train and go. Usually they switch train crews at the border. You might be able to beat the $95 price with advance purchase nonrefundable tickets. Right now, Trenitalia is showing a base fare price for 2 at 165 euro, which would be about that at the current exchange rate.

This route shows you boarding a EuroCitiies train that runs between Munich and Bologna, then changing to a Freccia train (Trenitalia's brand name high speed train) to Florence.

Posted by
16893 posts

Base fare = full fare = the price represented (and rounded) on Rick's map. You would not expect to pay any more than that in the station unless 2nd class gets filled up. The Freccia train on the second leg has more than two classes of service, with the next "upgrade" only about €10 more per person.

Posted by
8889 posts

Jim, Sam makes some valid points. Go to a station, buy a ticket and get on a train. It's that simple. Many posters have it in their minds that trains are complicated. They are simple, a lot simpler than airports and planes. You can buy in advance and get discounts on long-distance routes, but you don't have to. If multiple train companies are involved they will split the ticket money between them, but that isn't your problem.

"you're passing thru 2 countries, and possibly different train systems, without a multi-country rail pass?". A rail pass is something invented for overseas tourists who think trains are too complicated otherwise. Normal travellers just buy a ticket.

Posted by
19099 posts

German Rail gives the full fare price from Innsbruck to Bologna, 2nd class, on an EC (a German train, ergo fares outside Germany) at 54,-€ and the base fare, on the Trenitalia website, for Bologna to Florence is 24,-€. Total 78,-€, or $87.40 today.

Rick's rule-of-thumb fares were probably calculated when the Euro was higher than today, but it seems to be headed up.

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