1st or 2nd class railpass in SUMMER

Don't forget that there is a 10E supplemental fee tacked on to every high-speed train ticket when you use a railpass. Many of your segments described above will most likely be on the nicer high-speeds. Second, and I'm only guessing, the A/C comment may refer to 2nd class on the local Regionale trains and not the high-speeds. The Eurostars are nicely air-conditioned in both classes. And, this may be changing on the Regionales as well with the new Regionale Veloce trains. You will definitely be on a Regionale train while in the CT and possibly on a segment out of the CT to Venice.

I was looking at the trenitalia website and for the trip from Naples to Vernazza there would be two supplements to pay as you would take a high speed train to back to Rome, 10 euro supplement, and an IC train, 3 euro supplement, to La Spezia then a regional train to Vernazza. That's an additional 13 euros each for that trip alone. For the trip from Vernazza to Venice it will be basically the same thing, a regional train, an IC train with a three euro supplement and a high speed train with a ten euro supplement. That's another 13 euros each along with the 10 euros for the original trip to Naples. So you're looking at 36 additional euros each on top of the cost of the rail pass. As for how far in advance to book, trenitalia usually has a schedule change at the beginning of the summer so you may not be able to book tickets until after the change. It really depends on when you're going. Donna

To follow above suggestions. Discounts are available when purchasing in advance. And where did you obtain your p2p pricing of your tickets? Did you go to trenitalian.com? There is no advantage to booking early other than discounts but that lock you into tickets that may not be changeable.

I looked at trenitalia.com for p2p ticket prices (they are only booking through May right now. My travel dates are July 16 (Rome-Naples ); July 23 (Naples-Vernazza); and July 26 (Vernazza-Venice) to be exact. If there are surcharges in addition to the cost of the railpasses; it probably is not economical for me unless the cost of the p2p tickets are more expensive in July (as opposed to the prices I saw for May)? When WILL I be able to book tickets for July? I'll be able to get the 2nd Class SAVER tickets since I'll be traveling with my family of 5. Actually my daughter (under 11) will be half price and there is a youth ticket for my son who is 13. No senior rates for my mom?

Once the new schedules post in June you'll be able to buy your tickets. The prices and schedule won't change much, if at all, but until then you won't be able to book. After the schedule change you can check to see if there are any mini fares you can buy. These will save you a ton of money. Depending on the train and the time of day you can get fares to Naples for as little as 17 euros each on an ES high speed train or 32 euros on the Ultra high speed train. This includes the reservation fees. I would double check all the fares that may be possible before buying a rail pass. Donna

The advantage of buying tickets instead of passes is that you can pick and choose which trains you want to travel in first class.

Thanks for the info. (Donna) what's a mini fare? Are they on off hour train travel; we'll be wanting to travel in the mornings? Will they be posted along with all the other fares on Trenitalia?