Advice on buying train and museum passes

Question: Who makes out on passes? Answer: The pass peddler. Example: Buy a pass for twenty-seven things/rides. Do sixteen and have a heart attack trying to work them all in. Then do the math. Oops! The only exception might be something that gives head-of-line rights.

Most passes can be bought on the ground in Italy. One exception is a vaporetto pass for Venice. You can save some money by purchasing in advance from the US. You must buy it at least 7 days before you arrive, and you will need to take the "PNR" code they give you along to redeem it for the pass. Buy here http://www.veniceconnected.com/. Also in Venice, you may want a museum pass in advance. Depends on what you plan to see. At the same website, you can buy a Museum Pass for 12-16 euros. DO NOT buy a toilet pass. They are never where you need them. :-) Just use cafes/bars/restaurants and museum facilities when you can. In Rome you can buy the Roma Pass at the first site you visit. You will need to make advance reservations if you wish to see the Borghese Gallery. Also for the Uffizi in Florence. Since you are a bit behind in your planning, you may want to consider some guided tours. I can highly recommend Francesca Caruso for Ancient Rome, and Walks of Italy for the Vatican http://www.walksofitaly.com/. Walks also has offerings in other cities, although I haven't experienced them. A guide can save you a lot of time and enrich your experience. Rick Steves' guides have excellent resoruces for planning your time. Do you have the Venice and Rome books? He also has info here for Rome and here for Venice. You're going to have a GREAT TRIP. Ciao!

I would not buy a rail pass for any travel in Italy. It's usually cheaper to buy point to point tickets. You can visit the trenitalia website to book tickets. If you book in advance you may be able to purchase the "mini" fare and save a lot of money. there is a museums and site pass for Rome called the romapass. You can find more information at romapass.it. It cost 25 euros, lasts for 3 days and gets you into the first two sites for free and gives you discounts on all other sites covered by the pass. The only thing you'll save money on by buying in advance is the train tickets. The romapass will cost 25 euros regardless if you buy it in advance or once in Rome. Donna

Relax. 3 weeks is a lot of time. Here's what I would do: Book reservations for the Uffizi and the Academia in Florence and for the Borghese in Rome if you are planning to see them. You can also ask your hotels to book - do give them 2-3 time slots. The vaporetto passes are usually a good deal, and more so if you order them on the Venice Connected website. Individual rides are very expensive. Take a look at the website. That's it for Italy. Paris is another matter. There's nothing to book in advance and you can easily buy the museum pass (if you choose to - there are several advantages) in tons of places. There is a weekly transporation pass that might be advantageous. It begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. If your dates coincide, it's the best deal. You will need have prepared photos (much smaller than passport size). Look for Navigo Decouverte.

Also, you can buy vaporetto tickets in Venice, you do not have to buy it before you leave (it may save some money but with shipping, etc, I'm not sure how much especially if you are only there for two nights). We bought 12 hour passes while we were there in order to go out to Burano/Murano/Torcello, the rest of the time we walked around Venice and didn't need the vaporetti.

Thanks everyone for your replies! They provided me so much information in a concise way, which otherwise I would have to spend hours collecting. Ed: You are right ofcourse! I am not sure about the passes in Italy, but the Paris museum pass does give head-of-the-line benefits. Laurel: I did not even know about the vaparetto pass. Thanks for mentioning it. I am not sure about the money saving part though. If I buy anything online, my credit card company is charging me a 3.5% overhead, plus the service fees etc charged by the pass seller. That is why I was hoping that I could buy passes once I reach there (unless there is a HUGE difference). Donna: same as above for the train tickets. Do you think the tickets would get very expensive if we buy them at the last minute at the station itself? Chani: would you know if the paris museum pass is avail at the CDG airport? Just wanted to see if someone did buy it from the airport, and if the price is the same over there? Devon: Good idea, we shall also do that. Where can we buy those 12-hr passes? thanks again!

Garima,
You can buy a vaporetto pass at Marco Polo Airport at the "Hello Venezia" office, opening hours: 8.10 AM - 10 PM; Info: tel. 0412424. There are other locations, too, just check the website I provided a link to. You don't save a lot online, so fine to buy when you arrive using cash. If you had more time, I'd suggest you apply for a Capital One card. No fees!

The romapass costs the same if you buy it online or if you buy it in Rome. There is no savings for buying it in advance so just wait until you get to Rome to buy it. For the trains, if you buy in advance you might qualify for the mini fares. If you buy in Italy you can still get the base fare. It's not as cheap as the mini fares but the mini fares are restrictive as far as changing reservations and refunds. If you are not sure if you can catch a train I would not buy a mini fare and wait until you get to Italy to buy your tickets. Donna

Garima, You asked about the Paris Museum pass and whether you can buy it at the airport. Yes you can. We did it last year. We were leaving our arrival area and went by a Tourist Information counter. Very easy and the clerk spoke English.