Global train pass or ??

Have you seen this article by Rick Steves? https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/global-pass

I’ve added up all the travel legs for train and it is well over $1000.

That is a very large number, where did you get these prices from?

For Italy, look up prices on the Trenitalia (Italian Railways) website: https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html
Look up the prices for a date 2-3 months in advance, advance purchase tickets are a lot cheaper.
These prices will be in € (Euros), NOT $

For Switzerland, use the SBB (Swiss Federal Railways) website: https://www.sbb.ch/en
Also investigate a Swiss Travel Pass: https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-travel-pass.html
Or a Swiss Half Price Card: https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/international-guests/swiss-halffare-card.html
These prices will be in CHF (Swiss Franks), NOT $

Getting the cheapest tickets is a complicated subject. Different railway companies have different pricing policies.

Thanks Chris. I got the rail prices from RS website tracking our trips throughout Italy.

Those are just estimates and full price. You need to go to the train web sites and get exact numbers. Many of the trains offer substantial discounts if purchased on-line and early. But - as typical of any discount product - there are restrictions for the discount tickets -- mostly no change, no refund. In Italy you pay an extra $10/leg for a required seat reservation on all trains except Regionale trains. If you take advantage of the advance discount prices, then a rail pass is rarely cost effective.

I’m glad you at least had the foresight to come here and ask before plunking down $$$ for a Eurail Pass. Train pricing takes some effort and can’t be totaled by looking at a rough sketch RS diagram of most common train routes and full price ticket costs.

Eurail Passes are not $250 and are not the silver bullet cure all. They’re mostly for newbies who don’t understand how trains work, are apprehensive and then think that a Eurail Pass will magically solve all their problems and calm their fears. There are gotchas and extra costs associated with those passes and chances are you won’t understand until you attempt to use it.

Italy train travel is dirt cheap when you purchase from trenitalia.com far in advance...yes I’m talking about the High Speed trains. You want to travel to Switzerland, too? Then chances are the Swiss Half Fare card will be your best bet. Austria? Look at the National train website for prices...not RailEurope and not RS.

It really annoys me to see excited newbie travelers get sucked into the Eurail game...so congratulations to you for not doing that.

Trainline is a user-friendly website for checking the prices of point-to-point tickets against the cost of a Eurail Pass (which doesn't include reservation fees, which are included in the cost of point-to-point tickets). RailEurope is a very expensive place to buy tickets - the Rick Steves website links you to RailEurope.

https://www.thetrainline.com/

Thanks for all the great info! Keep it coming! I appreciate your suggestions!

There is a Eurail Global pass for $244/passenger, but it is just for 3 days of travel. A Global pass for 22 day of continuous travel is $580/P. (15 non-continuous days in a 2 month period is $552/P.)

The rail ticket price map that Rick shows assumes you will be taking only the fastest long distance trains. Then he assumes you will be paying full price for the most flexible tickets. Lastly, he shows the prices in USD, not Euro (or other), so his estimates are only good for the instant that that exchange rate applies.

Go to the individual national rail companies if you can and get the lowest prices in local currencies, then apply the exchange rate that exists at the time.

As for Trainline, don't use them for tickets or prices if you can find ticket or prices on the national rail lines (like German Rail). They will be more expensive from Trainline (Trainline, at least in Germany, inflates the ticket price by 4.8% over the Bahn price. ).

Molly, as a newbie, you need to read the "Man in Seat 61" website.
Start with this webpage: https://www.seat61.com/Europe-train-travel.htm
For info on passes see here (especially the section "* Are point-to-point tickets cheaper?*"): https://www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm

Mollyberg: I highly recommend that you look the websites that have been posted to-date. Then post a possible plan. Folks will be happy to give you their thoughts. As for passes we have found them to be convenient at times, but not a cost savings tool. Now we book specific trains in advance if we need to travel at specific date and time, the rest we book as we go or few days in advance of when we want to travel. On our trip last May and June from Madrid to Amsterdam, the only two trains we booked in advance were a high speed from Madrid to Barcelona and the Eurostar from London to Brussels. All other trains that we used were booked two to three days in advance once we figured out when we wanted to travel. Let us know your plan.

None of us know your full travel plan or number of days on the train, and perhaps you don't have it entirely planned, yet. A pass covering your 5 or 7 travel longest travel days within a one-month window could be relevant to compare ($315 or $375). Is your $1000 estimate for one person or total for both?

Train connections between Assisi and Sienna are not very convenient, so see www.flixbus.com, instead, if that's your route.