Help!! Rail pass or point-to-point tickets?

Jenn - Most folks find that for travel within one country (especially Italy) that point to point tickets work out to be cheaper than a rail pass. Even with a railpass there are often additional fees for seat reservations etc that drive the cost up. In addition, the trenialia sight is not wonderfully user friendly and most have problems with actually purchasing tickets although a few have reported no problems. Many just wait till arrival in Itlay to purchase tickets at the stations. Others with more experience will chime in, I'm sure.

Jenn, be advised that when you ride a Eurostar-class train in Italy, you will pay 18Euro on top of your rail pass for seat reservations. Rome to Naples, Naples to Rome, part of the La Spezia to Venice and Venice to Rome segments all will most likely be on these trains as most of the runs are Eurostar-class trains. It's a per person charge. For most of these trips, this supplement equals half the P2P fare. The P2P fare includes the seat reservation. You could carefully scan the train schedules and select the ICPlus trains which are almost as fast and usually cost less. The seat reservation fee is only 3Euro on these trains with a railpass. You'll need to add these supplemental fees onto the cost of your railpass.

For P2P comparisons, I offer the following: Rome to Naples - Standard fare for 2 is 55.20Euro on the Eurostar. Standard fare on the ICPlus is 39.00Euro.

Naples to Florence - 116Euro for 2 on the Eurostar. On the ICPlus 78Euro (very few runs and they take longer).

Florence to La Spezia - 27.20Euro for 2 on the ICPlus (no Eurostar).

La Spezia to Venice - 91.80Euro for 2. Run has both R and Eurostar trains.

Venice to Rome - 112.20Euro for 2 on the Eurostar. 81Euro on the ICPlus (again, very few of them).

If you buy from Raileurope or Italiarail, they are ticket brokers and you will pay more. You can easily get the tickets once you arrive in Italy. Many don't believe this to be true but it is. 35 trains a day run from Rome to Naples. 55 trains run from Rome to Florence. Each train holds more passengers than a 747. You're not late for a train, you're simply early for the next one.

Expect to pay standard fare on each run. Buy as early as you can. Have your train travel agenda written down. Dates, times, destinations, train numbers, etc. Use the self-service kiosks and ask for the AMICA fare. It's a limited 20% discount. If available, you can get them.

Jenn,

You might try entering all of your rail trips into This Site and it will suggest the best combination of Rail Pass and P-P tickets for those particular journeys. I've found that the site provides a good "approximation" but I get the impression at times that it hasn't been updated in a while.

It appears that you'll be taking five rail trips, some fairly short (Rome - Naples) and some a bit longer (Naples - Florence). The previous post gives a good estimate of what the costs will be for the tickets. As mentioned previously, if you use a Rail Pass, you'll have to pay reservations fees separately.

You'll have to "do the math" and compare the cost of a Rail Pass plus reservation fees vs. P-P tickets which include the reservation fees.

For the trips you mentioned, I'd probably just buy P-P tickets in Italy (it's a very easy process - I usually buy tickets for my outgoing journey a few days before I'll be travelling).

Happy travels!

Jenn...point to point will be the cheapest way to go. You can try to register with trenitalia, then go back as soon as you receive your password by e-mail and change it. Even then, you may still run into problems with an American credit card. The other alternative is to simply purchase them all when you arrive in Rome. If you book before midnight the day before travel, you may be able to still get the Amica fares, which are 20 per cent off. If not, standard tickets are next...flexi are the most expensive.