We would like to travel by train from Rome to Positano area,being Salerno, then we need to travel from Salerno\Positano to Spello\Foligna by trail as well and then Florence to Venice with a 5 day car rental in between...Can anyone advise me on the train selection for this itenerary? Italy Rail and Drive seems to be the best for price for what we need? The Italy Pass covers all trains? Im soo confused with this part of our trip!! This is a cry for help!! LOL
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
First of all, don't get a rail pass. It's usually cheaper to buy point to point tickets. Use the official trenitalia site for those tickets. The reservation fee is included in the cost where as with a rail pass it's an extra expense on top of the price. http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=c79686605528a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD You can use the official site to map out your travel plans. Just enter the town you'll be leaving from and enter the town you want to go to. Change the time to something within this week and change the time to 7 or 8 am in order to see all the trains. Donna
Posted by
Portland, OR
282 posts
Hey there over in Molalla! It seems like you are all over the place. Where are you flying into/out of? The trenitalia website (click on English at the top) will show the train schedules. There is a direct train from Rome to Salerno (then ferry to Positano). The train from Salerno to Spello makes 2 stops (and maybe train changes). Are you renting a car in Spello and then driving around for 5 days, then dropping it in Florence and then taking the train from Florence to Venice? Again, the trenitalia website will show you your options. The schedules will change in early June, so if you are traveling after early June the schedules are not yet posted but they don't change much. So you can just choose the same day of the week as you will be traveling in, say, next week, to see your train options. Rarely does a pass save money, because it is my understanding that you still need to make seat reservations and pay for them even if you have a pass. Ron in Rome has a great section about train travel and reservations on his website.
Posted by
OP
Molalla, Oregon, USA
9 posts
So here is the Itenerary. Rome to Positano 3/24 Positano to Spello 3/26 Florence to Venice 3/30
We need a rental car from 3/26 to 3/30 for exploring Tuscany\Umbria
Posted by
OP
Molalla, Oregon, USA
9 posts
Are the point to point tickets a better option for our itenerary?
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
It's hard to say without knowing the cost and type of rail pass you are considering. The only way for you to know is to go to the trenitalia site and look up each leg and then do the math. You'll need to add the seat reservation fee's to the cost of the rail pass to find out your final cost for that. On high speed trains the cost is an extra 10 euros each for each leg of the trip. For slower trains it's less. Once you have these costs you can decide if the pass works out better for you or not. Donna