We'll be in Florence for a week and anticipate 3 days of train travel - Rome, Assisi and perhaps Lucca. Should we consider an Interrail pass? For some reason, I'm having trouble accessing information on their website - Thanks!
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
No, don't get a pass. Just buy point to point tickets. A rail pass usually never saves you money in Italy. Check out the trenitalia site for fares and schedules. http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD enter the Italian names such as Roma termini and Firenze s.m. novella to see the schedules. Donna
Posted by
OP
Callaway, VA, US
107 posts
Thanks, Donna - and it's best to buy at the station (rather than in advance online?)
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
It really depends. If you're buying high speed train tickets and your dates are firm you can buy those tickets online and perhaps save a ton of money with the super saver fares. The problem with these fares is that they are very restrictive on changes and if you miss the train the tickets are worthless. I buy them and don't have a problem as my travels are planned well in advance. If you're buying tickets on regional trains there is no need to buy in advance as they are cheap and there are no discounts for buying ahead of time. Donna
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
Interrail passes are for European residents only. Perhaps you mean to look for Eurail Passes? In any case, a pass won't be of any financial benefit. From Florence, those are all relatively short trips and even at full price, the P2P tickets will almost for sure be cheaper than a pass. Besides, I'll guess you have to buy a 1st class pass whearas you can buy 2nd class P2P tickets.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
The fares for two of your three trips listed above are really inexpensive. Florence/Assisi round trip is 26.90Euro. Florence/Lucca round trip is 12.80Euro. You can't buy these tickets online from Trenitalia in advance unless it's within 7 days of the travel date. The tickets for the Regionale trains are so easy to get. No such thing as a full train either. But, that won't happen on these two runs. Just buy your tickets at the ticket machine in the Florence train station. For your trip to Rome, this will most likely be on a high-speed. There are at least 55 trains a day going to Rome from Florence. During the day, it's 3 trains per hour. The fare one-way is 43Euro. Again, you can easily buy these tickets in the train station. If you are worried, you can buy these tickets at the train station 1-2 days in advance when you get to Florence. You don't need a railpass.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
You don't say when you'll be there, but if you're riding one of the Freccia trains (e.g. Florence to Rome), you can save a bundle buying the Super Economy tickets in advance through Trenitalia.com. Prices can be as low as 9 euros (2nd class). They are non-refundable, but compared to 43 euros, you could conceivably buy a couple of sets of them at different times and still save money.