We have purchased our 4 day, 2 month rail pass through RS. We leave for Italy on 9/12 for 3 weeks. We know the times we want to travel and where. Our trips Venice-Florence-9/17, Florence-Naples 9/24, Naples-Rome 9/27 & Rome-Orvieto 9/30 (day trip). Should we wait until we arrive in Venice to make reservations? Is there a chance these trains would be full and we would not get our time slot? If so, I am not sure how to make reservations on Trenitalia online. Any insights? Thanks.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Can you get a refund on the railpass? Point-to-point tickets in Italy are usually cheaper. You can sometimes find discounts on the trenitalia.com site, but by this time the supercheap tickets are probably gone. Trenitalia.com can also let you price out your tickets. There are direct trains from Venice to Florence for about 29 euro; trip takes a little over two hours, many trains each day. From Florence to Naples, economy fares available right now on direct trains are 39 euro; base fares are 68 euro, the direct train takes about 3 hours. A change of trains might get you a lower fare but will double or triple your travel time. Several trains throughout the day. Naples to Rome, direct trains from 19 euro economy to 43 euro base, trip takes anywhere from a little over an hour to about two hours. Trains run every hour or so. Several direct trains to Orvieto each day, 9 to 15 euro each way, trip takes about an hour if you don't change trains. Note that Florence, Naples and Rome have several stations; I checked the Central stations in each city (Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Centrale in Naples, Termini in Rome). Trains with reserved seats can't be oversold, and each of your routes has at least a half dozen trains to choose from, you should not have a problem getting a seat. Check the Ron in Rome site for how to buy the ticket online if you have problems with the trenitalia site. Note that if you receive a confirmation email (you should), it may have a bar code or number code on it - that's what you need to show. Personally I like to print out the ticket in case electronics don't work. Your other option is to buy the tickets when you arrive in Italy, but you will pay the base fare in most cases. You can buy from kiosks or at the ticket window.
Posted by
OP
Hermiston, OR, USA
69 posts
Zoe, When I compared the prices online and Rick's standard point to point pricing it was cheaper getting the pass. Also, booking as a twosome we got an additional discount, so the total cost for two was $412. I see now where the prices are less than Rick's suggested point to point prices. It looks like all of our time slots are available and the total cost would be in the $330 neighborhood. I assume we could make our reservation when we purchased. I will email RS to see if we can get a refund. If not it won't be much of a difference. Thank you for your input.
Posted by
Redding, CA, USA
1568 posts
Our plan is to be in Italy 10 days and with my calculations the point-to-point tickets are less exspensive that 3 rail passes.