Other Benefits of a Eurail Pass?

No additional benefits. Rail passes are only good on the national railroads. Local, in city, transit is not included.

Kittty Good questions! Regarding the Rail Station you should use as your destination in Venice, you need St. Lucia. This is the train station situated right on the Grand Canal. Quite an amazing sight as you walk out of the station! The town of Mestre is on the Mainland only 8 km from the St. Lucia Train Station. Have fun with your family in Italy. A fabuous vacation for all! Bobbie

1) No 2) Yes, but why waste an expensive pass day for a fare something like €2 or €3? That's a real waste.... 3) No
3A) Unless your routing requires you to change in Mestre you definitely don't want to get off there. If you do have to change there its about 20 stairs down and 20 stairs back up to the other platform. There are no ramps, no elevators or lifts, no escalators. BTW - have you used the Italian railway website for planning or RailEurope?

I have used Rail Europe for the majority of my research and plan to buy tickets there. Any reason not to?

Many on here do not like raileurope, they tend to sell only the more popular, more expensive, routes...but they are convienient for a first timer. Trenitalia, the national rail site for Italy would be better, but it takes more patience to navigate and while better, many still report difficulty in buying tickets from the US. I usually just wait and buy tickets when I get there, I may miss out on a deal or two, but am never concerned with finding room on the exact train I want. For a family of five, there may be discounts that apply, maybe before you buy, one of the seasoned experts on tickets that prowl the boards will chime in. You can also search the board here, as the topic of buying on Trenitalia is often discussed. As a last resort, try posting a question specifically about "buying tickets on Trenitalia from the US" either on "To the Boot" or on the "Transportation" page.

http://www.trenitalia.com Click on the British flag at the top/center of the homepage. The summer schedules are in the process of going in right now; by the middle of May (or so) you should be able to see ALL of your options (that Rail Europe doesn't show). Search only a week or so out for right now, and that goes for any train that's a local train, too - you can never search further than a week or so for them. You can also try http://www.bootsnall.com/eurail/passes/italy.shtml if you have trouble purchasing tickets from Trenitalia.com...IF you want to purchase tickets online, that is! They will charge a processing fee, but you may still come out ahead; note that they show prices in US DOLLARS. IF you do want to purchase tickets ahead of time, you'll need to choose a particular train and click on 'continue' to see if there are any discount ("MINI") fares for that train...a bit of a pain, but there's a potential for some great savings! Ditto on everyone else, too! Gig 'em, Aggies ;-)

Thank you for the great advise. I saved a little more than $100 for the five of us with purchasing from BootsnAll and it appears that I do not have to wait to have them sent in the mail. I think that I have all that I need to board from the email confirmation for at least two of them. I just need the ticket number to board. Another looks like I need to print the ticket at the self service at the train station. Really appreciate your help!!
from a mother of two Longhorns :-) ; however, aunt to two Aggies and sister-in-law to another! Personally I am an Hoosier.

Three Aggies to two t-sips...that'll have to do, I suppose ;-) Be sure you've read all of the fine print on your tickets/confirmation emails... Have a great trip!

Any specific caution that you can think of? or have experience with? Am I wrong to assume that if we are at the train station early enough that there may be someone who will be willing to help if necessary. The only "worst case scenario" I have read about is being fined if you board a train without the correct documents.

There really is no one at the stations to help you. Look for the departure boards and your train on it. They usually show up about 15 minutes before you are scheduled to depart. It will show you the platform your train is at. Just go to the platform, look for your carriage number and board. It's really easy. Make sure you can handle your own luggage as there are no porters to help. You are basically on your own. Donna

Luggage..no problem.. we all have Rick Steves' backpacks (no doubt we will look like tourists :-)!!) My concern is the e-ticket from BootsnAll, does it need to be exchanged for a "ticket" or will having the e ticket (sheet of paper) be all we need. Thank you for your comment.

If it has a PNR number, seat number and carriage number I think you will be fine but you may want to contact the company you used and ask them if you need to exchange for an actual ticket. They would know for sure. Donna