Rail pass vs pay as you go

The vaporetto pass is good for Venezia and the islands. The only Railpasses I've ever used in Italy is the Biglietto Chilometrico and I don't know if it even exists anymore.

If you have a set itinerary, you could pre purchase your tickets...

use http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ee13721bdd69a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

Buy these tickets 120 days before expected travel date. It looks like you have figured full price fares.

Milano-Torino. 9 euro

Torino-Domodossola. 18 euro

Domossola-Venezia 29 euro

Venezia-Firenze. 29 euro

Firenze-Roma. 19 euro

Roma-Bari. 9 euro

The Vaporetto pass will cover all your trips around the lagoon. Just make sure you purchase

the pass with the right# of hours.

Gerri, hmmmmm, what a change in prices! These are all Regionale? Won't they take much longer on the long hauls, Venezia/Firenze, Firenze/Roma, Roma/Bari?

And is there no such thing as RailPass in Italy anymore?
tnx...

Rick Steves is a bigger fan of rail passes than most of use who post here. But even he says they are almost always a bad deal for Italy: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/italy-rail-passes

What I don't know is if a rail pass is good on all the trains in Italy, fast and regional.

It's good on all trains operated by Trenitalia. So, it's not good on Italo (competitor to Trenitalia on major routes like Venice to Florence to Rome), Trenord (operates some routes out of Milan to the town of Como and to Malpensa Airport), or the Circumvesuviana (local lines around Naples, which from your posted itinerary will not affect you).

HOWEVER

If you are taking a fast train and have a rail pass, you MUST buy a seat reservation before you get on the train, or you will get a large fine. Any train that is not a Regional or Regional Veloce will require a reservation. This not only adds to your railpass cost (when you buy a single point to point ticket, the reservation price is included; bought by itself, it's €3-10). It also takes away convenience; the reservations are available from machines, but you can't just hop on a train without one.

And is it good on buses.

No - they're operated by various other companies.

If I buy a pass, can I make the reservation a day or so ahead of time?

Yes, you can buy the reservation any time, as long as you do it before you board. For the Regional and Regional Veloce trains, reservations are neither necessary nor available - for those you just hop on. But those are cheap, so using a pass day costs more than just buying the ticket.

Also, for the 4 days in Venice, would a vaporetto pass include the ride to Murano, Burano, Torcelli.?

Yes. Unlike a rail pass, a vaporetto pass for Venice pays off quickly, since individual rides are €7.

Just saw your last post.

Gerri, hmmmmm, what a change in prices! These are all Regionale? Won't they take much longer on the long hauls, Venezia/Firenze, Firenze/Roma, Roma/Bari?

Those are fast trains (the same ones you were intending to take), but bought in advance online. If you can accept non-exchangeable and non-refundable tickets, these are a tremendous deal.

And is there no such thing as RailPass in Italy anymore?

There is still a Italian Rail pass. What there is not is a Kilometric ticket - a certain number of kilometers on Trenitalia at a set price, which could be divided up among several travelers (e.g. 1 traveler could go 1,000 Km, or 4 travelers could use it together and get 250 Km each). This was a good deal for some travelers, but apparently no longer exists.

those aren't all regionale tickets (the ones who are only serviced by regionale, obviously yes) but they are the super economy prices for the fast trains, which are the best deal if you are able to lock in a nonrefundable schedule.....there are only a limited number of super economy and economy tickets available, so they usually go first.....if you were to walk up to the train station the day of, you would most likely be left with the most expensive tickets...

How do you figure the right amount of hours?

The hourly pass Harold mentioned is no longer available.

What I just did was hit the calendar for the first week in June to see what the super economy fares were.

These fares go fast. Once sold the price goes up until there is only the base fare left.

The base fare is what you would purchase AT the station so there is no advantage to pre

purchasing.

nanc,

As the others have mentioned, Rail passes are rarely cost effective for travel in Italy for the reasons stated. With the fast trains, if you can commit to a specific train and departure time, buying discounted tickets in advance will be cheaper than a Pass. Again as mentioned, some of the other rail networks such as Italo and Circumvesuviana do not accept Passes.

Go to the Trenitalia website, click on the British flag icon, plug in your from-to station names in Italian (pull down menu will help you once you get the first few letters right), fill in the time of day you want to depart (the site defaults to the Italian time zone hour in which you are using the site), hit Search and see your options, including transfers and costs.

I don't think you save much (if anything) with a pass.
Assuming you get a six day pass (travel 6 days in a month), it's still about $250 per person.

Nanc,
When you asked this on one of your posts above:

How do you figure the right amount of hours?

I think you're referring to the vaporetto pass for Venice (that Gerri alluded to on his post above)

You can purchase a vaporetto pass (ticket) that can be used for 24, 48, or 72 hours or one for 7 days.

So depending on how many days you will be in Venice, you choose whichever ticket would be best for you.

The vaporetto pass is a good deal if you plan to take the vaporetto at least 3 times/day as the single ride will cost you €7pp & it's only good for one hour from the time it's validated {stamped} when you travel in one direction only.

Here is a good article for more information regarding vaporetto passes in Venice: http://goitaly.about.com/od/transportation/qt/vaporetto.htm

If you're traveling in September, you do have time to plan and pre-purchase advance-discount tickets for some longer or faster train routes, which go on sale starting 3 months ahead. Fast trains have three price levels, with the lowest of course being first to sell out (limited seats at each rate). You can choose for which routes this provides the greatest savings or where you are willing to commit. Whether you choose train tickets with reservations included or a rail pass with separate reservations, there's no deadline to book a specific train and most are not likely to sell out.

If you have more interest in keeping a flexible schedule, then this could be a time where the rail pass is a reasonable choice for your 8 longest travel days (maximum offered); current price is $267 per person in 2nd class, plus $15 for each seat reservation on a high-speed train. See also http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/italy-rail-passes and http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/using-your-rail-pass.

Laura is mistaken about buying advance and discount tickets in Italy, they are available up to 120 days in advance. By three months ahead, some of the cheap fares on popular routes may be gone.

Thanks for ALL the information. Checking things out, I think I will stay with point to point. Last time I was there I bought the return ticket the day we arrived so never had a line to stand in. My son and I both are "unscheduled" persons, and I can't think of buying a train ticket for a specific time 4 months ahead. That just doesn't fit into my head !!!

But we will use the vaporetto pass for the 3 days in Italy if we decide to go out to the islands, which I would like to do.

But at least I know more about how the system works. Maybe by the end of May I will change my mind. At least I know more than I did then.

I really appreciate all your comments.