HI everyone. I've read so many mixed reviews saying it's not worth it to get the railpass for Italy but in mapping out my trip....it looks like it could be cheaper.
My 3 longest train rides will be from Milan-Venice, Venice to Vernazza (CT), and Florence to Rome. Since I am travelling with someone, the railpass is a little cheaper. Does anyone agree that the railpass is cheaper than buying tickets each time? I know that in the UK, if the conductor didn't write the date on your pass-we got 3 free train rides. Thanks!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
Unfortunately Claire only you can decide and you have to do the home work. You must individual price each leg and then compare to the pass. Second, even with the pass there is a seat reservation charge on the high speed trains. On ptp ticket that seat charge is included. YOU, not the conductor, is responsible for stamping your pass.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
What site have you been using to check the prices of point to point tickets? And have you factored in the cost of reservations?
From what I see on the Italian national rail website, the cost of your three train trips would be about $195 CAD (walkup price), while a Eurail Saverpass for those under 25 would be $177 plus reservations, so it works out to be the same. With a rail pass, you'll have to go to the train station or an agent to get the reservations.
But if your travel dates are firm, you may be able to pick up discounts of as much as 30% on the Trenitalia website. Americans report their credit cards don't work, but my Canadian one did about 15 months ago. Take a look at the link for the website, and see what happens, before you commit to a railpass.
And if you don't fill out your pass yourself, you could be fined.
Posted by
OP
Calgary, AB, Canada
29 posts
Wow, thank you both so much for the info. It definitely works different than the UK-even reservations in the UK are free.
From what I've read, I might as well not worry about it. I used the Trenitalia and the Raileurope websites to check each fare and didn't add in reservation costs. The railpass would be a tiny bit cheaper, but that didn't factor in the shipping charge....
Ciao!
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1449 posts
Frank is right, and if they catch you with a pass you "forgot" to validate then you can get a sizeable fine. There are yellow boxes in each train station for validating your tickets. When you have a reservation you might not need to validate because the ticket is only good for a specific seat on a specific day & time, but you can't get in trouble for validating it even if you didn't need to and its a good habit to get into so you don't forget to validate one that you must.