RailEurope 3 day pass or buy tickets when in Rome?

Mike, I'd highly recommend just buying P-P tickets when in Italy, either at staffed ticket windows or via the automated Kiosks (credit card required). A few things to consider regarding the Rail Pass. These do NOT include the reservation fees that are compulsory on the premium trains. Railpass holders without a valid reservation will be fined on the spot! Also a Rail Pass is NOT valid on the Circumvesuviana from Naples to Pompeii (AFAIK), so you'd need to pay "out of pocket" for those tickets. I normally buy tickets for outgoing trips at least a day or two before I'll be travelling. NOTE that if you're travelling on any Regionale trains, you MUST validate your tickets in the yellow machine prior to boarding the train, or risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! Happy travels!

And the rail pass is not good on the train from the airport. A first class pass is but not worth wasting a day of the pass.

Go to trenitalia.com and buy the tickets in advance to take advantage of mini fares. They are as low as 9 euros!

there are no "cheap" fares for Rome > Pompeii and back as well as Rome > Pisa and back. Right now, a roundtrip from Rome to Pompeii and back is about 175 Euro, 2nd class, on trenitalia for May 6th. Would the price increase or decrease or remain the same if I bought the tickets the day before at the train station compared to buying them now online at trenitalia?

Using your date, I pull up fares of 19, 22 & 29 Euro from Rome to Naples and the same from Naples to Rome, depending on the train. Once you get to Naples you can take a Trenitalia or Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii for 5 Euro or so (guessing but should be close).

"Once you get to Naples you can take a Trenitalia or Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii" I don't believe any Trenitalia trains run directly to Pompeii (unless you go to a station that's somewhat "distant" from Pompeii). Your only option is the Circumvesuviana commuter train from Naples to Pompeii. Check the Guidebook for details.

On May 6, the FRECCIABIANCA 9764 departs from Roma Termini Station around 08:10 AM and gets to Pisa Centrale 2:47 hours later – NO changes. For both of you, this route is only €38 ($50). Coming back on the same day, the Intercity 511, which departs at 15:10 is only €62 for 2 tickets ($82). All these are Trenitalia MINI fares, and this one also requires no train changes. So that's about $132 all in for that trip. One of the challenges if you are traveling on May 6 is ... that's a Sunday. There are far fewer trains running, and thus fewer price options. You might get better savings options if you could move your "date of travel." As mentioned, you can get reasonable priced tickets to Naploli Centrale from Roma Termini. I am currently holding two tickets for June travel I purchased for €9 each – and the same coming back! From there, the private (non-Trenitalia) Circumvesuviana commuter train is currently €4 each way (per person) to Pompeii. You may have to dig a little, adjust your dates, and pre-purchase the high-speed sections of your travel, but the savings are out there! And once Italo gets their Rome-Naples runs up, it will be even MORE competitive. Good Luck!

"Using your date, I pull up fares of 19, 22 & 29 Euro from Rome to Naples and the same from Naples to Rome, depending on the train." What website are you using to get these rates? I can not find these rates at all. Thanks.

www.trenitalia.com. You mention RailEurope in your original post; are you using the Italian rail page of the RailEurope site instead of the Trenitalia site? Good luck, we are making the same trip later in May.

Thanks. We moved the Pisa and Pompeii day trips to Monday and Tuesday, May 7th and 8th. We will visit the Colosseum on that Sunday, May 6th (we had originally planned to see it during the week, either Mon or Tues). That should give us the ability to buy the cheaper fares as noted for the Pompeii and Pisa trips. Wed, May 9th is when we take the train onward to Venice (we booked this already in advance).

The Trenitalia station is in Pompei town (spelled with one "i" on the Trenitalia schedule). It is a walkable distance (depending on the individual) or a short cab ride away from the ruins. The Circumvesuviana station is certainly the closer of the two.