Railpass, 1st or 2nd class?

First thing to do is do the math to see if the pass really saves any money. Tough to do in Italy with the deep discounts for advance purchase and the supplemental fees for seat reservations with a pass. Personally I think second class is fine in Italy but some have a preference for first class. There will be fewer people in first class. It is possible to be the only ones in first class. The ease of getting reservations in Oct will be the same for first or second class.

Thanks for the info, Frank.

Jim, usually a pass is not cost effective in Italy. You can usually do better with point-to-point tickets. If the ladies are riding any of the high-speed trains, they will need seat reservations. Add 10Euro for each fast train that they will be on. Plus, if they do not make their reservations online in advance, they will be standing in line at the train stations to buy their reservations. Big lines at some stations. For Northern Italy, a good deal of the area is served by Regionale trains. The ladies can ride these trains using their Eurail pass with no hassles. But, the train fares for Regionale trains are so cheap, you can't justify the rail pass. Any idea where they are going? We can give you better information. As for traveling women, my wife and daughter will be in Italy for 2 weeks beginning Sept 20. We've already purchased their train tickets at nice discounts.