Teaching in Italy for 2 months

For Italy, point-to-point tickets usually work out cheaper. If you are hoping for bargain fares, you can buy them online in Italy. The last year or so Trenitalia occasionally has had a Sunday 2-for-1 deal.

Even with a rail pass you are required to purchase a seat reservation on all trains except the Regional trains. All trains except Regional require a seat reservation.

Kirsten, Seat reservations are compulsory on the "premium" trains in Italy, such as the Freccia (fast) and Intercity trains. Reservations are specific to a particular train and departure time. Those caught without valid reservations may be fined on the spot, and it's not cheap (€50 PP for each offense). The same is true for those that don't validate their tickets on Regionale trains. You can determine which trains require reservations by checking either the Trenitalia or bahn.de websites. A Rail Pass is not usually a cost-effective option for travel in Italy for two reasons: > Second Class tickets are relatively inexpensive, so a Railpass would likely cost more. > Tickets for the premium trains can be purchased in advance, at significant savings (however that "locks" passengers in to travel on a specific train at a specific departure time). It's very easy to buy rail tickets in Italy using the automated Kiosks (that's the method I normally use). The staffed ticket offices usually have a huge queue. You might find it helpful to have a look at the excellent Ron In Rome website. There's lots of information there on rail travel in Italy. Happy travels!

Rail passes only make economic sense if you plan to travel first class anyway and have long trips or multiple trains in a day to your final destinations. If you want to compare costs divide the cost of the pass by the number of travel days for a cost per day. Compare the cost per day plus the reservation fee to the cost of the individual ticket. Individual second class tickets are usually much less expensive.

Thank you all so much for your advice!