We will be traveling in Switzerland for 8 days utilizing a Swiss Travel Flex Pass in October. From there we will be in Italy for another 6 days with 3-4 big travel days (Luzern to Vernazza, Vernazza to Venice, Venice to Varenna, Varenna to Zurich). I feel like the Italy only Eurail pass is a good option, but I am not sure how the two passes work together and how to make reservations, especially for the trains that would utilize both passes. Any advice?
Posted by
Washington DC
28477 posts
It's unlikely that a rail pass for Italy will pay off. They almost never do, and if you're not going beyond Vernazza, Venice, and Varenna, you're not covering that much territory. Have you priced out your Italian travel legs on the Trenitalia website? It requires specificity and the Italian spelling for each city. Venice would be Venezia S. L.
I randomly chose October 5th and priced out Varenna-Venezia. The tickets for morning departures ranged from 34 to 50 euros in second class. The lower prices involve some legs with non-refundable/non-changeable tickets, which you might not want to commit to in advance.
Posted by
Green Bay
21370 posts
Looks like you are flying round trip to Zurich. Have you thought about flying into Zurich and out of Milan? Then maybe you could get by with a 4-day flex pass. The train from Varenna to Milan is only 6.70 EUR and the train from there to Malpensa is 12 EUR.
If you do stick with your plan, the train from Varenna to Tirano is just 7.30 EUR. There you can get RhB trains to get you to Zurich over the Bernina Pass, including the Bernina Express.
Eurail Pass is likely to be tossing away money.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34335 posts
The prices you see above include any reserved seats. If you go to a railpass in Italy all fast train reservations will cost €10 per person per segment ON TOP OF the expensive per day cost of the pass.
Posted by
OP
Colorado
2 posts
Thank you for all the advice...so I am not buying the Italy only Eurail pass. However, it seems like the only site that lets me utilize the Swiss Travel Pass in making point to point reservations for Italy is this one (ricksteves.com), but I cannot get it to work from Luzern to Vernazza (I have to break the trip up), and to get to Venice it will only take me to the airport not St. Lucia. Am I doing something wrong? I have not found a place on the Trenitalia website to put in a rail pass.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Jberry, you wrote "utilize the Swiss Travel Pass in making point to point reservations for Italy" - a Swiss travel pass is not valid in Italy, only in Switzerland. And you do not need to make reservations in Switzerland, only in Italy.
If you are travelling from Luzern to Vernazza), you use your Swiss Pass, without reservation, from Luzern to the Swiss border (Domodossola or Chiasso, depending on which route you take). You then buy a ticket (on-line, at the Trenitalia site) from there to Vernazza; this ticket will include the necessary reservations.
See Swiss pass validity map here: https://www.swisspasses.com/railpass/overviewmap_en.pdf
You only need to make italian reservations as a separate purchase if you have a pass, and in Italy a pass is more expensive than normal tickets.