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travelling to Italy by July

I will be travelling to Milan on 3rd July Morning and flying out of Milan on 7th July Nite.. mu plans are as below
3rd Arrive Milan early morning and go to Venice by train by noon and overnight stay in Venice
4th morning travel from Venice to Florence by train and stay in Florence for night.
5th Morning to do Pisa tour and travel in the evening from Florence to Rome for 2 nights
6th & 7th Vatican city tour etc etc....
7th Evening traveling from Rome to Milan Airport by train.
i have already got my air tickets to & fro from Milan Malpensa Airport, my major itinerary is by train in Italy i would like to know if i should go for one country Euro rail pass or point to point tickets as even with the Euro rail pass i still need $10 for reservation to pay. kindly advise. thanks

Posted by
20271 posts

You can buy discounted nonrefundable nonchangeable tickets now for the following journeys for 2 adults and 1 9-year old child. http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

Venezia S Lucia to Firenze S M Novella 74.80 EUR total
Firenze S M Novella to Roma Termini 86.80 EUR total
Roma Termini to Milano Centrale 124.80 EUR total
Use these spellings and station names on the Italian website.

As I said before, with a Eurail pass you would have to buy a seat reservation for each train at 10 EUR (or thereabouts) per person, so that would cost you at least 90 EUR there. When you buy tickets (on-line or at the station) the seat reservation is already included in the ticket price.

The day trip to Pisa is a Regionale train and is 7 EUR per person, regardless of age each way, You can buy these at the station, but you must remember to validate the tickets in a stamping machine on the platform before boarding, otherwise you will be fined. These tickets have no reservations, just buy a ticket and find a seat.

You can get a train from Lauterbrunnen to Venice, but for some reason they are not for sale now. You would connect to an EC train at Brig, Switzerland that goes directly to Venice, stopping only briefly in Milan.

I think it a terrible waste to go all the way to Venice simply to spend an evening, but as they say, it is your vacation and your money and you can do as you please.

You are flying into Milan. but your previous post says you are arriving in Switzerland from Paris. How are you getting from Milan to Paris?

Posted by
15869 posts

I think it a terrible waste to go all the way to Venice simply to
spend an evening, but as they say, it is your vacation and your money
and you can do as you please.

Santykads, Sam has answered your train questions but having a look at your itinerary, I think you're trying to cram much too much into too few days. As already said, it's your trip and your money but you're going to see very little of the cities you'll be visiting, and a lot of trains/train stations. I personally wouldn't bother with going all the way to Venice for just the few hours you have to give it.

7th Evening traveling from Rome to Milan Airport by train. flying out
of Milan on 7th July Nite.

I also would also save Rome for a future trip. It's a long way from Milan and you're going to need to leave Rome much earlier than the same evening of your flight...especially if that flight is international. Understand that Malpensa is quite some distance away, and any sort of transport snag - such as a strike - could cause you to miss your plane if you cut things too close. Most of us choose to stay in or very near the city of our departure the evening before.

Posted by
15869 posts

OK, so if Rome must stay on the list then I would:

July 3: arrive at Malpensa and go directly to Florence
July 4: Florence
July 5: Go directly to Rome: skip Pisa
July 6: Rome
July 7: Morning train to Milan: check your luggage at the station and explore until departing for the airport.

Flying out of Rome versus Malpensa would have saved you quite a lot of time. Any chance you could change your tickets?

If you can save Rome for another trip, which is what I'd do as one full day isn't nearly enough to see enough of it:

July 3: arrive at Malpensa and go to Venice
July 4: Venice
July 5: train to Florence
July 6: Florence (skip Pisa)
July 7: Morning train to Milan: check your luggage at the station and explore until departing for the airport.

But if it were my trip?

July 3: arrive at Malpensa and go directly to Florence
July 4: Florence
July 5: Day trip from Florence to Pisa
July 6: More Florence or day trip to Siena
July 7: Morning train to Milan: check your luggage at the station and explore until departing for the airport.

Posted by
13 posts

i am residing in Oman- Middle east country, can i use my visa card / master card to do the train tickets booking in France/Italy and Sitzerland

Posted by
8178 posts

What a shame you are flying into and out of Milan. Backtracking is inefficient and expensive in most cases.
When we arrived in Civitavecchia (by ship) Saturday, getting to a B&B close to the Vatican took 6 hours total. I had forgot how Italians run on their own schedule, including 1 bus at the ship for hundreds of people. And the city bus in Civitavecchia was only running 1 bus to the train station--with 3 big ships in town. In other words, travel inside Italy can be pretty doggone slow--longer than expected.
We just left this a.m. for Budapest. Since the Monday after Easter is a national holiday in Europe, there was no road traffic and travel to the airport and Budapest was quick and efficient.
I too would suggest avoiding Rome, which is a 4 day minimum travel stop. Your time would be better spent in Northern Italy alone, as there's so much to see there.

Posted by
27237 posts

I agree with the general trend here: Please completely rethink your itinerary. You are flying in and out of Milan and have three full days and two partial days. There's plenty to see in northern Italy. Don't spend all your time on trains and checking in and out of hotels. With that little time I'd head either toward Venice (possibly seeing Verona, Vicenza and/or Padua along the way) or to Florence (possible side-trips to Siena, Lucca, Pisa, or smaller Tuscan towns).

Posted by
20271 posts

Speaking of Milan Malpensa, the train from Milano Centrale to there will cost 32.50 EUR for the 3 of you (2 adults 1 child) and the Eurail pass is not accepted. Another strike against this pass.

Posted by
15869 posts

With that little time I'd head either toward Venice (possibly seeing
Verona, Vicenza and/or Padua along the way) or to Florence (possible
side-trips to Siena, Lucca, Pisa, or smaller Tuscan towns).

Ditto. Along with staying the entire time in Florence - as I'd previously recommended - you could just as easily stay the entire time in Venice. There's enough to see there without making another hotel/location move.