Should we get a Eurail pass? We are travelling from Venice to Rome by train

Posted by Sonia (Seattle) on 08/03/10 03:14 PM

Folks,
I have looked up trenitalia and RailEurope sites and searched for trains for our travel plans. Trenitalia gives us the option to catch the train from Mestre station, Venice to Termini, Rome. RailEurope is from Santa Lucia station, Venice to Termini, Rome. 2nd option works better since we are staying on the island. We don't want too many hops to get to the station.

BUT, the price for the ticket is $200 from RailEurope! I have posted this before and was given the suggestion to look up trenitalia, but didn't realize that We'll have to travel to Mestre. Santa Lucia is closer for us.

So, question is: Should we book the $200 ticket or go with the Eurail pass on Rick steves site? We are not travelling that much by train. Can we get cheaper tickets somewhere else for our travels? Please guide. Thanks!

Posted by Lee

Lakewood, Colorado

08/03/10 03:37 PM

19411 posts

"Trenitalia gives us the option to catch the train from Mestre station... RailEurope is from Santa Lucia station".

WRONG! RailEurope doesn't offer you anything that you can't get from Trenitalia (you just have to know how to ask correctly). You can get tickets from Santa Lucia station from Trenitalia. However, you probably can't get tickets from Trenitalia from over here, but once you are in Europe, fully refundable, exchangeable tickets by Italian EuroStar will be €73 (about $96), 2nd class, from any ticket counter.

It's not much less expensive than from RailEurope, except R/E might charge shipping or handling, and their tickets are mostly non-refundable.

There is really no advantage to getting your tickets over here. Just get them the day before in Venice. Buying rail tickets in Europe is not like buying plane tickets over here, more like the bus into town.

Posted by Frank

Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA

08/03/10 03:49 PM

23777 posts

Rail Europe is a travel agency that sells tickets generally a good markup (profit) to them. Also, RE only lists trains for which they sell tickets. Go with Trenitalia.

Posted by Sonia OP

Seattle

08/03/10 04:26 PM

127 posts

Thanks guys! Its great to see your replies. I will get our tickets in Europe then. I was quite honestlky afraid that the trains will get full since we need the ticket for a certain date/time and its not flexible. As you have suggested, we'll try to get our tickets from the stations ticket counter as soon as we reach hopefull! Thanks again!

Posted by Diane

Ottawa

08/03/10 04:54 PM

1446 posts

Hi Sonia,

Having used the Trenitalia website before, I remembered that the train station names weren't always self-evident. For Venice, if you see:

VE S.L.
MESTRE

That means that the train starts in VEnice Santa Lucia station, then continues to Mestre.

You do want your train from VE S.L.
I hope that this helps.