Booking Travel to 4 Countries - Very Lost, Help?

Hi
know you didn't ask , but IMHO, you have too many places for too little time. Does the 14 days include the day arriving in Europe and then departing home? If yes , you have 12 days in between. Then you have a travel day to and from Lucerne and then to Venice, to Florence and to Rome - so 5 days. (yes , these are not full days but it does take time).Even flying to Switzerland does take time (travel to airport, from airport).
I would think of Paris -Lucerne -Venice as doable, or just Italy.
If you do just Italy - you can get an Italy Pass.
Others here will be better able to help you calculate the fares and options.
I was able to get reservation while in these countries easily, but did reserve the major trips (Florence to Rome) ahead.
Enjoy!

You could just call RailEurope and have them calculate if you're better off with a pass or point to point tickets. RailEurope isn't popular on this forum - they are more expensive than other websites - but you are paying for their customer service and handholding.

OMG - I can't believe there are still people out there recommending Eurail Passes or possibly even worse...an Italian Rail Pass.

1) The only country that a railpass makes sense is Switzerland, and you're not spending enough time there to even THINK about that.

2) You've got too many destination. Eliminate 1 - probably Switzerland.

3) Fly from Paris to Venice

4) Train from Venice to Rome (point-to-point ticket)

You didn't tell us where you're flying INTO and home FROM. Hopefully you're flying open jaw, but I'm guessing probably not.

Thank you very much for all of the advice so far. I know we are cramming - but I am OK with that. 2-3 days in each destination. We are flying into Paris and flying home from Rome.

With all of that said, thoughts?

Like Tim said. Then you only need tickets for Venice to Florence and Florence to Rome, the cost of which full fare hi-speed trains are 43 and 45 euro respectively. At this late date, it hardly makes sense to buy in advance as the discount is tiny and locks you in to a specific train date and time. They run about once every hour, so go when you want.

OK thank you. If I am not going to change the destinations, should I still travel all by train? And purchase all as point-to-point?

Since you're traveling in winter, you would be able to get the current off-peak discount on the Select Pass. If there are two or more travelers, the current price is $314 per person in 1st class, plus a seat reservation fee on each major leg of the trip.

The seat reservation from Paris to Basel (the simplest connection point in Switzerland) will be the most expensive one and important to book ahead; the same applies to the regular, reserved train tickets on that route. The price and availability of either tickets or reservations for that first leg will probably help you decide. Rail Europe sells both through this link, for comparison. (They don't always sell the cheapest category of TGV tickets, but those are already sold out this close to your travel date).

As mentioned already, the Italian routes are shorter/cheaper to start with and don't necessarily have to be reserved ahead (although they are reserved trains). Flying from Paris to Italy is usually cheaper than taking the train (especially the train via Switzerland); see also www.skyscanner.com.

Yes, purchase all your tickets point to point and seat reservations are included when you buy those point to point tickets (where seat reservations are required). Laura is throwing in the darn Eurail Pass stuff again which is overpriced for what you need AND you'll have to purchase a Seat Reservation on top of that. Since you seem to be a novice at this just take the simplest route and buy point to point. Either purchase your ticket Paris->Basel via RailEurope or purchase it in person at any ticket counter in Paris when you arrive. Your other point to point tickets can also be bought at the ticket counter. WHen you get to Basel purchase your ticket to Lucerne. Purchase your ticket in either Basel or Lucerne for your trip to Venice. When you get to Venice buy your ticket to Rome. It's not complicated.

OK thank you both!

I have only done point-to-point trains, but I buy them online and just print out the tickets at home ... no waiting for shipping .
But as noted above, the economy tickets are probably sold out so just buy at the station for flexibility.

amanda,

It would have been prudent to post a bit earlier, as it may have been possible to get some discounted tickets, especially in Italy. Leaving this to the last minute probably means that you'll be paying full price for tickets.

It would help to know whether you've travelled in Europe before, as you'll need to be aware of how to change trains, finding the right platforms, etc. There are some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of when using public transit in Italy. If you need more information, post another note.

All of the trips you'll be making are relatively easy by train. You can research each of the solutions using the bahn.de website. I'm not sure a Rail Pass is the most cost effective option in your case, keeping in mind that most of the trains you'll be using are fast trains which have compulsory seat reservations. The reservations are not included with Rail Passes, so you'll have to pay for those separately. Rail Passes are usually not a good option for Italy, as trains are relatively inexpensive, especially when discounted tickets are pre-purchased. One other point is that Pass Holder reservations on French trains are limited, and once the quota for a particular train is sold-out, you wouldn't be able to buy reservations even if there were seats available.

Some information on each of the routes you'll be travelling.....

• Paris to Lucerne - one of the shortest trips is a departure from Gare de Lyon at 10:23, arriving Lucerne at 15:05 (time 4H:42M, 1 change at Basel SBB).
• Lucerne to Venice - one of the shortest trips is a departure at 08:46, arriving Venezia S. Lucia at 15:40 (time 6H:54M, 1 change at Milano Centrale).
• Venice to Florence - using a high speed Freccia or Italo train, this trip will be 2H:05M (no changes) to Firenze S.M. Novella (numerous departures to choose from).
• Florence to Rome - again via high speed Freccia or Italo, this trip will be about 90 minutes (no changes) to Roma Termini.

Note that the reservations on high speed trains are specific to train, date and departure time, so you can only board the one train specified on the ticket. If you're caught without valid reservations on trains in Italy, you'll be subject to hefty fines which will be collected on the spot.

"and I need to finalize asap to have my tickets shipped to US in time. Yikes!"

No need to have tickets shipped. Use www.capitainetrain.com and you can print your tickets at home. The website may not be able to sell tickets for trips originating in Switzerland, but you should be able to get the others there. If you want to purchase tickets for the trip from Lucerne to Milan, use the sbb.ch website.

If you decide that you want a Rail Pass, you can purchase one from THIS WEBSITE and I believe these are shipped from the U.S.

Happy travels!

Right now, looks like you get a TGV to Basel for 79 to 89 euro now with a connection to Luzern for another 17 CHF. Must buy now at www.capitainetrain.com. It would take about 4 1/2 hours total and is the best way.

You might consider flying from Zurich to Venice as the total time from Luzern to the main island in about 5 hours (1 hour to Zurich airport, 2 hours check in, 1 hour flight, 1 hour into Venice from the airport). You would need to book the 7:25 am flight to get a price of 78 CHF now (Swiss Air). Rail would take 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 hours, at a similar price, your call.

Besides the websites mentioned, I'll add rome2rio.com and seat61.com to help find the websites and check the costs for tickets.

In case you are still considering a rail pass, one more reason not to get one… France significantly limits the number of seats available to pass holders. Consequently, there may be plenty of seats available but none that can be reserved by a pass holder. It happened to me the one time I bought a pass – I had to leave a segment of the pass unused and purchase a full fare ticket to get to my destination. It was an expensive lesson in why not to buy a rail pass.

A rail pass for your trip is a waste of money. Trains in Italy are cheap and on high-speed trains your ticket includes your seat reservation. I think in Switzerland the reservation costs a few francs more.

Train it, buy tickets online and print them at home for your convenience. Paper size 8.5x11 will work.

At the train station, look for the train number, not the destination city.