Because the fares on high-speed trains in Italy have gone up this past year, railpasses for Italy alone can be a good choice if you will take several trips on high-speed trains. If you limit yourself mostly to IC and Regionale trains, then they're not such a good deal. To get point-to-point fares go to the Trenitalia site. Fares for Regionale trains are only shown up to seven days in advance. Enter a date within the next few days so you see all possible fares on all possible trains.

Seat reservations for passholders cost 10.00 EUR for EuroStar Italia trains and 3.00 EUR for IC trains. There is open seating on Regionale trains and no reservations are possible.

If you want more help in doing a cost analysis, tell us what your itinerary is.

You will be moving to a new locale every 30 hours. Have you thought through all that this would involve?

Hi, Elise is my wife.
Below is the trains we think we will be taking and the 1st class price we think it will cost in euros. We got the prices from this website: www.trenitalia.com

*Arrive - from airport to Rome(10euro)one way
*day 1 - Rome to Florence(62euro)one way
*day 2 - Florence to Pisa(20euro)return
*day 3 - Florence to Siena(15euro)return
*day 4 - Florence to Levanto(16euro)one way
*day 6 - Levanto to Sirmione(60euro)one way
*day 8 - Sirmione to Venice(30euro)one way
*day 10 - Venice to Rome(100euro)one way
*day 12 - Rome to Airport(10euro)one way

total cost 323 euro, 427 Canadian dollars (if my conversion is correct)

This doesn't include the trains when in Levanto to the different little towns in Cinque Terre we would like to see.

Now we can purchase a saver pass at the www.raileurope.ca site for 9 days for 355 Canadian. (http://www.raileurope.ca/rail-tickets-passes/eurail-italy-pass/discounts-and-pricing.html)

So based on this we are thinking that it looks like a 1st class pass for 9 days would be well worth it?

Its a lot of stops but based on the train times and schedules it didn't seem to bad but we were curious what sessioned travelers thought?

From this seasoned traveler -- we never use first class. For us it is not worth difference in price. Second the Leonard Express is now 14E and not covered on any pass so take it out of your numbers. Also if you use the high speed trains or any train with a seat reservation requirement there are additional fees for the reservation.

According to the Railpasses section on this site, 1st class passes (but not 2nd class passes) are good on the Leonardo Express between FCO and Termini.

The passholder reservation fee is 10 EUR on high-speed EuroStar Italia trains and 3 EUR on IC trains. Reservations are not possible on regional trains.

If you get 9 day, 1st class Saver passes, your cost per pass day will be about 31 EUR for each of you. On days you take high-speed trains for fairly long distances, you'll get your money's worth that day. If you only take short rides on regional trains, you won't get your money's worth that day.

Up until a year ago it was safe to say that a railpass for Italy alone always will cost more than point-to-point tickets. However, Trenitalia has raised the fare for high-speed trains, thus making a pass more cost effective, even with the reservation fees you'll have to pay to ride those trains. Because of all the trips you will be taking, including roundtrips on some days, a pass could be a good choice for you. But if your credit card works on the Trenitalia site and you book ES and IC trains 15 or more days in advance, you can get Meno 30 fares (30% discount) for those trains (no discounts on regional trains). In that case, p2p tickets definitely would be cheaper than a pass.

I got a slightly lower total than you did when I added up the cost of 1st class point-to-point tickets for your routes, but not enough to bother reporting.

Finally, I'm with the others who say that traveling 1st class isn't worth the extra cost. But only you know what's best for you.

Thanks everyone for all the advice.

On further checking it seems a blend of using a pass for the more expensive trips and buying tickets at the station for cheaper short trips is the way to go.

We wanted to spend a little extra on the first class pass and are looking at using it for the following trips (Rome to Florence-62euro, Levanto to Sirmione-70euro, Sirmione to Venice-30euro, Venice to Rome-100euro)=$228CND+reservation costs and then for the shorter trips mentioned in my previous post we would just purchase at the station.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

1 - Usage of the pass will still entail arriving at the station and purchasing a reservation?

2 - Purchasing tickets for the shorter trips can be done at the station and if a reservation is needed it can be purchased at the same time?

From what I understand the p2p tickets are for a particular day of travel and train. I wanted a little more flexibility in when we leave each day so that we are not pressured to catch a particular train and or need to hassle with changing tickets if we didn't make it to the train station in time so I don't think the p2p tickets are what we want.

Besides cost can anyone provide a little insight into the usage of a pass.

-Does the pass always need to be stamped at the station before boarding the train?

-Do we need to do anything before we use it for the first time? i.e. more then just have it stamped?

-How much extra time should we arrive at the station before departure?

-Anything else to be aware of?

"#1 - Usage of the pass will still entail arriving at the station and purchasing a reservation?

2 - Purchasing tickets for the shorter trips can be done at the station and if a reservation is needed it can be purchased at the same time? "

You are correct on both.

"From what I understand the p2p tickets are for a particular day of travel and train. I wanted a little more flexibility in when we leave each day so that we are not pressured to catch a particular train and or need to hassle with changing tickets if we didn't make it to the train station in time so I don't think the p2p tickets are what we want."

Premium train tickets (high speed and IC) are for a specific train, regional trains are only for a route and can be used I believe on any regional train on that route within 48 hrs of purchase. You can purchase tickets right up to the time of departure from machines, so flexibility works in that manner.

"-Does the pass always need to be stamped at the station before boarding the train?" No, but on a flex pass the current date of travel must be filled in.

"-Do we need to do anything before we use it for the first time? i.e. more then just have it stamped?"

Basically you go to a ticket window, show your ID, the agent will validate it and you are ready to go.

-How much extra time should we arrive at the station before departure?

If you need reservations or tickets at a busy station, I would allow a half hour to an hour, other wise 15 minutes is fine.

-Anything else to be aware of?

Any P to P tickets that you buy will require validating in the little yellow boxes near the platforms. This technically is not required on a high speed ticket for a specific train and seat, but I do it anyway out of habit.

Second class is the way most Europeans travel....we only go first class when it's deemed necessary to buy a Eurail pass....that's where you'll see most business travelers. As for reservations in Italy, be sure to allow enough time when reserving at train stations prior to departure. We usually travel off season and still there are lines. Sometimes we'll make a special trip to the station a day or so in advance just to avoid added stress the day of.