Europass Select or individual ticket

Flexibility equals $$$. In Italy, you should be able to pick up 2nd class Freccia and Intercity tickets pretty reasonably. As you have seen, the Thalys railpass reservations are almost as much as buying a ticket. Also, you are back tracking a bit. Start in Venice, then Florence, then Rome, then CT on the coast route. Interlaken to Paris, then Brussels, then end in Amsterdam. Minimize backtracking to keep the travel costs down

"From my calculations ..."

Where did you get the individual ticket prices for your calculations? From the national rail websites? If you used RailEurope, go directly to jail, do not pass go. Did you check advance purchase discount on each national website? Regional passes? Where did you get reservation fees? In all of my travels, I've never found a railpass to pay for itself.

Thanks, some good information so far. I am flying into Rome and out out Paris, with a stop over in Ancona to visit some friends, that is why my path zig zags a little. From the comment earlier, I did use RailEurope to price out my individual tickets. From the comment I guess you are saying they are overpriced compared to the national train pass? Reservations fees has been hard to fine, I just estimated from Rick Steve's books and other online resources.

RailEurope are a reseller, selling and pricing only the most expensive prices on many routes.Why Rick Steves continues to use them baffles me, but they do have the advantage of speaking English and being a one stop shop.

For the same reasons that passes are convenient - for a price, often a very big price, so RailEurope is convenient - for a price, often a very big price.

It all depends what is more important to you - convenience or price.

Yes, with a pass (That's a Eurailpass not a europass which sounds like a pass to the European currency) you can get on many trains and only has the inconvenience of mandatory reservations on the Italian and French (and Thalys) trains. But that really comes at a big price.

When is the trip? (Important answer, please)

Thalys and TGV passholder reservations are tightly quota controlled and often people who wait to the last minute for those end up paying full fare to get to their destination because there are no more passholder reservations (but plenty of empty seats) on their chosen trains. That's expensive and not convenient.

Similar problems getting reservations in Italy, but this time all you have to do is wait in queues for a long time.

If you buy point to point you can use machines which speak English, print out at home, and take advantage of all sorts of discounts.

If you have to plan ahead to get the reservations, where's the flexibility?

When you say "Interlaken" do you really mean Interlaken or is that shorthand for going to the Lauterbrunnen Valley Alps?

Going to Interlaken is like going to Hoboken when you mean 5th Avenue. You can see the tops of the peaks (skyscrapers) but they are too far away to do anything.

Yes going to take train to Interlaken and then trip up to Jungfraujoch with a stop in Gimmewald. Trip is from October 1st - 17th.

I'm sure she is going farther than Interlaken, but ...

Rail Europe sells a ticket from Bern to Lauterbrunnen for $8 more than from Bern to Interlaken. IOW, they charge $8 for Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen. According to SBB, Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen is 7,40CHF, about $7.90. In other words, comparing the fare all the way past Interlaken is probably unnecessary.

With your time scale so close, just 2 to 4 weeks out, you are between a rock and a hard place.

You have enough time to get a Eurailpass but need to act promptly to get the rare TGV and Thalys passholder reservations. Even now, depending on which day you will need them, it may be difficult.

Getting the passholder reservations for the Italian trains is unlikely to be difficult but will be expensive - €10 per person per Freccia segment, €3 per Intercity segment, pp.

Rome - Venice, Freccia
Venice - Florence, Freccia
Florence - Cinque Terre, probably InterCity plus Regionale
Cinque Terre to Interlaken, a combination of various segments including EuroCity Milan to Spiez or Luzern and one or more InterCity segments towards Milano.
Interlaken to Amsterdam via Paris is domestic Swiss trains (no reservation), and Basel or other city to Paris by TGV, Paris to Amsterdam by Thalys.

The reason I say rock and a hard place because with so little time available it is likely you won't be able to get the nice low advance fares available on those routes. The only way is to try. Have a look at your exact dates and times, they will all be available at Trenitalia, SBB, Thalys, and SNCF.

I say to go to Amsterdam via Paris because you are looking at a 4 country Select Pass which must be Italy, France, Switzerland and Benelux (Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands, which count as one country for the Pass). The only problem is that Germany is in the way, and the quickest trains from Switzerland to Amsterdam go through Germany. That would mean Global Pass, or going (with big reservation costs) via Paris, or paying the Germany bit out of pocket on top of the Pass. Or fly, but at this late date prepare to spend money.

Hmmm.... I think you have to run the numbers.

"Yes going to take train to Interlaken and then trip up to Jungfraujoch with a stop in Gimmewald." The Jungfraubahn doesn't pass through Gimmemwald. It's on the opposite side of the valley.

Some may disagree with me, but why Mr. Steves makes such a big deal out of this ordinary village is beyond me. True, it's in a magnificent location, but so are all the other villages in the area. If you decide to skip it, .you're not missing much that you wouldn't see elsewhere in the Berner Oberland.