Italy Trains & Buses

I'll concur with the other posters...I always just purchased inexpensive, walk-up, point-to-point, second-class tickets in Italy and had no trouble anywhere getting tickets for the next train out. Unless you're taking a fast train that requires reservations, such as the Italian Eurostar, this is a good way to go.

A lot depends on your travel plans so it is difficult to comment without some idea of how often and where you plan to travel. But - in general rail fares in Italy are very reasonable and with some advance purchase discounts it is most likely that a rail pass purchased in the US will not pay. With the exception of night trains 99.9% of the Italian trains never sell out. It is easy to buy tickets just before departure. It is very difficult to purchase tickets in advance in the US because the Italian train site does not like American credit cards. And the travel agencies like Rail Europe charge high fees for their services. So it is best to wait till you are there.

Thank you...that helps a great deal

There is no comprehensive public transportation pass in Italy, and if is there a country where rail passes lose their money, it's Italy (almost every train requires a supplement). So it's better to buy tickets point-to-point, AVOID NIGHT TRAINS IN ITALY ALTOGETHER AS THEY ARE THE WORST IN WESTERN EUROPE, filled with illegal immigrants, strange people, and sometimes eery looking/sounding/smelling ones, and buy urban transportation tickets as needed. Within cities (the bigger ones) you can usually find a "biglieto giornalero", which means a day travel card to use within that city buses/trams/subway only. These are good value.