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Rail n Drive Pass - why are they no longer sold?

Hello Everyone,

I have been voraciously reading the forums for help in planning my trip for later this year. I've seen the debates on rail pass vs no pass, and I don't wish to open that can of worms.

Here's my question:

I want to drive my way through Italy - start at Lecce and end up in Milan, with a few stops along the way. However, I can see where a rail pass might be easier in larger cities and areas (avoiding the ZTL in Florence/Rome, no cars in Venice, et.al.).

The rail and drive pass seemed perfect for what I wanted to do, but it's no longer available for purchase as of Jan 2014. Does anyone know why or if there are any viable alternatives to the rail and drive pass? I did search the forums before posting but I didn't see any recent forum posts about this.

Thanks for your help,
cg

Posted by
16895 posts

The Rail & Drive pass was a package created by Rail Europe but is no longer available due to a sales/bundling rule change by Eurail. When it was around, the Italy version did not usually seem cheaper than a separate car rental for 3 or more days (but 1-day rentals are expensive to reserve ahead). See Auto Europe for a price quote. There's usually no extra fee to pick up and drop the car in different parts of Italy.

P.S. My sister's screen name is pastrygirl.