Rail Pass vs. Other Option

Specials are indeed the way to go if you learn how to work the train websites. You'll need www.trenitalia.com for Italy, www.rail.ch for Switzerland and www.tgv-europe.com for France. In general, you won't be able to buy these tickets until you are within 90 days of trave. For Rome to Florence, the regular fare is 56E. But, I'm seeing 29E and 39E mini-fares during the day. The webiste advertises a 9E fare but I see none in the middle of May. Like the airlines, they probably offer this fare on the worse desired runs of the day. Go for the 29E and 39E. From Florence to Siena, there are great SITA express bus runs. You can take the train but the train station is almost a mile from the city. Fare is 7.70E each way. From Florence to Geneva, its a 6.5hr to 9.0hr train journey depending on the run you choose. I am unable to pull up the fare information. They want to send it to me in 48 hours. For the Geneva/Paris run, you should be able to get some good discounted fares. From Paris to Rome, I would suggest flying. But, should you want the train, the lowest Eco fare that I see is 160E and the journey takes 10.5hrs. Other fares are higher.

Why not do an open jaw ticket? Into Rome and home Paris. Save both time and money. In our opinion second class is more than adequate. We never do first class unless we can get deal which makes the cost equal or almost equal to second.

Yes, Nigel, it is the HIE. I've been trying to book within a walk of a train station, but I see this is out of town and would require a taxi.
Carol

Carol if you will PM me to remind me when I get home from work I will see it and can give you some hints. It will be late at night and I may not respond until tomorrow.

Carol, is this a return trip to Switzerland, or your first time? If a return the Golden Pass up to Interlaken in a day is OK. The attraction of that route really is the one cliff. The rest of the scenery is good but not Switzerland's best. I've done it. If coming from Firenze you will bypass several areas with neat mountains to get all the way around to Geneve. If I wanted to see Swiss Alps I'd go a different way, especially if this is your rookie journey.

Thank you, Larry. So reading between the lines it sounds like the specials are often still the fast trains but discounted? I am counting on fastsuch as 6 hours between Florence and Geneva. Is there a SITA bus company I look up or does that stand for something? From Paris to Rome, I know it's long. I figured it was worth the adventure of getting to see 3 countries. Kinda assuming a flight would be cost prohibitive compared to the train. Thanks for all the notes. I'll be copying ALL this to plot out. LOL.
Carol

Hi Frank, our free airline tickets do not allow open jaw. I checked! On 1st vs. 2nd for so-oo much "training" time my husband has requested 1st class. I think I've read the seats are better, there is more room, etc. That is very important to him. He can have some health issues sitting that long. Or am I mistaken on the fast trains that it would be pretty much the same. We don't care so much about dining car and all that; we can plan ahead. It's the seat comfort and amount of room. Thanks!!

Hi Nigel, Yep rookie trip and once-in-a-lifetime dream trip, actually. We have free plane tickets and almost all free hotel rooms. Originally I had looked at the Bernina Express. Looks like a fabulous trip to get up to the train through Italy, etc. I had considered staying in Milan and taking the train up from there and then round-tripping the Bernina. But decided it was just too long of a day and that would ruin it. The problem was that I needed a Holiday Inn point to stay, and reasonable access/time to get to a next destination. And there's a Holiday Inn in Geneva. Originally we had planned to stay in Italy our whole trip. But we were so-oo close to the Alps I wanted to see them. So I found the Geneva option, 2 nights/1 day and then decided if I was going to have a 3-country rail pass (as I had assumed) we'd go up to Paris for 3 nights/2 days. Thus the long trip back to Rome--which is worth it--because we have to fly out there. Carol

You should be able to get the 9 euro mini fares for October travel ( but not yet). Larry was looking at May and they are probably all gone. I saw some yesterday for June travel in the middle of the day, not odd times. Now I will try to save you some more money. For October travel, you can get 2 for 1 4-day Swiss passes that will cover your time there. I know it is only 3 days but still a good deal. Use what you save to take the Bernina Express instead of spending 2 nights in Geneva and doing a day trip on the Golden pass. With the Bernina, you could end in Luzern and spend the night. Then take the whole Golden Pass and see the best parts ( Luzern to Interlaken) and the trip down to Montreux in the right direction. All covered on your Swiss Pass. You can still spend one night at your Holiday Inn before heading to Paris.

Also, you are adding a LOT of travel time and expense by adding Paris to this trip. Is it really that important? You could spend more time in Italy and add a day to Switzerland to really see the best of the Alps.

Hi Sasha, Goodness that is an interesting idea. If we did that, we'd forgo Paris. Paris was not originally on our trip plan. It's just that I thought I'd be buying the 3-country pass, so it made a lot of sense. So that's two of you that really think (and neither of you said it this way) that we are kinda wasting our time just to do the Golden pass as a day trip. It almost sounds like we would be disappointed. I live in the flatlands of Ohio. I guess I figured that if I were in real mountains it would all be awesome. Thanks for the very interesting idea. (and there's a holiday inn in luzern, too). Hmmmm....Carol

It is my understanding that all airlines frequent flyer programs allow open jaw. We do it all the time with United and once with American. Just have to ask.

Carol, you are quick! Yes, I didn't want to say "waste of time" but you got the gist. I think Nigel meant the same. The western part of the Golden pass route is not as good as the eastern part (Luzern to Interlaken). And the Bernina is the best of all. If you want to see snowy peaks and hanging glaciers, that is the one. And Luzern has lots more charm than Geneva, so if there is Holiday Inn for you there, then it's good! Luzern is a pretty little city on a lake and you can see mountains right from there. The air is clean and sparkles, I've only been to Lake Geneva twice, but both times it was hazy and not very scenic. So it's fine for your one night at the end of the Golden Pass day, but not good for a 2-night stay.

Well apparently I should have been reading here sooner for many reasons, not LOL. Frank thanks for the heads-up on United. It might be too late to change. Have dh checking on that possibility. Sasha, darn I thought I had read that the good part was Interlaken to Montreaux. Okay, really thanking you all for the great info. I'll be thinking and considering.
Carol

Well that was fast. Yes, we could do open jaw, but it would have been 200,000 points, so only 1 of us could go. LOL!!

Carol you read between the lines of what I was saying. There is a HIE a few km out of Luzern in the Raststatte where I have probably stayed 10 times (lost count). Is there a full service HI in Luzern? I hadn't noticed one.