RailPass Help needed for first timers

Bahn is the Germany rail. It shows schedules for all of Europe but only prices for trips either starting or ending in Germany. Use trenitalia.com for Italy. Second you will not find much scheduling information past about mid December. So if looking for prices just use the same day of the week next months. Schedule change very little from one time period to another.

Unfortunately there is not a simple answer to rail passes. Historically a rail pass was a no brainer but with the requirements of additional fees for high speed trains, limitations on some train systems on the number of seats available for passholders, deep discounts available for advance purchase, etc., it becomes difficult to breakeven on passes under a lot of conditions. They only way to know is to do the math. Lay out each train trip, price it, and add it up. A lot of work but that is the only way you will know.

I looked on the Bahn web site, but several of the routes say that 'Fares are not available'. Example from Monterosso to Florence.

One thing for sure, Bolzano, Italy, to Zagreb, Croatia, via Austria and Slovenia would be 4 countries. It would be only three if you could go directly to Slovenia from Italy, avoiding Austria. If you start in the morning and finish by the end of the day, it would be 1 day. The number of countries applies to the number of countries you go through using the pass during the entire validity time of the pass, regardless of how many days in any one country. So here you are going through Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia, 6 countries. You need a global pass (but global passes start at 10 days). The number of days applies to the actual number of calendar days in which you travel with the pass, no matter how many countries you might be in in that day. From what you write, I see four days of travel. Frankfurt to Interlaken in one day would use one day of the pass, and if you just go through Germany and Switzerland, both countries must be included in the pass. You might want to get a four day, five country pass for the first five countries, then buy the ticket from Slovenia to Zagreb point-point. As Frank point out, German Rail only shows fares for which they sell tickets online, and those are only connections which at least start or end in Germany. For the other legs, you must go to the national rail company website for that country. You can find a list of these websites on the Eurail website, www.eurail.com.

Another quick way to look at it is on a daily cost bases. What does a 5 day pass Saver cost per day? You were going to use it for one day between Monterosso and Florence. The base fare, fast train, no discount is 46E/person. Discounted fares could be in the range of 10E/person. You would have to pay 10E/person just for seat reservation using the pass. The Regional train on that route (1 hr slower) is 28E. So if your daily pass is less than $50/person you will save a little. If not you pay more using a pass.

I want to thank everybody for the help. I'm confused about one response which indicated that our trip from Bolzano, Italy to Zagreb, Croatia would be 4 countries on a rail pass. On Rick Steves website, it says that a rail pass for Slovenia and Croatia would be counted as 1 country. Can anybody help me with this?

IF that is what Rick say, I believe it. I was looking at a Eurail map, which showed Slovenia and Croatia as separate countries. That might have been the map of countries under the global pass. I see now the page for Select passes showing Croatia/Slovenia as a single country.

Thanks again for all the information. Here are some additional questions the 'first timers' have come up with. Again, any help will be appreciated.... -- During our stay in Cinque Tere, do they have something like a 'local 3 day pass'to cover the train, boats and sites? -- On the Bahn website - "Global price" is noted on certain routes. Is this an additional fee? If so, how can I find out how much it is? -- Also on the Bahn website - "It is mandatory to hold a valid ticket in local lines (REX, R S-Bahn)". This was noted on the route between San Candido, Lienz and Villach Austria. What does this mean? -- How much 'transfer time' is a safe amount of time between trains? I know larger train stations may require more time, but what is a 'safe amount'.
-- Even if we have Selectpass, are there additional fees or restriction for traveling on Eurocity, and EuroStar Italia? Any ideal as to how much or what they are?

For night trains, "global" price refers to the total price, rail fare plus your accommodations (seats, couchettes, sleepers). Was this for a night train? If you look under "availability", you'll see a table of night train fares, including advance purchase discount and Global. At the bottom of the page, it say "book only extra charge". This is a a link to the table of surcharges, ie, charges for the accommodations, since rail passes cover the rail fare but not the accommodation charges. On some local lines in Austria (Innsbruck to Kufstein, I know), the stations are automated and it is not possible to buy your ticket on the local train. You must use the automat and purchase a valid ticket before you ride. In Germany, the only train that requires a surcharge to ride is the ICE Sprinter, of which there are very few. For an EC, you can just get on with your rail pass and find an unreserved, empty seat. In Italy, however, most, if not all, express trains (Eurostar Italia, ICs), require a surcharge in addition to the rail pass. You can pay the surcharge at the counter and with it you get a seat reservation. You cannot just hop on with your rail pass. These surcharges are, I believe, around 10€ for Eurostar Italia and a few Euro for ICs. For almost any station, I would be comfortable with 10 minutes transfer time, but it is helpful to know in advance the track numbers for arrival and departure and the station layout so you know where you are going. I would consider five minutes doable, but might be a little nervous. They often hold trains for important transfers for a few minutes if another train is late arriving.