Hi,
We're going to Europe this May for the first time and decided on the following itinerary -
NJ -> Paris -> Lucerne -> Venice -> Florence -> Rome -> NJ
We will be spending 2 nights in each city.
My question would be. Is it wise to purchase the 3-country eurorail saver pass (France-Switzerland-Italy) online and then purchase the (Venice-Florence-Rome) tickets in Italy the day we arrive in Venice only?
Any recommendations or objections please?
Thank you!
You really don't need the Eurail Saver passes for the limited travel that you will be doing. However, with your Saver discount, you are getting close to the P2P fares.
Let's do some math. The 3-country Eurail Saver Pass (adult) costs 275Euro for 5 days in 2 months. This fare is for one adult. Add 36Euro for the seat reservation fee that Italy will add on to your pass for the two Eurostar runs that you show above. You're up to 311Euro.
Now the P2P fares. Paris/Lucerne (105Euro). Lucerne/Venice (86Euro). Venice/Florence (33Euro). Florence/Rome (36.10Euro). That's 260Euro. You can save more P2P cash by taking the ICPlus trains between your Italian cities instead of the Eurostars. For example, Venice/Florence is 21.60Euro instead of 33Euro.
In France, I don't think your railpass will work on the underground. Nor, the bus system in Italy.
eldrick,
If it's at all possible, I'd suggest increasing your stops in Paris and Rome to at least 3 days each. They're both important cities with LOTS to see.
Regarding recommendations for Hotels, it's difficult to make any suggestions as we don't know what kind of a budget you have for accommodations? If you have any of Rick's Guidebooks, there are always lots of Hotel listings in different parts of each city and in different price ranges. That would be a good place to start.
The previous post provided excellent information regarding the rail tickets.
Cheers!
Thank you so much Larry for doing the calculation.
I just checked the price from Rick Steves for the 3 country pass and its $740 for the both of us.
Thanks for laying this out for me.
Can I purchase the point-to-point ticket online prior to my arrival in Europe?
I'm just concerned about the reservations concept. How does it work? When should I make the reservations for the eurorail saver pass or the point-to-point ticket if its needed?
Thank you!
You can do it for even less than that with p2p tickets. Second class advance fares at tgv-europe.com for Paris-Basel can be as low as 20 Euro (non refundable, non changeable), then the Swiss fare from Basel to Lucerne (the same route), is, I think, about 26 ot 27 Euro (www,sbb.ch/en). So that's half the price of buying the entire route at tgv-europe.com. These two are available on-line and come with the necessary reservations.
Norm,
Thanks a lot! Wow that turned out to be much cheaper!
Any suggestions on my transporation from Lucerne to Venice?
Thank you
