Hi all,
Our family of 4 will be traveling in March 2019 from Milan > Vernazza > Pisa > Florence > Bologna > Rome, and a day trip from Rome to Pompeii and back.
Does is make sense to do a rail pass, or point to point? Thoughts?
Posted by
Fort Myers, FL
1881 posts
More than likely point to point.
Posted by
🏝️ Hobe Sound, FL⛱️
3279 posts
Definitely point to point. Rail passes in Italy are a bad buy.If you are taking any fast trains, buy the tickets in advance to get best prices. If you’re using Regionale trains, no advance purchase is necessary since prices don’t vary. You can check schedules and prices at trenitalia website.. When entering station names, they must be in Italian. (Milano Centrale, Padova, Firenze S M Novella, Bologna Centrale, Roma Termini)
Posted by
3439 posts
Agree that point to point is the way to go (pun intended). Personally, I like to use loco2.com to buy train tickets - user friendly for us Americans.
Posted by
OP
Montana
61 posts
Thanks, folks. I appreciate the feedback.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8056 posts
Just to elaborate on what most people have found for Italy, the distance that you will travel on a travel day will be relatively short, making the cost for a point to point ticket less than the daily cost for a pass. Add to that the requirement to pay a supplement for a reservation on the fast trains and the math doesn't work.
It might if your itinerary bounced from Sicily to Venice to Naples to Florence, etc.; but then that itinerary wouldn't make sense.
Posted by
OP
Montana
61 posts
Thank you. As a follow-up, is it advised to make reservations ahead of time or will day-of purchase suffice?
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
High Speed trains need a reservation, regionalle have no reservations.
If you buy a ticket for a train where reservations are needed, it will include the reserved seats.
High Speed trains tickets are a lot cheaper if bought in advance. The ticket will be train specific, on the ticket it will give: from, to, date, time, train ID, coach number and seat number. Buy as soon as you are prepared to commit which train you want to travel on.
You can buy on the day at the station, but it costs more.
It is only pass-holders who need to make a separate seat reservation.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Buying Italian train tix for those very nice high speed trains can be dirt cheap if you buy the tix early. The earlier you buy the better chance of getting the super economy tix. Italian Railpasses are really a waste of your money. I should know because I did it on my very first trip. After that I just buy those dirt cheap super economy tix.