I am going to Italy in April 2010 and am staying in Florence for five days with three day trips planned - one to Assisi, one to Pisa and one to Cinque Terre. I was thinking of getting a Saver railpass and had a few questions. Is this a good purchase in lieu of daily tickets? Are reservations available between Florence and these cities on the trains?
Thanks for any input!
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
As Steve says, point-to-point tickets in Italy are usually cheaper than a railpass. To get exact fares for your routes, go to www.trenitalia.com and enter any date between now and 12 December. (New timetables will go into effect on 13 December so the site won't give you the information you need for dates beyond 12 December.) The site is available in English.
The site will tell you which trains, if any, require reservations. Fast trains like the EuroStar Italia require them and the cost of the reservation is included in the price of the ticket. (With a railpass you will pay a 15-20 euro reservation fee for ES trains.) Tickets on regional trains are cheap and no reservations are possible. You can decide if saving time is worth the cost of a ticket on a high-speed train or if saving money is more important when the route is also served by regional trains.
I did a quick check on your routes. For Florence-Assisi and Florence-Pisa you will be on regional trains exclusively.
Depending upon your departure times, for Florence-Cinque Terre you are likely to have legs on either a EuroStar Italia train or an InterCity train as well as legs on regional trains. Like ES trains, IC trains require reservations. (For railpass holders, reservations on IC trains are around 5 EUR.)
Posted by
OP
Murfreesboro, TN, USA
8 posts
Thanks for the replies and checking the schedules! I had thought that buying them individually may be the way to go....I am assuming it best to buy them before leaving the States - correct?
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
There is no need to buy your tickets before you get to Italy. First of all, while your credit card will work at Italian stations, it will not work on the Trenitalia Web site. Second, even for trains that require reservations, since the reservation is included in the price of the ticket, you can buy tickets until just before the time of departure. (It's a good idea, however, to buy them a day or two in advance.) Tickets on regional trains are good for 60 days. Be sure to validate all tickets in the yellow machines at the station. If you get on a train without a validated ticket, the conductor will fine you on the spot.
Posted by
Gettysburg, PA
1589 posts
Dear Lisa,
" and one to Cinque Terre"
This would be a waste of time in my opinion. 8 of your hours would be used in transit. If you go to the CT, and you SHOULD go, stay overnight for at least one night.
Whatever your plans, have a great trip!
Posted by
OP
Murfreesboro, TN, USA
8 posts
Bob -
Thanks for the info - I know it is a push to go to the CT in one day - thinking I may have to hcange that on the fly!