Train travel in Switzerland and Italy

Hi Paul. Point to point will work well. For the Italy trips, there are many high speed trains per day from Milan to Venice (2nd half of your Geneva to Venice trip), Venice to Florence, and Florence to Rome. Use trenitalia.com, you can buy online up to 120 days in advance for a discount if you are OK locking in your exact date and time. Otherwise if you buy the date of train you will pay the 'base' fare shown. For stations, use Milano Centrale, Venezia SL, Firenze SM, Roma Termini. Enjoy your trip!

Paul, I agree with the previous reply. Railpasses are often not a cost effective option for travel in Italy, especially as these don't include the reservation fees which are compulsory on the "premium" trains such as the Freccia high speed trains. Tickets are usually fairly inexpensive, especially for those that pre-purchase the "Super Economy" tickets on the Trenitalia website (however, they're very popular so usually sell out quickly). Some here have reported that the website is sometimes not too "user friendly" though. You may find it helpful to have a look at the excellent Ron In Rome website. For the three routes you mentioned, you could also consider the new Italo high speed service, which has been getting some good reviews. They operate on all those routes, however in some cases they use different stations (ie: in Rome they use Tibertina rather than the more popular Termini). It's important to know the correct stations to use! When travelling by train in Italy, there are a couple of VERY IMPORTANT potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of. I don't have enough room left here, so will describe those in the next post. Happy travels!

Paul - Part 2..... When using Regionale trains which don't require reservations, it's VERY IMPORTANT to validate (time & date stamp) the tickets prior to boarding the train. This includes the Leonardo Express which travels from the airport to Roma Termini. The validation (Convalida) machine will either be bright yellow or blue & gray, with a small digital display on the front. These are easy to find, and located close to the tracks. If the machine is out of order, writing the time & date on the ticket may be acceptable (ask the Conductor as soon as possible). Those caught with unvalidated tickets may be fined on the spot! The fines start at €50 per person and if not paid on the spot, these DOUBLE and increase from there! The same fines apply to those travelling via Bus in Rome and other places (in that case, validation machines are often located on-board the Bus). Conductors are now carrying portable debit/credit card Terminals, so payment of fines will be easily accomplished one way or the other. Those travelling on the "premium" trains such as the Freccia (high speed) MUST have a valid reservation or again may be fined on the spot! These fines also start at €50 per person, in addition to the cost of the reservation, which is currently ~€10. Reservations on these trains are compulsory and are specific to a particular train & departure time. It's NOT POSSIBLE to simply buy a ticket with reservations and then board ANY train. The ticket or reservation will specify the train number (ie: ES9718), so it's important to verify that before boarding. Those with reservations will be assigned a Car No. (Carrozza) and a Seat No. (Posti). Cheers!

Don't forget the new (and far better) train from ItaloTreno, a private competitor to the state bloated rail company (Trenitalia). They have several routes per day.

Thanks so much! Your comments are really helpful.