Travel by train

If you click on the Railpasses tab at the top of this page you should find answers to these questions.

A few ideas:

1) A railpass is not a good idea. You are more than likely to get better rates buying point to point tickets especially if you're willing to travel second class. If you're over 26, you can only get a first class rail pass.

2) Do not book with Eurail. They don't offer all the trains and only sell the most expensive ones. Go directly to the individual rail systems. For travel in Italy, there's really no need to buy in advance. If you plan to travel on a busy day, then buy a couple of days ahead.

3)It's less work, and bigger commission, for your travel agent just to book you rail passes. Rail Passes do not include seat reservations.

4) If you're not interested in long train rides think changing your itinerary to Munich-Venice-Verona-Como-Munich and fly between Munich and Venice on a discount airline. You might also think about flying from Milan back to Munich as Como to Munich is a nine hour train trip with up to four changes.

"Do not book with Eurail."

Eurail does not book tickets or reservations. They sell rail passes.

Do not book with RailEurope.

If you book well in advance (like you would with a travel agent) on the German Rail website (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en), you can get discounted tickets from Munich to Verona and from Verona to Munich for as low as €39 per person each way, and reservations will only be €2,50 per seat each way.

Thank you all for your very helpful suggestions! This is really a great site.

BTW, those (€39 + €2,50 resv) prices were for one of the four day trains (EC) from Verona to Munich. Reservations for accommodations in the night train would be more, but they are from Munich all the way to Venice.

As far as Como to Munich is concerned, there is an EC direct from Milan to Munich leaving Milan at 7:10. You can get a discount fare as low as €39 on that train, again with a €2,50 reservation.

Since you are not going from Verona to Munich, you can ignore those deals.

To catch a 7:10 train out of Milan, you'd have to catch a 5:23 AM train out of Como. The entire trip would take around 9 hours.

There is however, a 9:45am train out of Como that has only one change in Zurich (you bypass Milan altogether) and it takes eight hours and 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, no discount airlines fly nonstop between Milan and Munich. Just overpriced Lufthansa.

Tickets are usually not available for purchase until about 3 months prior to the travel date.

Tim, our resident rail expert, will hopefully chime in.

Ok, so somebody tell me I can do this, I can do this! The more I look into all of the hotels and travel, the more I see the agent route is a rip off.

Using a travel agent is a sore subject here. Some swear by them, others won't go near them. If you're willing to do the work, you can do it yourself. This website has lots of great information besides the board. A good book like Rick Steves' "Europe Through the Back Door" will teach you much of what you need to know about traveling in Europe.

That said, if you can find an honest travel agent who specializes in Europe and truly wants to help, then they can be a blessing. But, I don't think you found one.

Thanks Frank...one good thing is that I really like the itinerary and hotels they picked. Great locations. I guess I'll tell them thanks ;)

Karen,

As someone else mentioned, there's a bit of a "difference of opinion" on the topic of Travel Agents. I tend to use Travel Agents to book international flights and car rentals, but always arrange lodgings and local transportation myself, using the information in the Guidebooks.

You might want to have a look at Rick's "Cost Evaluation" worksheet in the Railpasses section. Add up the approximate cost of P-P tickets (which will include reservations if required) vs. the cost of a Railpass (where reservations will be extra cost). For only a few trips, I'd probably use P-P tickets.

You might find it helpful to download the free PDF Rail Guide from this website. Click the "Railpasses" tab at the top, and then look for the "Go Green" link towards the bottom of the page.

If you do decide to use a Railpass, you can purchase them from this site, and the experts at ETBD will be able to help you make the best choice.

One question - are you staying in the town of Como, or are you referring to another place on Lago di Como?

Cheers!