We are landing in Zurich for 9 days in Italy and 8 days in Switz. and want to take the train from Zurich airport to Rome. We intend to purchase rail passes from each country (4 days/60 days for italy and more days for Switz). Is this a good idea?. How does it work when crossing into another country? Thanks, Pam
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17438 posts
Pam, when are you going? I ask because for travel between cities in Italy served by the high-sped trains, you are generAlly better off buying tickets in advance on Trenitalia to get the mini fares (as low as 9 euros, but generAlly more like 19 or 29 euros unless you buy 120 days ahead). From Zurich to Milan, you may also get a discount fare on SBB that is cheaper than using up a day on a pass ( around30 CHF). So you may want a Swiss Saver pass or Flex pass, but not a pass for Italy. And if you are going in September, certain Swiss passes are two for one.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33848 posts
Pam, Lola has a pretty good handle on that. In order to help best we need a bit more. When are you going, how many (kiddoes?), where would you train to in Switzerland, Italy? My guess from what you have said is that you would do better with tickets rather than passes.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17438 posts
I have learned they are traveling late September/October, so they can get the 2-for-1 Swiss or Flex passes for Switzerland, which is a great deal. They can also almost certainly get the 9 euro Mini fares for most of their travel in Italy. That is cheaper than one would pay for the seat reservation alone with a railpass. I checked Milan to Rome on Sept. 18 just as a guess, and the 9 euro fare was available on most trains. The Mini fare (9 or 19) euros should also be available from Rome to La Spezia (where they will change to a regional train to a CT village), part of the trip from la Spezia to Firenze (depending on what trains are chosen), and Firenze to Milan. Basically, the fast IC and ES trains offer the mini fares which beat the cost of a day on a pass + reservation. The regional trains are so inexpensive they aren't worth using a pass day. For Switzerland, they can buy 2 4-day Flex passes for the price of one (right on this website), which is a great deal. This will give them 4 days of fully-covered travel, and the rest is 50% off. But do not use it to travel from Zurich to Milan on the first day. You can get a Special Offer Fare of 23 CHF by buying the tickets on SBB.ch (rail.ch). The best price using a Swiss pass is 40 CHF. Regular price is 82 CHF. So you are better off with the Special Offer price. You should buy that soon. The only tricky part is timing it with your incoming flight, as the ticket is non-changeable. As will your 9 euro Milan to Rome ticket be. Maybe Pam can list their Italy itinerary and others can weigh in on th etickets vs passes question in case I have overlooked something.