Hatunen

On 20 May 2004 11:54:43 -0700, [email protected] (Dave) wrote:

    >My girlfriend and I will be in Italy for 3 weeks in August. Since
    >we'll only be in Italy almost the whole time, is it still wise to
    >purchase a Eurorail Pass? If so, which do you recommend? Otherwise, is
    >there some sort of Italy-only pass we can/should buy? Or are we better
    >off purchasing our tickets without a pass?

There are Eurailpasses and there used to be Europasses, but there
are no Eurorail passes.

Buying a Eurailpass for one country is rarely cost effective. In
fact, Eurailpasses are rarely cost effective unless one will
spend a LOT of time on trains.

************* DAVE HATUNEN ([email protected]) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Dave

My girlfriend and I will be in Italy for 3 weeks in August. Since
we'll only be in Italy almost the whole time, is it still wise to
purchase a Eurorail Pass? If so, which do you recommend? Otherwise, is
there some sort of Italy-only pass we can/should buy? Or are we better
off purchasing our tickets without a pass?

Thanks,
Dave

Iceman

On 20 May 2004 11:54:43 -0700, [email protected] (Dave) wrote:

    >My girlfriend and I will be in Italy for 3 weeks in August. Since
    >we'll only be in Italy almost the whole time, is it still wise to
    >purchase a Eurorail Pass? If so, which do you recommend? Otherwise, is
    >there some sort of Italy-only pass we can/should buy? Or are we better
    >off purchasing our tickets without a pass?

Trains are cheap in Italy and you don't need any kind of pass. Just
buy tickets as you go.

Some examples: Venice->Florence was 20 euros, Florence->Rome was 20
euros, and Rome->Naples was 10 euros.

Neil Gillis

"Dave" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > My girlfriend and I will be in Italy for 3 weeks in August. Since
    > we'll only be in Italy almost the whole time, is it still wise to
    > purchase a Eurorail Pass? If so, which do you recommend? Otherwise, is
    > there some sort of Italy-only pass we can/should buy? Or are we better
    > off purchasing our tickets without a pass?
    > Thanks,
    > Dave

Two websites to look at:

http://slowtrav.com/italy/ Look under under "What you will find in this
section" and then "Instructions for visitors. Lots of good info on trains
and other things.

http://www.trenitalia.com/home/en/index.htm English version of Trenitalia
website.

Ryan B

"Iceman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > On 20 May 2004 11:54:43 -0700, [email protected] (Dave) wrote:
    > >My girlfriend and I will be in Italy for 3 weeks in August. Since
    > >we'll only be in Italy almost the whole time, is it still wise to
    > >purchase a Eurorail Pass? If so, which do you recommend? Otherwise, is
    > >there some sort of Italy-only pass we can/should buy? Or are we better
    > >off purchasing our tickets without a pass?
    > Trains are cheap in Italy and you don't need any kind of pass. Just
    > buy tickets as you go.
    > Some examples: Venice->Florence was 20 euros, Florence->Rome was 20
    > euros, and Rome->Naples was 10 euros.


I'll buy all the 10 euro Rome to Naples tickets you can get. Going rate
depending on train type is 20-30 euros. Let me know.

Ryan

Tony Lennard

    > I'll buy all the 10 euro Rome to Naples tickets you can get. Going rate
    > depending on train type is 20-30 euros. Let me know.
    > Ryan

From the Trenitalia web site, prices for tomorrow are (second class)

EuroStar 22.21 euros (1 hr 45 min)
InterCity 16.53 euros (2 hours)
Directo 10.20 euros (2hrs 45 min)

If only trains in England were as cheap as in Italy!

Tony

I.C.

If you plan to spend lots of time on train, there is (or at least it used to
be) the "DOMINO" pass. Of course, this needs to be bought outside Italy.
I have used it about ten years ago, and it was a good deal; of course,
things might have changed since then.
Ivo

"Dave" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de
news:[email protected]...
    > My girlfriend and I will be in Italy for 3 weeks in August. Since
    > we'll only be in Italy almost the whole time, is it still wise to
    > purchase a Eurorail Pass? If so, which do you recommend? Otherwise, is
    > there some sort of Italy-only pass we can/should buy? Or are we better
    > off purchasing our tickets without a pass?
    > Thanks,
    > Dave

Dave

The trenitalia web site said that it will take roughtly 6 hours to get
from Pisa to Trieste (near Venice). Does that sound right? I thought
there were high speed trains on that route.

Luca Logi

Dave <[email protected]> wrote:

    > The trenitalia web site said that it will take roughtly 6 hours to get
    > from Pisa to Trieste (near Venice). Does that sound right? I thought
    > there were high speed trains on that route.

Between Pisa to Florence there is only a couple of high speed trains at
inconvenient times. And Trieste is not as near to Venezia as you
probably think.

--
Luca Logi - Firenze - Italy e-mail: [email protected]

B Vaughan

On 20 May 2004 11:54:43 -0700, [email protected] (Dave) wrote:

    >My girlfriend and I will be in Italy for 3 weeks in August. Since
    >we'll only be in Italy almost the whole time, is it still wise to
    >purchase a Eurorail Pass? If so, which do you recommend? Otherwise, is
    >there some sort of Italy-only pass we can/should buy? Or are we better
    >off purchasing our tickets without a pass?

You are almost certainly better off buying your tickets without a
pass. The Eurail pass is absolutely a waste of money for travel in
Italy. The last time I checked, the Italian passes only paid off for
people doing long trips from north to south, or people who were making
semi-long trips every single day. (That would be rather a waste of
precious vacation time.)
-----------
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup

Paul Roberts

there is the Trenitalia Pass, this does not include the eurostar trains and
seems expensive to me. the cheapest tickets are on night trains.

http://www.trenitalia.com/home/en/trenitalia_pass.htm

paul

Alan Harrison

"Paul Roberts" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > there is the Trenitalia Pass, this does not include the eurostar trains
and
    > seems expensive to me. the cheapest tickets are on night trains.
    > http://www.trenitalia.com/home/en/trenitalia_pass.htm
Funny, I can't find any mention of price on the site! In any event it seems
a very poor offer compared with the old BTLC (Biglietto turistico di libera
circolazione per l'intera rete). I had one of these back in 1987, when a
21-day ticket (for example) allowed you to travel on every one of those
days. I did Turin-Milan, side trip to Como, round trip to Ventimiglia via
Cuneo and Genoa, Milan-Lecce, Lecce-Ancona (side-trips to Rimini and
Loreto), Ancona-Perugia.... and so on (bored with typing with hands sore
from manipulating crutches after busting my ankle yeterday).

OK, I have to confess to being a trainspotter (although I prefer "railway
enthusiast"), and generally I would agree with Barbara Vaughan and others
that Italian fares are so low that passes are unlikely to offer value for
money.

Alan Harrison

Joe

Iceman <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>. ..
    > On 20 May 2004 11:54:43 -0700, [email protected] (Dave) wrote:
    >
    > >My girlfriend and I will be in Italy for 3 weeks in August. Since
    > >we'll only be in Italy almost the whole time, is it still wise to
    > >purchase a Eurorail Pass? If so, which do you recommend? Otherwise, is
    > >there some sort of Italy-only pass we can/should buy? Or are we better
    > >off purchasing our tickets without a pass?
    >
    > Trains are cheap in Italy and you don't need any kind of pass. Just
    > buy tickets as you go.
    >
    > Some examples: Venice->Florence was 20 euros, Florence->Rome was 20
    > euros, and Rome->Naples was 10 euros.

I went to the http://www.trenitalia.com/home/it/index.html web site
and found the following:
IC: Rome->Naples 25 euro 1st class, 19 second class
ES: Rome->Naples 32 euro 1st class, 22 second class
What is the difference there seems to be only 7 minutes in duration.
Does the 25 Euros for first class include a reservation? I was told
one should get reservations in Italy if traveling for extended period
of time.

I have also priced:
ES: Rome->Florence 42 euro 1st class, 29 second class
EC: Rome->Florence 29 euro 1st class, 21 second class
There is 26 minutes difference here. I assume more stops.

Can someone please tell me the difference between first and second
class?
Thank you.
Joe

Juliana L Holm

Joe <[email protected]> wrote:
    > I went to the http://www.trenitalia.com/home/it/index.html web site
    > and found the following:
    > IC: Rome->Naples 25 euro 1st class, 19 second class
    > ES: Rome->Naples 32 euro 1st class, 22 second class
    > What is the difference there seems to be only 7 minutes in duration.
    > Does the 25 Euros for first class include a reservation? I was told
    > one should get reservations in Italy if traveling for extended period
    > of time.

THe difference time depends on which trains you pick of course. Not every
IC will be just 7 minutes more than the ES.

ES prices include reservations. That is the only way they do it.


    > I have also priced:
    > ES: Rome->Florence 42 euro 1st class, 29 second class
    > EC: Rome->Florence 29 euro 1st class, 21 second class
    > There is 26 minutes difference here. I assume more stops.

    > Can someone please tell me the difference between first and second
    > class?

I don't know the difference except that 1st is at the front of the
train, closer to amenities and has cushier seats. I always travel, very
comfortably, 2nd class.

Julie

--
Julie
**********
Check out my Travel Pages (non-commercial) at
http://www.dragonsholm.org/travel.htm

B Vaughan

On 1 Jun 2004 10:29:06 -0700, [email protected] (Joe) wrote:

    >I went to the http://www.trenitalia.com/home/it/index.html web site
    >and found the following:
    >IC: Rome->Naples 25 euro 1st class, 19 second class
    >ES: Rome->Naples 32 euro 1st class, 22 second class
    >What is the difference there seems to be only 7 minutes in duration.
    >Does the 25 Euros for first class include a reservation? I was told
    >one should get reservations in Italy if traveling for extended period
    >of time.

The Eurostart tickets include a reservation. The trains are also
usually more modern and all are air-conditioned. For a long trip, I
prefer Eurostar.

    >Can someone please tell me the difference between first and second
    >class?

I don't consider 1st class worth the extra cost. I only buy 1st class
tickets when 2nd class is full (on a Eurostar train) or too crowded
(on other trains). If you get on a train without a reservation
(obviously not a Eurostar train) and have trouble finding a seat, you
can upgrade to 1st class by finding a conductor and telling him you
want to move to 1st class. You would have to pay the difference in
ticket price plus a penalty for upgrading on the train.
-----------
Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup